NAACP 112th Congress Legislative Priorities

 

WASHINGTON BUREAU · NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE TH 1156 15  STREET, NW SUITE 915 · WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 · P (202) 463-2940 · F (202) 463-2953 E-MAIL: WASHINGTONBURE [email protected] [email protected] · WEB ADDRESS WWW.NAACP.ORG WWW.NAACP.ORG 

NAACP LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR THE 112TH CONGRESS (2011 – 2012) CIVIL RIGHTS / EQUAL OPPORTUNITY / RACIAL DISPARITY / CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUE

House Action

Senate Action

NAACP

Support, Preserve and Protect Equal Opportunity Programs

Issue Brief available

Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity

Issue Alert available

End Racial Profiling t

Protect 14  Amendment and Citizenship Rights

 Action Alert available King, Steven (Iowa) H.R. 140* 

Vitter S. J. Res. 2*

Eliminate potential discrimination in “Faith Based” initiatives

Issue Brief available Issue Alert available  Action Alert available  Action Alert  Available Issue Brief  Available  Action Alert  Available  Action Alert  Available

Maintain Barriers Between Politics and Houses of Worship Ensure voting rights protections for all eligible Americans End Deceptive Practices in Elections Oppose Photo Identification requirements for voting Establish public financing for House and Senate campaigns Re-enfranchisement of Ex-Felony Offenders Eliminate racially disparate prosecution Eliminate Crack Cocaine Sentencing Disparities

 Action Alert available  Action Alert available

 Abolish Mandatory Mandat ory Minimum Mini mum Se Sentences ntences

 Action Alert available

Establish a National Commission to look at the American criminal justice system

 Action Alert  Available Issue Brief  Available Issue Brief available

Reform our Nation’s Immigration Laws Enactment of Safe, Sane & Sensible Gun Safety Laws Death Penalty Moratorium / Abolition

 Action Alert available

Congressional Voting Rights / Statehood for the District of Columbia

 Action Alert available

Ensure fair and impartial judges are nominated and confirmed to the federal  judiciary  judiciar y Prisoners’ Rights, Education and Training

Issue Brief available Issue Alert available  Action Alert  Available

Encourage youth to stay away from gang activity Study Proposals for Reparations for African Americans

Conyers H.R. 40

 Action Alert available

ECONOMIC ISSUES ISSUE Federal budget that invests in public education, health care, job training and the protection of civil rights Eliminate Predatory Mortgage Lending

House Action

Senate Action 

NAACP

 Action Alert available  Action Alert available

Enable homeowners to prevent foreclosure

 Action Alert  Available  Action Alert available

Eliminate high-cost loans, such as debt perpetuating “pay day” loans Protect Social Security

Issue Brief available

(Placement on list does not represent priority) * Bills with an Asterisk behind the number are opposed by the NAACP More…

 

NAACP Legislative Priorities for the 112 th  Congress (2011 – 2012)

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EDUCATION ISSUES ISSUE

House

Senate

NAACP

Action

Action

Action Alert

Reduce Financial Disparities Between Schools

 Action Alert available  Action Alert available

Make college more affordable to all Americans Full federal funding for public education programs Public School Construction Bonds

Issue Alert available

Oppose Discriminatory “High Stakes” Educational Edu cational Testing

Issue Brief available

 Allow students s tudents convicted convicte d of minor min or drug offenses to receive receiv e federa federall financial financ ial aid Increase funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities

 Action Alert available  Action Alert  Available  Action Alert  Available

Improve and Make Uniform State High H igh school drop-out and retention rates HEALTH ISSUES ISSUE

House

Senate

NAACP

Action

Action

Action Alert

Cantor H.R. 2*

Vitter S. 16*

 Action Alert  Available  Action Alert  Available

House

Senate

NAACP

Action

Action

Action Alert

Full funding for AIDS Prevention, Treatment & Education Full Implementation of Health Care Reform End Childhood Obesity HOUSING ISSUES ISSUE

Increase availability of safe, decent, affordable low-income housing

 Action Alert  Available

Enact a comprehensive program to combat homelessness

Issue Alert available  Action Alert available

Increase resources to fight housing discrimination

Green H.R. 284

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES ISSUE

House

Senate

NAACP

Action

Action

Action Alert

Eliminate U.S. trade and travel embargos against Cuba

 Action Alert available

Peace in Sudan

Issue Brief available

Enhance aid, trade and development programs throughout Africa and the Caribbean Debt relief for impoverished nations

 Action Alert  Available

Establish a Department of Peace Increase stability in and humanitarian assistance to Haiti LABOR ISSUES ISSUE

Employment Non-Discrimination Act Enable Workers to Unionize

House

Senate

NAACP

Action

Action

Action Alert

Frank H.R. 3017

Merkley S. 1584

 Action Alert available

Miller, George (CA) H.R. 1409

Reid S. 560

 Action Alert available

Employment protection in the Private and Public Sectors Enact comprehensive, aggressive job creation legislation that focuses on the needs of American communities as well Enact a living wage for all workers

Miller, George (CA) H.R. 4812

(Placement on list does not represent priority) * Bills with an Asterisk behind the number are opposed by the NAACP  

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 Action Alert  Available

 

NAACP LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR THE 112 T H  CONGRESS 2011 – 2012)  2012)   In accordance with our mandate to secure the enhancement en hancement and protection of civil rights for all  American  Americans, NA ACP Washington Wa shington identified iden tified vigorously several se veral legislative legis lative issue that are important s, tothe ourNAACP membership and thatBureau we willhas be pursuing over theissues next stwo years. These issues are outlined below. For further information information on any or all of the issues lis listed ted below,  please feel f eel free to contact conta ct the Washingt W ashington on Bureau Bure au at (202) (2 02) 463-2940, 463 -2940, or o r look for our “Action “Actio n  Alerts” on the web at www.naacp.org . The Washington Bureau is committed to ensuring that our members are kept up to date on issues that are important important to them. We will, therefore, therefore, be faxing out Action out Action Alerts Ale rts on  on matters that are expected to come before the House or the Senate in the near future, or on issues that may arise over the course of the Congress that would have an impact on the basic rights of  American citizens. Action Alerts A lerts outline outlin e the problem, p roblem, give g ive a legislative leg islative update u pdate and a nd inform out membership how they can contact their representatives. **Placement on list does not represent priority** CIVIL RIGHTS / EQUAL OPPORTUNITY / RACIAL DISPARITY / CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES SUPPORT, PRESERVE AND PROTECT EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PROGRAMS: 

Despite the fact that equal opportunity programs, such as affirmative action, have proven to be an effective tool that gives qualified individuals equal access to participate and contribute; access that has been historically denied, they have come under attack again in recent years. The fact of the matter is that our nation still needs equal opportunity programs in education, employment and contracting. Approximately 18% of all college students are African African American, Latino, or American Indian compared with with 28% of the college age populat population. ion. African American men and women wom en comprise less than 2.5% of total employment em ployment in the top jobs in the private sector. Based on their number, minority-owned firms firms received only 57 cents for every federal dollar they would be expected expected to receive if they they were not a minority-owned firm. Equal opportunity programs are making sure that we have competent, educated leaders from and for all communities in in the United States. Equal opportunity programs are the epit epitome ome of the great  American  America n ideal of self-reliance; self-r eliance; they give people the opportunit opp ortunity y to help themselves. themselv es. We need to make our voices heard, and demand that every member me mber of Congress, as well as the President, stand in support of equal opportunity programs including affirmative action. LAW ENFORCEMENT TRUST AND INTEGRITY:

Police misconduct, the lack of law enforcement accountability within the communities they serve, and the fact that there are no national uniform standards for law enforcement officers or agencies, are problems that affect every sector of our country and imperils the continued security of our nation. If you are a person of color living in the United States, there are law enforcement officials who look at you differently, and treat you with a greater level of suspicion. Something must be done to raise the level of accountability, or things will not improve. Furthermore, because of this increased suspicion, people of color are, as we see time and again, treated much more aggressively and with much more force than their Caucasian  

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counterparts. The Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act , in addition to establishing a Federal Task Force on Law Enforcement Oversight and an Immigration Enforcement Review Commission, also calls for the establishment of national minimum standards for accrediting law enforcement agencies and establishes civilian complaint review boards and provides funding for additional training of police officers, calls for the establishment of early warning programs, progra ms, antidiscriminatory traffic traffic stop procedures, and due process requirements. Lastly, the new bill will codify standards for the acceptable use of force that were established by a two-year US Department of Justice Review process that involved law enforcement agencies, a gencies, police unions, civil rights and civil liberties organizations and religious groups. PROTECT 14TH AMENDMENT AND RIGHTS OF CITIZENSHIP:

The 14th Amendment is the cornerstone of American civil rights and the foundation of American identity. The 14th Amendment made it very clear clear that indeed African Americ Americans ans were full citizens of the United States. But the 14th Amendment should not be left with the Dred Scott decision and the Reconstruction era – or even the Jim Crow era - as it has been held to apply to Japanese Americans during WWII and Chinese American American immigrants and others. As such, it is deeply concerning to us that those who have such a narrow partisan agenda are focusing in on very recklessly opening the 14th Amendment – established law in our country – to bring a new form of discrimination in our society that clearly contradicts our Constitution.  As such, the NAACP NAA CP strongly str ongly opposes op poses legislation le gislation such as H.R. 140, 1 40, which whic h would deny U.S. U .S. citizenship to children born on American soil if their parents are undocumented immigrants. ELIMINATE RACIAL PROFILING: The “End Racial Profiling Act ” attacks the insidious practice of racial profiling by law

enforcement on three levels: first, it creates a federal prohibition prohibition against racial profil profiling; ing; second, it provides funding for the retraining of law enforcement officials on how to discontinue and prevent the use of racial profiling; and thirdly, it holds law enforcement agencies that continue to use racial profiling profiling accountable. We are expecting the legislation legislation to be reintroduced by th Congressman Conyers (MI) in the 112  Congress. Numerous studies over the past few years have provided us with evidence to support what we have known for decades: law enforcement agents at all levels have consistently consistently used race, ethnicity and national origin when choosing which individuals should be stopped and searched.  At the most m ost basic level, it is difficult for fo r our faith f aith in the th e American Ame rican judicial jud icial system not to be be challenged when we cannot even drive down an interstate without being stopped merely because of the color of our skin. We need this legislation to stop this iinsidious nsidious practice and to help begin to restore the confidence of communities com munities of color throughout the United States in federal, state and local law enforcement. ELIMINATE POTENTIAL DISCRIMINATION IN “FAITH BASED” INITIATIVES:

