#suzanne bonamici

Michael Sainato at The Guardian:

Congressional Democrats have launched a legislative effort to protect funding for a key nutritional support program for low-income women and children. As the federal government shutdown rolls on, there are growing fears the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program could run out of money. An estimated 40% of all infants in the US use the program, which provides nutritious foods to pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, infants and children up to five years old, and served 6.7 million each month last year, according to official data.

“The benefits, if you lose them because of the lapse in funding, you can’t make up for it,” Robert C Scott, a Virginia congressman, told the Guardian, noting that even brief disruptions to the service could negatively impact infant and child development. “It’s a program that really should be immune to the vagaries of the annual budget process.” Scott, the top Democrat on the House education and workforce committee, and Suzanne Bonamici, an Oregon congresswoman, are set to introduce a bill – the WIC Benefits Protection Act – today, which would ensure the program remains fully funded, and not subject to any lapses during government shutdowns, by classifying it as mandatory program. The program – funded by the federal government and administered by states, tribal organizations, the District of Columbia and territories – also provides education, counseling and referral services to healthcare and social services. Scott criticized Republicans, accusing them of refusing to negotiate at all on developing a budget bill they can pass through the House and Senate. “The administration and states are shifting money around trying to make up for the lapse in funding, but we shouldn’t have all this drama and loss of services at the end of every fiscal year, when we risk a government shutdown,” he said. While WIC services have historically never lapsed during a government shutdown, state and local agencies have already begun scaling back services. A WIC office in Lyon county, Kansas, shut down this week as a result of the government shutdown.

[...] The Trump administration has said that revenues from tariffs will be used to fund WIC during the shutdown, with the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, last week hailing a “creative solution” to shore up the program. This funneled as much as $300m into WIC, officials reportedly told congressional staffers.

[...] Scott’s bill, which has about 50 Democratic co-sponsors, would amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to require mandatory funding for WIC that would go into effect for fiscal year 2026 and each succeeding fiscal year.

House Democrats, led by Reps. Bobby Scott (VA) and Suzanne Bonamici (OR), seek to introduce the WIC Benefits Protection Act to ensure WIC funding is secure, even during government shutdowns, by making the program mandatory.

As of today, 68 Democrats in the House have co-sponsored the bill include Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Nikki Budzinski (IL), Wesley Bell (MO), Jasmine Crockett (TX), and Greg Landsman (OH).

See Also:

Today, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01) spoke on the House floor in opposition to H.R. 28, the Republican’s “Child Predator Empowerment Act.” This bill would not make school sports more fair or safe by banning transgender women and girls—as young as kindergarten—from participating on school sports teams with their friends. Moreover, the bill would endanger women and girls by requiring girls to “prove their gender.”

Watch Congresswoman Bonamici’s floor remarks on YouTube.

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 prohibits discrimination “on the basis of sex ... under any education program or activity.” Last year, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rescinded regulations that explicitly applied these Title IX rights to transgender students, and (among other things) allowed them to use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity.* Earlier this month, she testified about it before Congress.

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici: “When you rolled back [the trans-inclusive] guidance did you know that the stress of harassment and discrimination can lead to lower attendance and grades as well as depression and anxiety for transgender students? Did you know that?”

DeVos: “OCR [Office for Civil Rights] is committed to ensuring all students have equal access to education free from discrimination--”

Bonamici: “Sorry, I would really like answer. Students and families need to know this. Did you know, when you rolled back the guidance, that the stress of harassment and discrimination can lead to lower attendance and grades as well as depression for transgender students?”

DeVos: “I do know that.”

...

Bonamici: “When you rolled back the guidance, did you know that a study recently published by the American Academy of Pediatrics revealed alarming levels of attempted suicide among transgender youth?”

DeVos “I am aware of that data.”

She knew; she just didn’t care.

Video is here.

Action of the day :Jeff Sessions is among the worst of Trump's cabinet picks.  His presence as Attorney General would undermine the Justice Department's efforts to support civil rights.  Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Jim Himes, Joe Kennedy, and Kathleen Rice have put together the list below of his troubling track record.  Sign their petition against Sessions today.

* Sessions supports disenfranchising voters and opposed the Voting Rights Act.

* Sessions was rejected by the Senate in 1986 for a federal judgeship for making racist jokes about supporting the KKK.

* Sessions has a clear anti-LGBT agenda, campaigning vigorously against marriage equality, against gays in the military, and against ending workplace discrimination.

* Sessions has rejected protections for hate crime victims who are targeted because of their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

* Sessions opposed the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

On Thursday, October 17th, TriMet leaders and members of Oregon’s congressional delegation gathered in a warehouse on NE Columbia Boulevard to address attendees. This celebratory event marked the $69 million public investment that will transform a former industrial site into a hub for hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses that will serve 82nd Avenue. Federal funds will help TriMet purchase the…

John Russell at LGBTQ Nation:

Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) appears to believe that the Bible has been banned in the U.S. since 1963. The congressman made the wild claim Thursday morning during a House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education hearing about banning “explicit” content from school libraries.

“Some say that we are here today to talk about so-called book burning in K–12 school libraries. One of our nation’s most consequential books, banning was done by Supreme Court in 1963, when officially it mandated the Bible reading, this book, is banned from all of us,” he said holding up a copy of the Bible. “Anything to do with federal, it’s no longer, can see it, can no longer read it.” “As a matter of fact, some people probably think this is totally unconstitutional that I can even hold it up,” he claimed. “Due to the banning of this book, generations of Americans today have no knowledge of the tenets upon which this country has been founded. Tenets based on the belief that with God and time we can truly become a more perfect union.” Presumably, Burgess was citing the Supreme Court’s 1963 ruling in Abington School District v. Schempp. But contrary to his claim, that decision simply declared that school-sponsored Bible readings were unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. It did not ban the Bible from schools.

Throughout the hour-long hearing, titled “Protecting Kids: Combatting Graphic, Explicit Content in School Libraries,” Republican members of the subcommittee and witnesses refuted the characterization of efforts to remove what they consider “inappropriate” material from school library shelves as “book-banning,” arguing that many of the “banned” books are still widely available online, in stores, and in public libraries. They also attempted to distance themselves from allegations of anti-LGBTQ+ bias, despite consistently citing LGBTQ+ books like Gender Queer, Lawn Boy, This Book is Gay, and All Boys Aren’t Blue as examples of “sexually explicit” or “pornographic” material.   [...] Ranking committee member Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) blasted House Republicans for introducing the “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act” last year, which she described as a “blueprint for book bans.” She noted PEN America’s finding that 41 percent of banned content focuses on LGBTQ+ themes and characters while 40 percent focuses on characters of color. “These censorship laws are being enacted by extreme MAGA politicians under the pretext of ‘parental rights,’ when in reality it’s a coordinated and apparently well-funded vocal minority of parents and conservative organizations pushing their personal agenda on others,” she said. Bonamici added that she is concerned that Republicans are attempting to undermine the U.S. public education system in an effort to justify funneling tax dollars into “low-quality private voucher programs.”

Who: Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Oregon)

Twitter: @RepBonamici

When: March 2020

What: International Women's Day

Watch on C-SPAN