The Congressional Black Caucus released the following statement after the House voted to approve two articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump: “This is indeed a dark time in our nation’s history. For only the third time in United States history, a sitting President has been impeached by the House of Representatives. The facts are undeniable: Donald J. Trump has abused the power of the office of the Presidency in his blatant attempt to cheat his way to reelection. Congress is a c...
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Rep. Karen Bass (CA-37), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, released the following statement after the House Judiciary Committee’s vote to approve two articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump: “Today is a somber day in the House of Representatives. For only the fourth time in United States history, the House Judiciary Committee has voted to advance articles of impeachment against a sitting President. The facts are clear: the 45th President of the United States of America a...
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Amid a national chorus of grief, anger, protests and vigils, Black leadership and their allies are speaking out, demanding political accountability, new laws and solutions following the latest deadly mass shootings in America. Within a 24-hour time span last weekend, lone gunmen opened fire in separate incidents at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on August 3 and an entertainment district in Dayton, Ohio, on August 4. The shootings left 31 people dead and dozens wounded, including children. And jus...
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In response to new reporting that the Attorney General Barr has directed the federal government to resume the death penalty after more than two decades, Congresswoman Karen Bass, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus issued the following statement: “The Congressional Black Caucus is extremely concerned about Attorney General Barr’s decision to allow the Department of Justice to resume capital punishment and the swift scheduling of five executions,” said Chairwoman Bass. “The death penalty is b...
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Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) told Hill.TV on Tuesday that the state of mass incarceration in the U.S. is an embarrassment, particularly when compared with other countries. “It’s really an embarrassment in our country that we have more people locked up in the United States than any place in the world,” said Bass, who is head of the Congressional Black Caucus. According to Prison Policy Initiative, the U.S. locks up more people per capita than any other nation in the world, at a rate of 698 per 100,...
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As reported by the Washington Post, the Department of Justice has issued its decision to not bring federal charges against any of the police officers involved in the death of Eric Garner. In response, the Congressional Black Caucus Chair, Congresswoman Karen Bass and the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler released the following statement. Eric Garner, whom police suspected of selling cigarettes illegally, was unarmed when he was placed in a chokehold by the officer. At one p...
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A new bill heading to the house floor this week encourages judges to consider giving federal prisoners a second look at their cases, potentially impacting thousands of incarcerated people who were imprisoned as a result of the war on drugs. The legislation, titled the Matthew Charles and William Underwood Second Look Act allows these prisoners to petition judges for a reduced sentence or release after they’ve served ten years in prison. It also gives special consideration to elderly prisoners wh...
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Thousands of people spilled into the newly re-christened Arthur Ashe Boulevard here on Saturday for a celebration that also marked the unveiling of an exhibit at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture on the struggle for black equality and to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first captive Africans to English North America. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus joined Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and other elected officials on the steps of t...
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It’s not about the Confederate statues or the re-emerging debate over reparations for slavery. The struggle for black equality, 400 years after the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia, isn’t just about disparity in wealth, education and treatment by the criminal justice system, although those are top priorities of the Congressional Black Caucus in a U.S. House of Representatives that Democrats control for the first time in almost a decade. The solutions come down to elections and the po...
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What was billed as a town hall for the “State of Black America in Brooklyn” Friday night at Brownsville’s P.S. 156 Waverly, morphed into a panel discussion about criminal justice reform featuring members of the Congressional Black Caucus, local legislators and community activists, including Assemblymember Latrice Walker and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. Led by Congressmembers Yvette D. Clarke and Stacey Plaskett, lawmakers discussed initiatives they’d put forth to make jail a last re...
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