Because of our Nation’s sorry history of bigotry, for decades it has been illegal to discriminate in employment and make hiring decisions decisions based on race or religi religion. on. The only exception is is faithbased organizations, which are exempted from anti-discrimination provisions in programs using their own money; although until now they had to adhere to basic civil rights laws when using federal monies to support a program. Under the existing rules, many faith-based organizations of all types get hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, are still able to pursue their religious missions, and com comply ply with existing antidiscrimination laws. Yet under new proposals from the Bush Administration, Administration, faith-based faith-based organizations, some of whom, unfortunately, may use religious discrimination as a shield for racial or gender discrimination, will be allowed to legally discriminate against tax-paying  Americans  America ns in the th e course cours e of spending spe nding federal f ederal dollars. d ollars. The NAACP recognizes, celebrates and supports the crucial role faith-based organizations have played throughout our nation’s history in addressing some of our country’s most serious serious ills. Yet led by our Religious Affairs Department, the NAACP NAA CP remains in firm opposition to any initiative,  

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including the “faith-based” approach as presented by President Bush and the others that may result in legalized and federally funded discrimination. In 2003 President Bush circumvented the legislative process and issued an “Executive Order” which implemented many of the discriminatory facets of his so-called “Faith-based” or “charitable choice” initiatives. initiatives. Furthermore, other lawmakers appear intent on lacing provisions into several individual bills that would allow faith-based institutions to discriminate against people because of their religion when implementing programs funded by federal taxpayers’ dollars while eliminating anti-discrimination safeguards. MAINTAIN BARRIERS PREVENTING PARTISAN POLITICS IN HOUSES OF WORSHIP: W ORSHIP: 

The NAACP National Board of Directors, following the lead of the Religious Affairs committee, supported an action item stating our association’s strong opposition to legislation which would change the existing tax code to allow churches and other houses of worship to endorse political candidates and political political parties from the pulpit. pulpit. The NAACP’s opposition stems stems from the fact that historically, religious institutions institutions throughout our nation have provided great comfort without consideration of partisan politics, politics, party affiliation affiliation or candidate endorsement. The Religious  Affairs Committe C ommittee, e, and ultimately ultimate ly the Board B oard of Directors, Director s, expressed expr essed concern co ncern that t hat houses hou ses of worship must continue to remain free of the influence and control of partisan political parties or political candidates, and that the repercussions of endorsing a political candidate from the pulpit may only work to divide congregations and communities. The NAACP is also concerned tthat hat the freedom to worship be protected against the interference or whims of politicians or politic political al parties. Despite numerous defeats of this proposal over the last few years, supporters of this initiative have consistently reintroduced legislation that would allow religious institutions to participate in partisan political politics and endorse political candidates as long as such activities did not require a “substantial part” of the institution’s resources. ENSURE VOTING RIGHT PROTECTIONS FOR ALL ELIGIBLE AMERICANS: In 2002, following the 2000 Presidential election debacle, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act . The NAACP supported the Help American Vote Act  as  as we saw it as an important step

toward ensuring that every eligible American who wants to vote can, and that every vote is counted. While we have seen some real progress since since the enactment of the Help America Vote Act , the 2004 and 2008 Presidential elections and the 2006 mid-term election clearly demonstrated that there is still much more to be done. To address many of these problems, the NAACP calls for stronger federal laws to protect and enhance the rights of all Americans to cast a free and unfettered vote and to ensure that their vote counted. Specifically, counted. Specifically calls callsrequired; for ired; federal laws to: require guaranteed early votingisthroughout the country, the withNAACP no excuse requ allow same-day registration nationally; outlaw “voter caging”, a practice by which mail is sent to a registered voter's address and, if the mail is returned as "undeliverable" or if it is delivered and the voter does not respond, his or her h er registration is challenged; clarify and strengthen the use of provisional ballots; make voter intimidation and deception punishable by law, with strong penalties so that people who commit these crimes suffer more than just a slap on the wrist, and establish a process for reaching out to misinformed voters with accurate information so they can cast their votes in time; and allow ex-offenders, once they are out of prison, the opportunity to register and vote in federal elections without challenges or complication. The right of all eligible citizens to vote and to have their vote count is the cornerstone of our democracy, and it is a fundamental civil right guaranteed by our Constitution. Constitution. The NAACP believes strongly that it is the obligation of Congress to ensure that everything that can be done will done ensure that every eligible American is allowed to vote and to be sure that his or her be vote has to been counted.

 

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END DECEPTIVE PRACTICES IN ELECTIONS:

Unfortunately, some people are so desperate to win elections that they resort to deceptive practices –misinformation and lies – to try to keep legitimate voters away from the polls or to support candidates whom they might not otherwise vote for. It is even more unfortunate that these practices often target and exploit vulnerable populations, such as racial or ethnic minorities, the disabled and / or the poor. To address these undemocratic, disenfranchising and immoral activities, the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act  seeks  seeks to address the real harm of these crimes  – people peop le who are prevented pr evented from voting vo ting by misinforma m isinformation tion – by b y establishing establis hing a process p rocess for f or reaching out to misinformed voters with accurate information so they can cast their votes in time. The bill also makes voter intimidation intimidation and deception punishable by law, and it contains strong penalties so that people who commit comm it these crimes suffer more than just a slap on the wrist. This legislation passed the US House in the 110 th Congress, as did the Senate Se nate Judiciary Committee. We are hopeful that with one of the the primary sponsors of the bill bill now in the White th House (President Obama) that the legislation will be enacted in the 112  Congress. OPPOSE PHOTO IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR VOTING:

The right of all eligible citizens to vote and to have their vote count is the cornerstone of our democracy, and it is a fundamental civil right guaranteed by our Constitution. Constitution. The NAACP believes strongly that it is the obligation of Congress to ensure that everything that can be done will be done to ensure that every eligible American is allowed to vote and to be sure that his or her vote has been counted. Unfortunately, some Members of Congress are also seeking to limit voting rights by introducing legislation to require that all Americans present a government-approved photo identification before voting. Specifically, some bills would place place an added burden of requiring a governmentapproved photo identification before voting. This flies in the face of our Constituti Constitutionally onally guaranteed right to cast a free and unfettered ballot, as well as the intent of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which prohibits state and local governments from establishing laws or policies which would have a discriminatory effect on the ability ability of certain groups to to vote. This requirement would have a disparate impact on the ability of certain groups, most notably racial and ethnic minority Americans, the elderly and low-income Americans, many of whom w hom are less likely to have or carry a photo ID or have the means to secure such an identification. Lastly, these bills bills do nothing to address many of the actual, documented problems of election and voter fraud which continue to plague our electoral process and our democracy, including the improper purges of voters, distributing false information about when and where whe re to vote, stuffing ballot boxes, w hich are perpetrated by corrupt election officials,and nottampering voters. with registration forms, most of which ESTABLISH PUBLIC FINANCING FOR SENATE AND HOUSE CAMPAIGNS:

The cost of a congressional campaign, as well as candidates’ need to raise large amount of money from special interests, has spiraled out of control. control. In the last election, the cost of the top ten competitive Senate races averaged $34 million per campaign – double what it was just four years ago. One direct result of this race for campaign money m oney is the perception by voters that candidates are too busy talking to Political Action Committees (PACs) or special interests to listen to their constituents. To address this very real problem, the “Fair Elections Now Act ” deals with the financing of campaigns for the US Senate and House of Representatives, would allow qualified candidates to receive campaign financing from a public fund instead of from lobbyists and other special interests. This legislation, which is based on working models in Maine and Arizona, would w ould create a voluntary system that gives candidates the option to stop attending fundraisers and dialing their  

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“friends” for donations without without risking a loss loss to a well-funded opponent. For those who choose to participate, fundraising would be limited to “seed money” in amounts of no more than $100 per person to pay for campaign start-up start-up costs. Participating candidates candidates would also be required to show that they are serious contenders by raising qualifying contributions of $5 each from a minimum number of state residents, re sidents, based on the population of the state. Once they are able to prove their viability, candidates will then begin to receive money from the “Fair Election Fund.” Fund.” The amount of money each candidate would recei receive ve would be based on the population of the state. state. Candidates would also receive vouchers vouchers for a discount on ttelevision elevision and radio time. If enacted, the Fair Elections Now Act  would  would restore the confidence of the voters that their federally elected officials officials were responsive to them. It would also allow candidates to spend less time talking to special interests and more time listening to their potential constituents. PROMOTE CIVIC PARTICIPATION AND REHABILITATION BY REINSTATING VOTING RIGHTS FOR FELONY OFFENDERS WHO ARE NO LONGER INCARCERATED:

Felony disenfranchisement laws, which vary from state to state, currently disqualify almost 4 million, or 1 in 50, American adults from voting. 13% of African American males are prohibited from voting because of these laws. laws. Three-fourths of these disqualified disqualified voters are not in prison, but are on probation, parole or are ex-offenders. ex-offenders. Moreover, the removal of voting privileges is imposed regardless of the nature or seriousness of the offense; thus in some states, you can lose your right to vote vote forever because you once wrote a bad check check.. The Democracy  would allow felons who are no longer incarcerated to reintegrate themselves Restoration Act  would back into society and vote in federal elections. ELIMINATE RACIALLY DISPARATE PROSECUTION:

