Dear Colleague: It has been an honor to serve as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) for the 116th Congress. We began this Congress as the largest and most powerful Caucus in history, with 55 Members, five full Committee Chairs, and three Members of House Democratic Leadership. I am proud of all that we collectively accomplished with the power we held, from the passage of voting rights legislation and permanent funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, to a national tou...
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Washington, D.C. – The Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Karen Bass, issued the statement below following the election of the Executive Committee for the 117th Congress by acclamation: “On behalf of the entire Congressional Black Caucus, congratulations to the members of the Executive Committee for the 117th Congress! In 1971, thirteen Black Members of Congress organized their efforts to help improve the conditions of Black people in America and around the world. Though small in numb...
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As the House introduces The Heroes Act to provide much-needed federal resources to our nation, the CBC worked closely with leadership to develop legislation that responded to the urgent needs of Black America, who have been hit the hardest by coronavirus. The Congressional Black Caucus is calling for targeted comprehensive intervention through city, county, or state government public health agencies in communities where there is a disproportionate infection and death rates. This will include rap...
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The Congressional Black Caucus issued the following statement in response to the emergency Interim Aid Bill from the Senate: The Congressional Black Caucus supports the additional resources for small businesses included in the latest federal response to COVID-19 and congratulates Speaker Pelosi and Democratic leadership for ensuring the inclusion of $75 billion in emergency funding for hospitals and $25 billion to increase testing and contact tracing. We also support the inclusion of $60 billion...
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“At a time of crisis, true leadership seeks to solve problems not blame others. This President has threatened to cut funding for the World Health Organization (WHO), an organization that has helped decrease the spread of diseases such as Ebola, Cholera, and Yellow Fever. The WHO is established in most countries around the world, and has deployed more than 250,000 testing kits to help fight this pandemic. It is ludicrous for this administration to target and vilify WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros...
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In a letter sent by the Congressional Black Caucus on April 7 to Robert Redfield, M.D., Director for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Congressional Black Caucus is calling for immediate racial data reporting for COVID-19 in every state, amidst rising trends in infections and mortality of Black people with coronavirus. To date, only nine states and the District of Columbia have released data based on race, which represents less than 20% of the country. With the limited data of coronavir...
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Today, the House of Representatives passed The Families First Coronavirus Act. This robust legislation will provide critical provisions to combat the global Coronavirus pandemic, including paid leave, free coronavirus testing, unemployment benefits, food assistance , protections for health care workers, and additional funding to states to counter the economic impact of the virus. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act comes just one week after Congress passed the $8.3 billion Emergency Supp...
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On Friday, June 7, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)’s new Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health will convene for a second time in Washington, DC to hear from award winning actress and mental health advocate Taraji P. Henson. Henson founded The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation in 2018 to eradicate the stigma surrounding mental illness in the African American community and specifically tackle the suicide rate among Black youth. Henson will share her personal perspective on managi...
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On the day that her “Can We Talk” Mental Health Conference weekend (June 7-9) is set to kick off in Washington, D.C., actress Taraji P. Henson will testify before the newly formed Congressional Black Caucus Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide. Henson, who has proven herself a fierce mental health advocate, will address the group at 9:30 am on Capitol Hill in support of the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation’s (BLHF) mission to eradicate the stigma surrounding mental illness in the African American co...
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Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) is finding herself in high demand heading into 2020. The new leader of the powerful Congressional Black Caucus received a phone call from Joe Biden, the former vice president and current front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, just the other day. She caught up with Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), another White House hopeful, during a plane ride from Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. And Bass regularly chats up Sen. Kamala Harris, a fellow Californ...
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