While people may argue about abo ut the reasons behind it, few w would ould disagree that extensive racial and ethnic disparities exist exist today in the American criminal justic justice e system. These disparities are particularly true for African American men and boys, who are grossly overrepresented at every stage of the judicial process, from initial initial contacts with polic police e to punishments. African Americans routinely receiving more jail time and harsher punishments; 42% of Americans Am ericans currently on death row are African American. Nearly a million African African Americans today are incarcerated incarcerated in prisons and in jails, and unless there is a change, a black male born today has a one-in-three chance of going to prison in his lifetime. lifetime. In fact, despite the fact that numerous studies show that African Americans and Caucasians use cocaine at roughly the same rate, statistics confirm that over 80% of those currently in prison for crack cocaine possession are African American. To address these disparities, the bipartisan Justice Integrity Act  aims  aims to address the issue of unwarranted racial disparities in the American criminal justice criminal system was introduced. This important legislation would establish 10 pilot programs to create local advisory groups charged with collecting and analyzing racial and ethnic data on charging, plea negotiations, sentencing recommendations and other factors involved in creating these disparities. ELIMINATE SENTENCING DISPARITY IN CRACK COCAINE CASES:

Federal crack cocaine defendants over the last ten years have been disproportionately black: more than 88% have been African American, while 7% have been Hispanic and only 4% Caucasian. Many observers blame this disparity disparity on the 1-to-100 rati ratio o of the quantities of crack cocaine versus powder cocaine that that trigger Federal mandatory mini minimum mum sentences. The NAACP has worked with the Congressional Black Caucus, the US Sentencing Commission and other like-minded organizations to try to bring federal mandatory minimums for crack cocaine in line with those for powder cocaine. Sentencing Act into law. On Tuesday, 3, 2010, President Obam a signed the Fair This importantAugust legislation will reduce theObama mandatory minimum sentence for a federal conviction of crack cocaine possession from 100 times that of people convicted of carrying the drug in powdered form to 18 times the sentence.  

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The NAACP supported this legislation as an important first step toward completely eliminating this racially discriminatory sentencing disparity. The NAACP appreciates all of the hard h ard work that has gone into this legislation, as well as the fact that it is the first time Congress has moved m oved to reduce any  mandatory  mandatory minimum sentence. The NAACP also recognizes and appreciates that everyone involved in the negotiations seems to agree that the current 100:1 sentencing disparity has had a hugely unfair and racially discriminatory impact on racial and ethnic minority Americans. The NAACP will continue, however, to push for complete elimination of the disparities between crack and powder cocaine sentencing. ABOLISH MANDATORY MINIMUM PRISON SENTENCES :

From the days of slavery, through years of lynchings and Jim Crow laws, and even today our criminal justice justice system system has always always been deeply affected by racial bias. bias. As a result of the mandatory minimum sentencing laws under which we currently live, young African American men and women wom en being sent to prison in unnecessarily unne cessarily disproportionate, and unacceptably high rates and for too too long. Mandatory minimum sentences, such as the various Three Strikes and Your Out  laws,  laws, especially when applied as vigorously as they are in California, are not only ineffective in stopping crime, but they are also a powerful drain on our resources in a manner which discriminates against entire communities. Furthermore, another result of these laws that is especially problematic for the NAACP is that ethnic minority Americans – especially African  Americans  America ns and Latino Americans America ns – are ar e disproportion dispro portionately ately sentenced sen tenced to t o lengthy length y prison terms as as a result of these laws. laws. Nearly two-thirds of the people sentenced under California’s “three strikes” law are convicted of non-violent offenses; African Americans “struck out” at 12 1 2 times the rate of than their that Caucasian counterparts, and the Latino incarceration rate for a third strike is 45% higher of whites. Mandatory minimum sentences have not reduced sentencing discrepancies; rather they have transferred discretion from judges, who are put through a rigorous confirmation process that focuses on their ability to be fair and balanced, to prosecutors who are hired to seek criminal convictions for the city, state state or nation. Prosecutors, not judges, have the discretion to reduce a charge, accept or deny a plea bargain, reward or deny a defendant's substantial assistance or cooperation in the prosecution of someone else and, ultimately, to determine the final sentence of the defendant. Before mandatory minimums for crack coc cocaine aine offenses became effective, the average sentence for a conviction of a Federal offense for African Americans was 11% longer than the sentences for Caucasians. Following the implementation implementation of mandatory drug sentencing laws, the average drug offense sentence for African Americans was 49% longer than that of Caucasians. The rush to enact mandatory minimum sentences in the 1990’s is, perhaps, a text-book example of a lack of forethought. Legislators failed failed to take into account the costs on our budgets, on specific communities or on families when enacting mandatory minimum m inimum sentences. California’s ten-year-old “three strikes” law has cost the state an additional $8.1 billion, and has had an untold impact on the lives and communities that are ruined when a nonviolent offender is given a sentence of 25-years-to-life. This is $8.1 billi billion on that could rather have been spent on education, job creation, health care, interdiction interdiction and alternatives to incarc incarceration eration programs. The NAACP believes that had this money been spent on something other than locking up nonviolent offenders, the state would have stood a better chance of seeing the more significant drop in violent crime that the “three strikes” authors had hoped for. Mandatory minimum sentences do not work as intended. intended. Rather, they work to further destroy our communities and exacerbate the racial divide that alienates so many of our young people today. The NAACP remains very opposed to mandatory minimum minimum sentences, including including the “three strikes” laws and will continue to work with w ith our government and ou ourr coalition partners to actually remedy this national affliction.  

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ESTABLISH A NATIONAL COMMISSION TO REVIEW THE NATION’S CRIMINAL JUSTICE LAWS:

 At every ever y stage of the criminal c riminal justice ju stice process pro cess serious ser ious problems pr oblems undermine underm ine basic bas ic tenets of fairness and equity, as well as the public’s public’s expectations for safety. Perhaps the most glaring problem inherent in today’s system is the number of racial and ethnic minorities who are disproportionately treated more harshly and more often by our Nation’s criminal justice system.  At every ever y stage of the criminal c riminal justice ju stice process pro cess – from f rom initial init ial contact conta ct to sentencing sen tencing to the challenges facing those reentering the community after incarceration – racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in the number of people stopped, arrested, arr ested, tried, convicted and incarcerated. While people may argue about abo ut the reasons behind it, few w would ould disagree that extensive racial and ethnic disparities exist exist today in the American criminal justic justice e system. These disparities are particularly true for African American men and boys, who are grossly overrepresented at every stage of the judicial process. Initial contacts with with police officers are often driven by racial profiling and other racially tainted practices, and the disparities exist through the sentencing phase: African Americans routinely receive receive more jail jail time time and harsher punishments. Although  African Americans America ns make mak e up just over 12% 12 % of the national nationa l population, popula tion, 42% 42 % of Americans Am ericans currently on death row are African American. Nearly a million African African Americans today are incarcerated in prisons and in jails, and unless there is a change, a black male born today has a one-in-three chance of going to prison in his lifetime. Furthermore, African American women have the highest rate of incarceration among women in our nation, a rate that is four times higher than that of White women. This is not just a problem among African Americans or racial and ethnic minorities. minorities. Our nation has 5 percent the world's population. Weinhave 25 percent of that the world's known population. Weofhave an incarceration rate the United States is five times theprison incarceration rate in the the rest of the world. The bottom line is that that under our current criminal  justice system sy stem too to o many people are being bei ng incarcerated incar cerated and otherwise oth erwise caught up in the th e criminal crimin al  justice system sy stem and an d we still st ill have too t oo many man y Americans Amer icans who wh o do not n ot feel safe s afe in the th e homes hom es or their th eir communities. Furthermore, because of the disparities disparities that result from our current system, entire communities within our country do not have confidence in the criminal justice system. The National Criminal Justice Act  would  would create a national commission comm ission with an 18-month timeline to examine and review the myriad of problems that exist in our current criminal justic justice e system. In doing so, the Commission would also be charged with looking at how we have arrived at this convoluted mess, how many of our problems are interrelated and often feed off of one another, and how we can correct a system that is badly in need of a new course. REFORM OUR NATION’S IMMIGRATION LAWS::  America ns deserve  Americans dese rve an immigration immigr ation system syst em that tha t protects prote cts all workers wo rkers and a nd guarantee gua rantees s the safety sa fety of our nation without compromising our fundamental civil rights, human rights and civil liberties. Our nation's immigration policies must be consistent with deeply held NAACP humanitarian hu manitarian and civil rights values and with the need to treat all individuals regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender or religion with respect and dignity. dignity. The overhaul of our nation's immigration law is long overdue, as the current system is a blueprint for exploitation of workers both foreignborn and native, is feeding a multi-milli m ulti-million on criminal enterprise.

The NAACP strongly believes that immigration "reform" cannot focus solely on enforcement but must address current and historic historic discrimination problems problems in our immigration system. system. The U.S. Government immigration reform efforts must be coupled with policies to promote meaningful job training programs, job creation programs and small business development, as well as federal education assistance so that all Americans regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion or national origin will have an opportunity to advance in in living wage positions. The federal government must find a way to reward companies that do not decide to place profits above

 

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 America n-based  American-base d employees emp loyees and an d move their operation op erations s overseas, overs eas, thereby the reby removing re moving jobs and an d other business opportunities from the United States. There are a large number n umber of immigrants of African descent from Haiti, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Asia, Central and South America and the Caribbean Islands, the NAACP affirms that any immigration reform must take into consideration the need for just treatment for all people throughout the African Diaspora. Diaspora. The NAACP calls on the United States States Congress to increase the minimum wage by instituting a fair "livable wage" which ensures that all American workers, be offered jobs which include livable wages, healthcare benefits, and safe working conditions, legally compliant working hours as well as other benefits and protections afforded hard working American citizens. citizens. The NAACP rejects the principle principle that immigrants are tak taking ing  jobs that tha t Americans, Amer icans, specifically spe cifically African Af rican American Am erican and other oth er unemploye une mployed d workers, worke rs, do not n ot want wan t and calls on the federal government (U.S. President, Congress, U.S. Department of Labor) to identify the job categories that are currently unemployable as well as the geographical locales that are either currently experiencing or are likely susceptible to economic dislocation and high worker displacement and provide over five-years a $3,000 annual tax credit (annually (annually adjusted adjusted for inflation)to all American American citizens employed in a job category or geographical locale locale identified by the federal government as an unemployable unemployable job category or geographical locale. locale. The NAACP supports comprehensive, com prehensive, fair, and non-discriminatory legislative proposals that allow people to earn the right of citizenship through hard work, after the commitment of several years, and meeting several monetary, security and related requirements. The NAACP strongly opposes any efforts to criminalize undocumented status of immigrants. The NAACP strongly opposes efforts to penalize individuals individuals or institutions institutions for providing noncompensatory humanitarian assistance to their fellow human beings, regardless of the citizenship status status of the person in need of help. The NAACP supports safe, procedurally sound and humane methods to adequately manage the migration of undocumented immigrants into the U.S. The NAACP supports that U.S. immigration policies shall be consistently applied to all immigrants regardless of national national origin. The NAACP believes that immigration immigration reform policies should emphasize family unification by not subtracting the visas given to immediate relatives of U.S. citizens from visas available to all family immigrants thereby reducing the family backlogs in which people wait for far too many years to reunite with their closest family members. The NAACP is opposed to proposals to allow the Department of Homeland Security to detain individuals indefinitely. ENACTMENT OF SAFE, SANE AND SENSIBLE GUN SAFETY LAWS :  At their October Octobe r 2000 meeting, meetin g, the NAACP N AACP national n ational Board B oard of o f Directors Direct ors passed pas sed a resolution r esolution calling for the enactment enactment of safe, sane and sensible sensible gun control measures. Specifically, Specifically, the Board called for legislation requiring that safety devices, such as trigger locks, be sold with all

new guns; thatatgun o wners owners register theirare firearms; of all firearm purchases at gun shows which at least 50 guns offeredbackground for sale andchecks at pawnshops; that all gun owners obtain a license prior to obtaining a firearm, and that consumer safety standards be applied to the gun industry. industry. The NAACP Washington Bureau is working with several several bi-partisan members of Congress, in both bo th the House and the Senate to ensure that the Association’s concerns are addressed in any legislation that is considered or enacted. Lastly, the NAACP is working hard for the renewal and expansion of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, which expired in the fall of 2004 due to a resistance to the ban by the leadership in the House of Representatives. RACIAL DISPARITY IN DEATH SENTENCING:

Capital punishment has always been biased against minorities and especially African  Americans.  America ns. A recent recen t study by b y the Death De ath Penalty Pe nalty Informatio Inf ormation n Center, Cent er, in fact, fa ct, found foun d that in Philadelphia the odds of receiving the death sentence are nearly four times higher if the defendant is African American. American. Since that time, several states placed moratoriums on executions until the guilt of each individual currently on death row can be ascertained beyond a doubt. The NAACP supports an abolition of the death penalty, and, at the very least, supports a  

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moratorium of death sentences until such time as racial disparity issues, adequacy of counsel, and the legality of killing people who are mentally challenged or under the age of 18 are addressed. CONGRESSIONAL VOTING RIGHTS / STATEHOOD FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA:

The residents of the District of Columbia are unique in this country in that they pay federal taxes yet have no voting rights on the floor of the United States House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate. Furthermore, D.C. residents are the only only Americans whose laws can be ov overturned erturned by Congress, in violation violation of American principles of local self-rule. self-rule. Due to the unfair and undemocratic nature of this situation, which results in more than half a million people disenfranchised (and more than 60% of those people are people of color), the NAACP has consistently supported statehood for the District of Columbia. ENSURE FAIR AND IMPARTIAL JUDGES ARE NOMINATED AND CONFIRMED TO THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY:

The American judicial system must be a credible source of justice justice for all Americans. Thus it is the responsibility of the President to nominate, and the US U S Senate to confirm, fair and impartial men and women to the federal bench. In order for the federal jjudiciary udiciary to maintain maintain its credibility credibility it must also be diverse, diverse, and must reflect tthe he citizens it serves. The NAACP Washington Bureau, working in coalition with other groups who share our concerns, thoroughly reviews the records of every nominee to the federal bench to ensure that he or she will serve with an impartial sense of fairness and that he or she will uphold the basic civil and voting rights for which we have fought so long and so hard. Unfortunately President Bush has nomi nominated nated several people to the bench whose records indicate that they are right-wing extremists, many of whom appear poised to use their life-time positions on the bench to promote pro mote their own political agendas. PRISONERS’ RIGHTS, EDUCATION AND TRAINING:

There are currently more than 2 million men and women in America’s federal and state prisons today. Of those, recent studies show that more than 50% are either functi functionally onally illiterate illiterate or have marginal reading, writing writing and math skills. Furthermore, it is estimated estimated that 95% of unskilled jobs in this country require require a high school dipl diploma oma or some work experience. But 40% of released prisoners lack a high school diploma or GED -- more than twice the rate of the general population over 18. In prisons today, onl only y about 1/3 of inmates receive receive vocational training or work experience designed to improve their ability to obtain legitimate employment once released. Even fewer ex-offenders receive job job counseling and placement serv services ices after release. The NAACP supports legislation, the Literacy, Education and Rehabilitation Act  to  to reduce recidivism and the victimization and the fiscal and social costs associated with such recidivism. Studies have shown that inmate participation in education, vocational and job training, prison work skills development, drug abuse, mental health and other treatment programs, all reduce recidivism, significantly. significantly. Unfortunately, the elimination of incentives incentives such as parole, good time credits and funding for college courses, means that fewer inmates participate in and excel in literacy, education, treatment and other development programs. ENCOURAGING YOUTH TO STAY AWAY FROM GANG ACTIVITY:

While the perpetrators of these crimes must be punished, it is becoming clear that we must take a proactive approach and try to steer at-risk youth away from gangs and towards being successful, productive productive members of our communities before a cri crime me is committed. The “Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support and Education Act” (the “Youth PROMISE Act ”) ”) would reduce crime before it happens by investing in researchbased programs. The Youth PROMISE Act mobilizes community leaders and invests almost exclusively in prevention and intervention, as opposed to the standard approach, which is obviously not working, of waiting for a crime to occur and then putting the alleged criminals in  jail.

 

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Specifically, the Youth PROMISE Act  allows  allows communities facing the greatest youth gang and crime challenges to form a council to include representatives from law enforcement, court services, schools, social service organizations, health and mental health providers and community-based organizations, including including faith-based organizations. organizations. These councils will will then develop a comprehensive plan for implementing evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies that fit fit the needs of the particular particular community. These strategies will target young people who are at-risk of becoming becom ing involved, or who are already involved in, gangs or the criminal justice system and redirect them toward productive and law-abiding alternatives. STUDY PROPOSALS FOR REPARATIONS FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS:

For 15 years, Congressman John Conyers (MI) has introduced legislation (which has consistently been given the number H.R. 40) to establish a Commission to Study the Reparations Proposals for African African Americans. This commission would be charged with reviewing the institution of slavery, the resulting economic econom ic and racial discrimination against  African Americans, America ns, and the impact imp act these thes e forces have had ha d on living livin g African Africa n Americans. Amer icans. The bill would also acknowledge the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery in the United States. ECONOMIC ISSUES DEVELOP A FEDERAL BUDGET THAT INVESTS IN PUBLIC EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE, JOB TRAINING AND THE PROTECTION OF CIVIL RIGHTS: A nation’s budget is, in its

aggregate, a statement about the values values and priorities of its people. Each year, the President submits his budget proposal for the following fiscal year to Congress in late February, which sets off the budget process which, ideally, culminates in a federal budget by the beginning of the st

fiscal year, which is October 1  (for more the budget process, see the NAACP Washington Bureau publication, “The pathinformation to a federalonbudget.” The NAACP has historically supported budget proposals that invest in the American A merican people, all the American people, by ensuring that the health, education, crime prevention, protection of civil rights needs and employment needs are met. ELIMINATE PREDATORY LENDING:

“Predatory Lending” occurs when a financial institution institution charges home-buyers or homeowners ho meowners more for loans than is the norm for for someone with their credit rat rating. ing. Predatory lending increases the cost of home-buying or home hom e repair for individual families; as a result, homeowners almost always lose much of o f the financial benefits and security they had hoped to gain by buying a home, and sometimes the home is foreclosed and all is lost. Predatory lending almost always occurs in the “subprime market.” “Subprime loans” are those that are intended to serve people who do not qualify credit traditional including those with blemished credit most histories or without a traditional cfor redit history. loans, While not all subprime loans are predatory, predatory loans are subprime. Predatory lending is espec especially ially prevalent in in the refinancing market Predatory Lending is clearly a civil rights issue: predatory lenders have, for decades, targeted  African Americans, America ns, Latinos, Lat inos, and an d Asians or Pacific Pacif ic Islanders Islande rs as well w ell as the th e elderly and households headed by females. According to several reports reports,, subprime loans are 5 ti times mes more likely in black black neighborhoods than in white white neighborhoods. Furthermore, disparities in lending between minority and White families actually increase as income increases, refuting arguments that subprime lending and predatory features features are introduced solel solely y to mitigate risk. risk. High concentrations of subprime lending and racial disparities in subprime lending exist in all regions of the nation. As a result, we are seeing that African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities are being especially hard hit by foreclosures, losing not only their homes but their savings and, sadly, oftentimes, their hopes and dreams of economic security for them and their families.

 

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ASSIST HOMEOWNERS FACING FORECLOSURE:

In the United States today one home is is foreclosed upon every thi thirteen rteen seconds. Home foreclosures have hit the African American community especially hard: for decades predatory, sub-prime loans (which have led to many m any of the foreclosures) were targeted at African  Americans  America ns and other racial and an d ethnic minorities. minoritie s. In 2006 and 2007, 20 07, at least le ast half of all the home loans sold to African-Americans and at least 40% of all the home loans that Latinos received where subprime. These disparities occurred even when people of color had si similar milar qualifications to white white applicants. It has been reported that communities of color will lose an estimated $213 billion of wealth as the result of foreclosures due to abusive subprime lending. For this reason predatory lending and home foreclosures have been and continue to be a major civil rights issue in America today. We clearly need a multi-pronged approach to solving our Nation’s foreclosure crisis and getting many of these homeowners homeow ners into sustainable, long-term mortgages that accurately reflect the true market price of the home. One way to do this, at no c cost ost to U.S. taxpayers, is is to enact a minor reform of our nation’s bankruptcy laws. Currently, if an individual ffiles iles for bankruptcy, a  judge cannot c annot require r equire a financial financ ial institution institutio n which is foreclosing foreclo sing on that person’s pe rson’s home h ome to renegotiate the loan to attempt to make m ake it more reasonable and sustainable so that the person, and their family, can can stay in their home. The subprime lenders who created thi this s foreclosure crisis are able to seek relief through bankruptcy as well as investors, but homeowners trying to save their primary residence residence cannot. Legislation to close close that loophole and allow allow impartial  judges to require requ ire lenders lend ers to enter e nter into in to loan modification modifica tion negotiation neg otiations s with a person p erson facing bankruptcy could reduce coming foreclosures by 20% -- amounting to 1.8 million homes at no additional cost to taxpayers or investors. ELIMINATE HIGH-COST LOANS, SUCH AS DEBT PERPETUATING “PAY DAY” LOANS:

Predatory lenders strip cash from the earnings of working people at astounding rates. Predatory loans, including high-cost lending such as payday loans, car title loans and refund anticipation loans cost American families nearly $5 billion billion in fees per year. They trap people in debt and make it impossible for individuals or families to save money, build nest eggs, or sometimes even to simply survive. Nearly 12 million Americans are caught in a cycle of five five or more high-cost payday loans per year. “Payday loans” are perhaps the most common common predatory loan. Payday lenders offer small, small, short-term loans while charging annual interest rates of up tto o 400%. One of the biggest problems with payday loans is that consumers who use payday lenders are often in desperate de sperate debt, and the high interest rate makes m akes it so hard to pay back the loan that they quickly find themselves on the perpetual debt treadmill. treadmill. When they cannot pay back the origi original nal loan, they extend it, often paying paying the fees and interest several times over. The end result is that many consumers end up paying far more in fees than what they originall originally y borrowed. This is so common that 99% of all payday loans go to repeat borrowers; the typical payday borrower pays almost $800 on a $325 loan. The sad truth is that many payday lenders locate themselves in low-and moderate income neighborhoods as well as communities with large concentrations of racial or ethnic minorities and areas surrounding military bases. One study found that African African American neighborhoods have three times as many payday lending stores per capita as white neighborhoods in North Carolina, even when the average income of the neighborhood is is taken into account. Another study showed that in Texas, where 11% of the population is African American, 43% of the payday loans were taken out by blacks. blacks. In too many cases, payday lenders are the only financial institutions institutions in a community of color. PROTECTING SOCIAL SECURITY : Under the current system, Social Security will be unable to meet its financial obligations to beneficiaries by the the year 2032. Therefore, over the last few few years politicians politicians and others have sought ways to “save” Social Security. While some proposals call for a reduction in benefits,  

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others call for Social Security funds to be invested in the stock market, or “privatized.”  Because  African Americans America ns and other ethnic minorities m inorities tend to be at the t he low end of the t he earning ear ning scale sca le over their lifetimes, they are generally more dependent upon Social Security in their retirement years. For this reason, any changes changes in Social Security Security are of special iimportance mportance to the NAACP. Specifically, the NAACP has pledged to oppose any proposal that would reduce monthly benefits or eliminate the guarantee of a minimum m inimum monthly benefit; or that would raise the retirement age, as African Americans tend to have shorter life expectancies and would thus be disproportionately hurt by any such increase. EDUCATION ISSUES REDUCE FINANCIAL DISPARITIES BETWEEN SCHOOLS:

Despite the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, C onstitution, decades of civil rights laws and volumes of talk about improving our schools, a dramatic dram atic disparity in the quality of public education continues to plague plague our nation. The quality of our children’s educations, and the amount of resources dedicated to our schools, varies radically based on where you live; yet all children must take the same standardized tests regardless of the conditions of their school. Schools are then rated on how the students performed on these tests, regardless of any other factors, such as the number of certified teachers at the school, the quality and quantity of the textbooks being used, whether modern technology is available, including computers and internet access or the size of the classrooms.  A glaring glarin g example exam ple of this th is inequity inequ ity can be b e found in the State S tate of New York, Y ork, which wh ich recently rece ntly released information showing that in the Bridgehampton Union Free School District in Suffolk County, the per pupil expenditure is $33,408 per year; the Portville School District in Cattaraugus has anyear! annual per pupil expenditure of $6,229, a spending gap of more than $27,000County per pupil per MAKING COLLEGE MORE AFFORDABLE FOR ALL AMERICANS:

Federal financial student aid is perhaps more important important now than ever before. For years, college costs have risen at rates higher than inflation. inflation. Over the last 30 years, tuition at public 4year colleges has increased by about 50%, and a nd tuition at private 4-year colleges has increased by a whopping 110%. In 2003 the average costs were $12,841 per year for students attending public colleges and universities, and $27,677 per year for students at private colleges and universities. Given the growing cost of college, and its increased importance, most (62%) full time postsecondary students received some sort of financial aid, including student loans, Pell Grants, fellowships, scholarships, and work study. study. The typical student now graduates from college with $17,500 in total federal student lloan oan debt. According to the US Department of Education, as many as 200,000 potential college students are forced to delay or forgo attending a ttending college due to the cost. Furthermore, it has become increasingly increasingly important for workers tto o possess a college degree. In 1997, college graduates earned 1.7 times more m ore than Americans with a h high igh school diploma. Over a lifetime, an individual with a college degree will earn more than $1 million more than someone without their postsecondary degree. Currently, although more than 16% of c collegeollegeaged Americans are black, African Americans represent only 11% of the current college population. Furthermore, 16% of African Americans had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 32% of white Americans. FULL FUNDING FOR FEDERAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS:

In 2001 Congress passed and the President signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act . This law, which reauthorized many of the programs found in the Elementary and secondary Education Act, promised more money to programs such as Title I funding for schools that serve underprivileged children, teacher hiring, training training and retention, and after school school programs. We must now ensure that the bill was not filled with empty promises and that the money is actually appropriated to fulfill the goals of the bill. bill. This means that every year the appropriations bill for  

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the Department of Education should and does contain full funding for the program programs s contained in The Leave No Child Behind Act . PUBLIC SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BONDS:  

 America ’s public schools need  America’s n eed help. he lp. Over 90% 90 % of American Am erican children c hildren -- 53 million m illion this year y ear -attend public schools. schools. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), over ! of these students – 14 million – attend schools that are in dire need of major repair or complete replacement. The GAO further estimates that that public school repair repair and construction needs nationwide are $112 billion and the National Education Association (NEA) estimates that $322 billion is needed. Access to the best public school education for every American child has always been a cornerstone of NAACP N AACP legislative policy. In order to help communities comm unities repair their schools and modernize them for the new millennium, the NAACP supports legislation authorizing the billions of dollars necessary in school construction bonds. These would not be direct grants, grants, but rather a way for the federal government to help states and local governments meet m eet these overwhelming needs. Specifically, legislation legislation consistently introduced by Senator Jay Rockefeller (WV) and Congressman Charles Rangel (NY) (Congressman Rangel has championed this issue for years) would also provide federal funding to help reduce class size in public schools and provide more funding for additional teachers, as well as money m oney to help train new and existing teachers. OPPOSE DISCRIMINATORY "HIGH-STAKES" EDUCATIONAL TESTING OF PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS:

Many states are relying on a single examination to determine important decisions (such as graduating from high or promoting promoti students to the nextthey grade). While these "highstakes" tests serve anschool important role inng educational settings, are not perfect and when used improperly can create real barriers to educational opportuni opportunity ty and progress. Furthermore, one-time, standardized tests may have a disparate impact on students of color, many of whom w hom have not had the benefit of high quality teaching staff, adequate classroom resources, or instruction on the content and skills being tested by the standardized tests. tests. The NAACP supports legislation to require that "high stakes" decisions be based upon multiple measures of student performance and, when standardized tests are used by schools and school districts, that the tests be valid and reliable, measure what the student was taught and provide appropriate accommodations for disabled disabled children. The NAACP also supports legislation legislation to require that individual students are not unfairly denied critical educational opportunities because of their performance on a single, standardized test. REPEAL LAW DISALLOWING STUDENTS CONVICTED OF MINOR DRUG OFFENSES FROM RECEIVING FINANCIAL AID:

Under a current federal law that took effect in 1998, if you need some financial help in order to go to college, one drug conviction can make you temporarily ineligible, and multiple convicti convictions ons may lead to a permanent bar on receiving aid. While the goal of this this law, to ensure that drug dealers do not set up shop on our nations college campuses with federal backing, was laudable, the result is in fact racially and economically discriminatory and adversely impacts tens of thousands of lower-income young adults. In fact, as a result of this law, more than 93 THOUSAND young men and women, women , a disproportionate number of whom are racial and ethnic minorities and the vast majority of whom come from families with total annual incomes of less than $30,000, though they’ve paid their debt to society, are being unfairly and unnecessarily denied access to a higher education, the only sure way to end the cycle of drug addiction, crime, violence poverty and incarceration. Instead of affecting major drug dealers, the group this law was intended to affect, this provision has in-fact primarily impacted students convicted of minor possession and nonviolent related offenses.

 

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INCREASE FUNDING FOR HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES:

There are 103 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) across the nation. In 1965, Congress officially defined an HBCU as an institution whose principal mission was the education of black Americans and was accredited and established before 1964. HBCUs play a critical role in the American higher education system. For most of America’s Am erica’s history, African  Americans  America ns who received a college education educatio n could only get it from an a n HBCU. HBC U. Today, Tod ay, HBCUs HBC Us remain one of the surest ways for an African American, or student of any race, to receive a quality education. Although HBCUs amount to only 3.3 % of all institutions of higher educati education, on, HBCU’s award nearly 50 percent of all bachelor ’s degrees received by black students in the natural sciences, a little more than 25 %of all bachelor’s degrees award in engineering and nearly 25% of all bachelor’s bachelor’s degrees to black Americans. Furthermore, fifty percent of African  American  America n teachers teach ers with wit h four-year four- year degrees de grees graduate gradua te from an HBCU HBC U and HBCUs HBCU s graduate gradu ate disproportionate percentages of African Americans who go directly into graduate or professional schools. HBCUs are among the most diverse colleges colleges and universities wi with th 30% student diversity and 40% faculty faculty diversity, on average. Perhaps one of the most amazing features features about HBCUs is that even with all of these successes, HBCUs cost, on average, $10,000 less than their private counterparts in higher education. Despite the compelling and quantifiable positive attributes HBCUs provide to African Americans and our nation as a whole, HBCUs receive disproportionately fewer public and private dollars than other private colleges and universities. The federal dollars awarded to HBCUs have not kept pace with the increasing campus costs associated with expenditures for technology, energy, security, and other expenses. Because of the vital role played by HBCUs in the higher education of America’s young people, and because of their success at reaching African  American  America n students stude nts in particular p articular,, Congress Cong ress in 2007 2 007 included inc luded an a n additional additio nal $85 million in funding f unding Cost Reduction Access Act , in order for HBCUs inopportunity the College enable thesetheir equal educational institutions to meet&their escalating costs,towhile keeping tuition and fees lower than those of their counterparts. Sadly, just three years later, thi this s $85 million is potentially being cut from the federal budget. The NAACP is encouraging all members and friends to contact both of their U.S. Senators and House Member to urge them to ensure that our HBCUs receive full federal funding; including the $85 million m illion that had been allotted to them under the College Cost Reduction & Access Act . IMPROVE AND MAKE UNIFORM STATE HIGH SCHOOL DROP-OUT AND RETENTION RATES:

In 2001, The No Child Left Behind Act passed with broad bipartisan support. The purpose of No Child Left Behind was to ensure that every student in America would receive a quality education. However, over the past eight years, NCLB N CLB has not lived up to its promises. Certain aspects of the law are difficult to implement and are not bringing about the results we thought it would. One of the major shortcomings of NCLBthis is its failure to hold schools accountable dropouts. Although we believed we addressed issue in the original NCLB legislation,for this portion of the law has not been implemented as we had hoped. Instead, under current law, the only meaningful accountability standard for high schools is students' scores on standardized tests, with virtually no concern given to how many students graduate or drop out of school. Unfortunately, this myopic accountability standard has created an incentive for high schools to push out students who are struggling academically, so that their test scores are not counted in the assessments. Furthermore, the current accountability system also has allowed States to report graduation rates inconsistently and in misleading ways. Finally, NCLB does not require the disaggregation of graduation rates by subgroup, leading to incomplete data on how our schools are doing with one subgroup compared to others. What is clear is the fact that the current high school accountability system is failing both our students and our Nation. Each year, about 1.23 million secondary school students, approximately one-third of all secondary school students, fail to graduate with their peers. In addition, nearly 2,000 secondary schools--roughly 12 percent of all secondary schools in the United States--produce about half of the Nation's Na tion's secondary school dropouts. In these schools, the number of seniors is routinely 60 percent or less than the number of freshmen three years  

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earlier. And almost half of the Nation's African-American students and nearly 40 percent of Latino students attend these so called ``dropout factories,'' while only 11 percent of white w hite students do. HEALTH ISSUES FULL FUNDING FOR AIDS PREVENTION, TREATMENT & EDUCATION :

Every hour, two young Americans become newly infected with HIV. This means that every day, almost 50 young Americans lives are condemned to a hell that few of us can even imagine, with no hope of ever seeing or contributing contributing to the future. Furthermore, AIDS and HIV are disproportionately invading and destroying communities of color in the United States as well as around the world. AIDS is the number one killer killer of African American men ages 25 tto o 44 and the number one killer of African African American women ages 15 to 44. While African Americans make up approximately 12% of the entire U.S. population, we account for 45% of all cases of AIDS reported in 1997. There are fewer HIV-positive people in seven of the 15 target c countries ountries of the Global AIDS Initiative than there are HIV-positive African Americans here at home. Hispanic Americans, like African African Americans, are also disproportionately affect affected. ed. While Latino  Americans  America ns comprise com prise only on ly 12% of o f the overall ov erall population po pulation,, they account a ccount for fo r 21% of o f the AIDS AI DS cases reported in 1997. AIDS is the second leading cause of death for Hispanic Americans between the ages of 25 and 44. Compounding the horror, African American children children account for 58% of pediatric AIDS cases cases in the United States. Hispanic American children children account for 23% of the cumulative pediatric AIDS cases. While much was done to increase AIDS awareness in ethnic e thnic minority communities in the United States, there is still still much more to do. Thus the NAACP Washington Bureau is commit committed ted to working with Congress and the Administration to increase monies for AIDS prevention and treatment. The Washington Bureau is is committed to working with the NAACP Health Department to see that everything that can be done is done to stop the dramatic increase of  AIDS in our communit co mmunities. ies. For more than two decades, however, Washington has been fighting the AIDS epidemic with one hand tied behind its back. Studies have shown that Syringe Exchange Programs (SEPs) are effective in reducing HIV and hepatitis infection rates among injection drug users and their sexual partners. Furthermore, SEPs promote public health and safety by taking syringes off the streets, and protect innocent bystanders, including children, from injuries. SEPs also provide critical health care services including HIV testing, counseling, education, and referral to drug addiction treatment centers. Sadly, since 1988 Congress has banned local and state publi public c health authorities from using federal funds for Syringe Exchange Programs. Program s. In the summer of 2009, the House of Representatives took a historic step by removing the ban on federal funding for SEPs. Unfortunately, in doing s so o the House added a restriction restriction that requires that federally supported SEPs not operate within w ithin 1,000 feet of various places frequented by youth. The NAACP NAAC P strongly opposed the 1,000-foot restriction as it would have made it nearly impossible to utilize federal resources for most SEPs and severely hamper efforts to implement such programs, especially in congested urban areas where health officials assert the need is greatest. greatest. It would have also prevented prevented local authorities from making their own decisions on how to best utilize federal funds in the fight against the spread of HIV / AIDS. Officials in cities like like Chicago, New York and Washington say there are few, if any, places that could house a needle exchange under that rule. Fortunately, Congress has decided to lift the 23-year old ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs and not impose the “1,000 foot rule.” Language lifting the ban and allowing local public health and law enforcement officials to determine where needle exchange e xchange programs should be housed – and where they shouldn’t be – was w as included in the Omnibus Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2010. This bill passed the Congress and was signed into law by President Obama in December, 2009.  

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FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF HEALTH CARE REFORM:

The new leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives, which was sworn in at noon on Wednesday, January 5, 2011, is leading a charge to repeal the He Health alth Care reform legislation, which the NAACP fought so hard to see enacted enacted last year. Less than a year after President President Obama signed the landmark Affordab  Affordable le Care Act  A ct  into  into law, a final vote on the proposal to repeal this crucial legislation legislation is scheduled scheduled for next Wednesday, January 12, 2011. The Affordab  Affordable le Care Act  represents  represents a major overhaul of our Nation’s health care system and w will ill provide more than 32 million Americans, who had been uninsured with health care coverage. Other provisions in this law which were strongly supported by the NAACP would :   Take an aggressive approach to address the health care care disparities disparities that continue continue to plague so many racial and ethnic minority m inority communities. •

  Outlaw discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions.   Not allow allow insurance companies to deny coverage to a person because because he or she has gotten sick.   Expand dependent care so that older children children can can be covered under their parents’ parents’ policies.   Create state-based exchanges through which people without employer-provided coverage can purchase health insurance.   Provide federal federal subsidies subsidies to people people who must purchase their own health insurance and earn between 133% and 400% of the federal poverty level ($24,352 and $73,240 for a family of 3 in 2010).   Increase in in the number of children from low-and middle-income families who have health insurance.   Shave $130 billion off the deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office, Office, the entire package will cost $940 billion over 10 years. It is also, expected to cut more than a trillion dollars from the deficit over 20 years.

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Now is the time when we should be concentrating on fully implementing this new law so that the maximum number of Americans can enjoy the benefits of health insurance while at the same time minimizing the costs costs and risks ass associated ociated to businesses and the the economy overall. We have come too far in the struggle for health care equality to turn back the clock to the days of too many Americans being uninsured or facing distasteful medical decisi decisions ons because they are underinsured. END CHILDHOOD OBESITY:

Obesity rates have soared among all age groups, increasing more than four-fold among children ages 6 to 11over the last 40 years. Currently, 31.8 percent or 23,000,000 children children and teenagers ages 2 to 19 are obese or significantly overweight. Sadly, major disparities exist exist among the obesity rates of children based on race and poverty; for example 38 percent of Mexican-American children and 34.9 percent of African-American children ages 2 to 19 are overweight or obese, compared with 30.7 percent of White children and 39.5 percent of lowincome American Indian and Alaska Native children ages 2 to 5 who are overweight or obese. The toll that this problem is taking on the children, not to mention on their families and on the Nation as a whole is immense. immense. Psychologically, Psychologically, obese children and adolescents adolescents are targets of early and systematic social discrimination, leading leading to low self-esteem which, in turn, can hinder academic and social growth and functioning. functioning. Physically, itit has been proven that obese young people have an 80 percent chance of being obese adults and are more likely than children of average weight to become significantly significantly overweight or obese adults, and therefore more at risk for associated adult health problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. Not only as does childhood obesity lead to physical but it can be fiscally draining well, on the individuals, individuals , their families,and andemotional the Nationissues, as a whole. People in the United States spend about 9 percent of their total medical costs on obesity-related illnesses, which equates to as much as fourteen billion dollars per year in direct health care costs.  

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HOUSING ISSUES

UNIVERSAL, DECENT & AFFORDABLE HOUSING :

For close to half of American families, owning an affordable home hom e or even fining a safe and affordable rental unit is ffinancially inancially unattainable. In fact, the problem is getting getting worse. The number of American families with “worst case” housing ho using needs continues to grow, while the inventory of affordable housing housing shrinks. Furthermore, statistics statistics show that race and age play a significant role in the ability ability of a family to own a home. While 71% of Caucasian households own their own home, only 47% of African American and 46% of Hispanic American families own their residences. Renting a home has also become harder in the the last decade. Between 1996 and 1998, rents rose by 1.6% while the median income income of renter households grew by onl only y .3%. From 1995 to 1997, the income of the poorest 25% of renter households fell by 2.6%, while rental costs increased by 4.5%. At the same time, well over 100,000 units of housing for very low-income families was demolished without without replacement. Lack of safe affordable housing housing has an enormous impact on American families families and our communities. Families with high high housing costs are forced to choose between paying for for housing and putting food on the table. Children who live in substandard housing are more likely to suffer from debilitating conditions such as asthma and lead poisoning. In 2008, the NAACP-supported National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) was created at the federal level. The NHTF will provide funds to states and local munici municipalities palities across the nation for the production, construction, preservation and rehabilitation of badly needed homes that are affordable and secure for the lowest-income lowest-income Americans. In his budget request for fiscal fiscal year 2010, President Obama requested that Congress C ongress fund the NHTF at $1 billion as an initial capitalization. Under the legislation that created the NHTF, 90% of the funds must be used for rental housing that extremely low income families families can afford. Data from a 2008 survey shows that nati nationwide, onwide, for every 100 extremely low income renter households, there were only on ly 37 homes available which they could afford, for less than 30% of their income. The NHTF would also create American jobs: it is estimated that a $1 billion inv investment estment in the NHTF will create 15,100 construction construction jobs and 3,800 jjobs obs in on-going operations. Furthermore, when low-income Americans are not spending over 30% of their income on housing, they can afford to spend more on o n food, child care, transportation, and other basic human needs. The problem is that although authorized, the NHTF NH TF has yet to be funded at all. ENACT A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM TO COMBAT HOMELESSNESS:

 About 3.5 3 .5 million people in America Amer ica are likely to experien e xperience ce homelessnes hom elessness s in a given giv en year. year . Of these, 39%, or 1.35 million are children. People of color – particularly Afri African can Americans – are a disproportionately large percentage of the homeless population. population. A 2002 study showed that the urban homeless population is estimated to be 50% African American, 35% white, 12% Hispanic  American,  America n, 2% Native N ative American Am erican and 1% Asian American. Am erican. Approximately Appro ximately 40% of men m en who are homeless are American veterans. The composition of the the average homeless family is is a single parent household headed by an African-American female. Unfortunately, these numbers appear to be on the increase. To try to address this problem the NAACP supports the “Bringing America Home Act ”. ”. This comprehensive legislation includes resolutions putting Congress on record as supporting housing as a basic human right, Universal U niversal Health Care and a Living Wage; a dramatic expansion of federal resources for affordable housing and homelessness h omelessness programs; a dramatic  

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expansion of health care and services for people experiencing homelessness; greater income and work supports for people experiencing homelessness; temporary worker protections; and civil rights protections for people experiencing homelessness. The “Bringing America Home  Act ” represents the most far-reaching initiative to date to address modern m odern homelessness and is based on research, data, and the experience of front line providers and advocates. PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR TESTERS TO UNCOVER HOUSING DISCRIMINATION IN AMERICA:

Currently, despite the enactment of the Fair Housing Law more than 40 years ago, experts estimate that as many as 4 million fair housing violations violations occur each year. Yet less than 8% of these violations are actually reported to federal, state or local housing authorities and only a handful of those and result to in flourish charges.in The resulttoday. is, sadly, that housing discrimination is are aliveinvestigated and well and allowed America The NAACP therefore supports increases in funding for both the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (“FHIP”) and the Fair Housing Assistance Program (“FHAP”), through which the federal government provides assistance to states and local governments to investigate and enforce Fair Housing complaints within their jurisdictions. INTERNATIONAL ISSUES ELIMINATE U.S. TRADE AND TRAVEL EMBARGOS ON CUBA:

 After 40 4 0 years, years , the current cu rrent U.S. U .S. restrictions restr ictions on o n trade and travel tra vel between betw een the United States and a nd Cuba have proven most m ost effective in creating tremendous and on-going hardships for the people of Cuba and hurting American businesspeople businesspeople and travelers. The continuation of the the embargo on United States Cuba has, fact, itself tofacing be counterproductive as ittrade has between made thethe United States theand scapegoat for in most ofproven the problems Cuba today and in many ways strengthened the resolve of the Cuban people to retain their current government. Furthermore, the United States can best support democratic change in Cuba by promoting trade and commerce, travel, communications, com munications, and cultural, academic, and scientific exchanges. Expanding bilateral trade with the Cuban people is one of the most effective ways of influencing change from within Cuba’s society and promoting progress on human rights and democratic rule. It is also true that since many United States trading partners, including all other countries in the Western Hemisphere, trade with Cuba, Cu ba, the affect of the United States policy is to disadvantage United States farmers and businesses that could otherwise compete in the Cuban market. These facts have led many leading newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Orlando Sentinel Tribune, to come out in opposition to current U.S. policy towards Cuba. As the Orlando Sentinel recently recently argued, “The ban on U.S. travel is futile, self-defeating, a waste of scarce resources and inconsistent with other American policies.” PEACE IN SUDAN:

The government of Sudan has allowed an orchestrated campaign of genocide against the black  African population populat ion in the th e Darfur Darf ur region regio n of western w estern Sudan. Furthermore, Further more, the Sudanese Sud anese government has severely restricted humanitarian and human rights r ights workers’ access to the area in an attempt to inflict further harm on the Fur, Masaalit and Zaghawa people who live in the region. There have been over 400,000 deaths of innocent innocent Sudanese civili civilians ans by government forces and the government-backed Janjaweed militia m ilitia and there are an estimated 2 million civilians in camps for internally displaced peoples within Sudan and an additional 200,000 people living in in camps in neighboring Chad. Reports state that many, many more may die die in the upcoming months unless humanitarian aid is immediately imme diately delivered to the affected areas; it is now reported that as many as 35,000 people are dying each month and that this number could easily rise to 100,000 per month in the near future.

 

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Despite the fact that the US Congress and the Bush Adm Administration inistration have both declared that the situation in Sudan is genocide, little has been done to ease the killing and misery that rocks the region. Most recently, the United United Nations’ International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur ffound ound that the Sudanese government committed war crimes, including a pattern of killings, rape, pillage and forced displacement but the report stopped short of calling the situation “genocide.” The United States needs to become aggressively involved in addressing this humanitarian crisis. The perpetrators of these crimes must be taken before the International Criminal Court. Furthermore, the United States should seek a United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing a multinational force to intervene in Darfur with a mandate manda te to protect civilians and enforce the ceasefire that the government and the rebels signed last year (which has been largely ignored toIndate). While a United Nations force would be ideal, it would clearly takeregion time time to put together. the meantime, the 1,000 African African Union troops who are currently in the should be given a greater mandate, and additional resources, and manpower, to protect civilians. Lastly, the refugees must be given given the opportunity to return to their homes in safety. Because the United States has found that the situation in Darfur constitutes genocide, we now have a legal (under the Geneva conventions) as well as a moral obligation to take aggressive action to stop stop the killings. killings. A decade ago, the U.S. refused to act as genocide unfolded in Rwanda. We must not repeat our past mistakes. Now we must take take aggressive action in coalition with the African Union to stop the killings and displacements that are occurring in Sudan. Furthermore, on January 9, 2011, Southern Sudan voted to secede from the North. This vote was promised as part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005, which ended a brutal civil war between North and South Sudan that claimed some two million lives. The northern Government of Sudan in Khartoum, ruled by Omar al-Bashir, has obstructed preparations for the vote and sent signals that a vote for independence may n not ot be accepted. Southerners have warned of violence if a credible vote does not take place on time. Secretary of State Clinton has called the situation in Sudan a “ticking time bomb.” The U.S. Director of National Intelligence called Southern Sudan the place where a new mass killing or genocide is most likely to occur. In addition, the safety of over a million Southern Sudanese living in Northern Sudan is of great concern. As the referendum approaches, reports of inflammatory, racist rhetoric against Southerners in the North – the type that has preceded other outbreaks of genocidal violence - are growing. The key border town of Abyei – which has been a flashpoint for violence and includes valuable oil reserves – is also supposed to hold its own referenda on January 9 th on whether to remain part of North Sudan or join the South. However, talks on preparations for the Abyei referendum recently collapsed, and the chance of a peaceful and on-time vote in Abyei grows slimmer by the day. The impact of the chaos in Sudan Suda n is felt by its neighboring countries. As of 2006, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda provided shelter for roughly 500,000 Sudanese refugees, this number includes about 240,000 residents of Darfur that were driven from their homes by the Janjawid armed militia and the Sudanese military forces. The United Nations estimates that 200,000 to 300,000 people have died in Darfur since the start of the current conflict in 2004 from direct violence and other conditions related to camp living or deprivation. deprivation. In the Darfur region of Sudan, out of a total population of around 6.2 million, an estimated 4.7 million people are currently directly affected by the conflict. The NAACP supports involvement by the United States and international community to prevent a new wave of violence and human rights violations. Specifically, the U.S. should use high-level diplomacy to:  

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  Press for free and on-time referenda on the status of South Sudan and Abyei, and ensure that Sudanese parties and the international community to respect the outcomes.   Demand unimpeded access for peacekeepers and humanitarian aid organizations throughout Sudan, and push pu sh for robust international human rights monitoring.   Secure commitments commitments from governments governments in in North and South Sudan to protect human rights before, during and after the referendum, re ferendum, including citizenship rights of Southerners living in the North, and vice versa.   Push Sudanese parties to reach agreements on key post-referendum post-referendum issues issues such as oil oil and wealth sharing and border demarcation, as well as citizenship and protections for human rights.   Publically denounce all acts of violence against civilians civilians and violations violations of agreements by

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all parties in Sudan, and hold North and South accountable by offering both incentives for peace, and consequences for backsliding. ENHANCE AID, TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS THROUGHOUT AFRICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 

While legislation was signed into law to expand importation of goods goo ds into the United States from countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and Central America in 2004, several NAACP concerns were left unanswered. Thus, while the NAACP is pleased to see the United Stat States es Congress and the Administration recognizing the importance and the potential of these two areas, we hope over the next few years to address concerns such as a protection of workers rights and the forgiveness of African nations' debt. DEBT RELIEF FOR IMPOVERISHED NATIONS

 Acquiring  Acquirin g international intern ational debt is sometim s ometimes es a necessary nec essary tool t ool used by nations natio ns to finance fina nce the domestic human and infrastructure development needs of their citizens and country. Unmanageable debt, however, can become a deterrent to meeting basic human needs and the future development of a nation. For example, in Sub-Saharan Afri Africa, ca, the approximate number of people living on less than a dollar a day has actually increased increased since 1990. If current trends are not reversed, Africa will be the only region in the world where there will be more poor people in 2015 than there were in 1990. The Jubilee Act  will  will help lift the burden of international debt which many poor and developing nations face as obstacles to fulfilling their full potential. potential. The World Bank and the United Nations have estimated that an additional $45 billion to $75 billion will be needed globally globally every year to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015. Some of this money can be generated from aid, but new infusions of aid cannot be effective unless the drain of debt payments is stopped. Pouring more aid into impoverished countries without debt cancellation is like trying to fill a bathtub with the drain open. Debt prevents nations from fulfilling fulfilling crucial needs such as health care, housing, education and strategic infrastructure development. In countries such as Burundi, Ghana, Honduras, Tanzania and Zambia, money saved from debt relief has been used to improve infrastructure, allowing countries to become more self sufficient and expand national services such as education, health care, housing as well access to daily basic necessities of life such as food and clean drinking water. To address the overwhelming problem of debt faced by some Nations, the NAACP supports the Jubilee Act , which calls for the U.S. Treasury to support 100% debt relief to poor countries that need it most. This legislation legislation would help deeply indebted countries to improve infrastructure, education, housing and health care and to ensure access to adequate nutrition and clean drinking water. ESTABLISH A DEPARTMENT OF PEACE

From the growing rate of domestic incarceration to increasing problems of international violence, the United States has no more serious problem in our midst than the problem of violence itself. Prison-building Prison-building is our largest urban industry, and we spend over 400 billion dollars a year on military-related expenditures. Yet there is within the workings of the U.S. government, no platform from which to seriously wage peace. We place no institutional heft  

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behind an effort to address the causal issues of violence, diminishing its psychological force before it erupts into material conflict. From child abuse to genocide, from the murder of one to the slaughter of thousands, it is increasingly senseless to merely wait until violence has erupted before addressing the deeper well from which it springs. The problem of violence is a many layered one, and its solution will be, as well. While no one action -- governmental or otherwise -- will provide a single solution to such an entrenched and deeply rooted problem, we must mu st treat the problem itself as an all-systems breakdown requiring an all-systems response. The campaign to establish a U.S. Department Departmen t of Peace is only one aspect of a fundamental response to the problem of violence, is critical.can It represents important as American citizens, to do everythingbut weit possibly to save thean world for ourcollective children'seffort, children. Domestically, the Department of Peace will develop policies and allocate resources to effectively reduce the levels of domestic and gang violence, child abuse, and various other forms of societal discord. Internationally, the Department will advise the President and Congress on the most sophisticated ideas and techniques regarding peace-creation among nations. INCREASE STABILITY IN AND HUMANITARIAN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO HAITI:

The catastrophic earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010 decimated the nation’s infrastructure, institutions, institutions, service delivery systems and traumatized millions of Haitian families with a residual impact on Haitian communities in the U.S. U .S. In this hour of grave crisis, it is imperative that African Americans, other people of African descent and all people of goodwill mobilize/organize to relieve the enormous suffering, aid the recovery process and commit to a long term effort to rebuild/reconstruct the first Black Republic as a beacon of hope and promise for the world. LABOR ISSUES EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT:

It is currently legal in 27 states to discriminate d iscriminate in hiring decisions based on an a n individual’s perceived sexual orientation. The Employment Non Discrimination Act, consistently introduced by Congressman Barney Frank (MA), expands federal protections against employment discrimination to include include sexual orientation. It also allows every American the right to be free from discrimination because of personal pe rsonal characteristics unrelated to successful job performance. ENABLE WORKERS TO JOIN A UNION :

For almost a century, unions have helped American workers increase their standards of living for themselves and their families families on many fronts. Currently, union workers earn 26% more in median weekly wages than non-union workers; unionized women earn 31% more than their non-union counterparts, and black union workers earn 29% more than non-union African  Americans.  America ns. Furthermore, Further more, 75% of union workers w orkers have health he alth benefits, be nefits, compare co mpared d to 49% 49 % of nonno nunion workers. 69% of union workers have short-term dis disability ability coverage, c compared ompared to 30% of their non-union counterparts. Finally, 82% of union union workers get life insurance, insurance, compared with 51% of non-union workers. The impact of unions – ensuring that all working Americans are treated well and share in the prosperity – cannot be overstated. overstated. Despite the continuing strength and advocacy power of unions, however, some employers continue to treat workers poorly, not paying them a fair wage or providing with30necessary necess benefits: thehas purchasing power workers’ wagesmore is 5%than below wherethem it stood yearsary ago. CEO pay continued to ri rise seofand is currently than 1,000 times the earnings of the average worker. The richest 13,000 US families families have nearly as much income as the poorest 200 million million combined. And some employers continue to fight fight the  

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legitimate organization organization of unions. 70% of American employers in manufacturing manufacturing threaten to close the plant ifif workers choose a union. Furthermore, in the 1950’s, when 30% of workers belonged to unions, only a few hundred workers suffered retaliation for trying to organize a union; in 1969, the number or workers suffering retaliation was just over 6,000 and by the 1990’s more than 20,000 workers w orkers each year were victims of discrimination when they tried to organize a union. To address this situation, the “Employee Free Choice Act ” will make sure workers have a fair chance to exercise their democratic right to choose a union u nion by making it easier for a union to act as a mediator for workers if the majority of workers have provided authorized signatures indicating that they want the union to act as a s their representative, and increasing penalties for violations against employees who are trying to organize a union. EMPLOYEMENT PROTECTION IN THE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTORS:

The NAACP supports equal pay for equal work and a fair shot at promotions for all Americans regardless of their race, ethnicity or gender and protection for whistleblowers. whistleblowers. This should apply to the private and public sectors. ENACT COMPREHENSIVE, AGGRESSIVE JOB CREATION LEGISLATION THAT FOCUSES ON THE NEEDS OF AMERICAN COMMUNITIES AS WELL:

Our nation is going through one of the most difficult economic times times in its history. The national unemployment rate has stubbornly remained unacceptably high, especially among African  Americans  America ns and other racial and an d ethnic minority Americans. America ns. At the same sa me time, time , states and local loca l municipalities are facing facing severe budget cuts. As a result, many communities are finding it difficult to meet the very basic educational, health care, public safety, child care and public transportation needs of their residents. residents. We need comprehensive federal that not only provides jobs to unemployed Americans, but aalso helps our states andresponse local municipalities meet the basic educational, public safety, health care, child care and public transportation needs of our communities without raising taxes. The NAACP strongly supports H.R. 4812, the Local Jobs for America Act  and  and encourages members of both the House and the Se Senate nate to quickly pass comprehensive jobs legislation to address our nation’s unemployment crisis, but also the challenges being faced by our communities in meeting our basic education, public safety, health care, child care, and public transportation needs. NAACP SUPPORTS A LIVING WAGE:

 A living wage w age ordinance or dinance requires require s employers emplo yers to pay wages wa ges that tha t are above ab ove federal fed eral or state minimum wage levels. Only a specific set of workers are covered by living wage ordinances, usually those employed by businesses that have a contract with a city or county government or those who receive economic development subsidies from the locality. The rationale behind the ordinances is that city and county governments should not contract with or subsidize employers who pay poverty-level wages. Living wages provide much needed raises raises for low-income workers. Wages for the bottom 10% of wage earners fell by 3.9% between 1979 and 1999. The number of jobs where wages were below what a worker would need to support a family of four above the poverty line also grew between 1979 and 1999. In 1999, 26.8% of the workforce earned poverty-level wages, an increase from 23.7% in 1979. Living wage ordinances have been enacted in over 70 localities. The living wage level is usually the wage a full-time worker would w ould need to earn to support a family above federal poverty line, ranging from 100% to 130% of the poverty measurement. The wage rates specified by living wage ordinances range from a low of $6.25 in Milwaukee to a high of $12regarding in Santa Cruz. In (such addition setting setting wage levels, many ordinances ordinanclabor es also have and provisions benefits as to health insurance and paid vacation), relations, hiring practices.  

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