Avner

A space for general speeches and remarks at the beginning of the House's day with no restrictions on subject matter.

"I don't know how they do things in Compton"

Reggie=LA

Augustus=LA

Teddy= Oakland

The House Majority Leader shall post the docket to be considered by the House of Representatives here.

Announcements of the Speaker of the House

The DNC leadership elections

Me watching the bitterness between the DNC and  the GOP

Not caring about what I do in the presidency while people are making it their best efforts to try and "ruin it"

Can Anderson be given mods for the Naval observatory please? 

Go here

Thanks!

2 minutes ago, Lloth said:

 

Not a problem. We do need to know who else will be allowed access.

POTUS and cabinet members

Can a forum for the naval observatory be made after the break?

Admins have to approve you first

How I feel about studying for days on end

Extremely busy, lowkey dying because of finals. If you need me telegram is best but it may take me awhile to respond.

Writing a major paper so will be away for a couple days but I'll try to be on for awhile on the game. Contact me through telegram if you need something.

LOA until wednesday, Meija will be in charge of the DNC until I return

His own life before the shooting, something we haven't had a chance about, His skills, his life, where he worked, and his family are starters.

Name: Avaline Gibson

Political/Journalistic Background: Press Secretary to CEO April Robinson of Robinson Cooking, former NYT reporter, political commentator for CNN 

@BenjaminButton2 

Karl as we never talked about that at our meeting, I can not answer that but Mrs. Diallo I will say is a strong woman who wants justice for her son. I did urge for the press attention to be focused on the positive aspects of Amadou's life rather than just his death, he was a human being not just an icon of police brutality. 

DNC: Senator Morris should step down as PPT

Addressing a dinner of DNC donors, DNC chair April Robinson told guests that she would also join the chorus of Democrats calling upon Rebecca Morris to resign as president pro tempore due to the corruption charges now being investigated upon her due to her discounting votes of senators in good standing before they resigned. The senator at her press conference admitted this fact and seems unrepentant to what she has done. Ms. Robinson in her closing remarks called for the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the claims of corruption.

“I think the venue of what occurred is very problematic, Senator Morris should not hold any power in the senate while being investigated for corruption. Until the time the GOP decide to replace her, the vice president will continue to act in his duties as president of the senate to ensure fair and uncorrupt practices in the senate.”

Senator Morris issued a press release calling on Vice President Gore to “follow the rules of the senate.” The irony of this is that Rebecca Morris did not follow the rules when she without any information invalidated the votes of two senators who apparently did not share her views on the matter of the partial-abortion ban.

This raises several aspects if this is the only case of where Rebecca Morris has done this. As DNC Chair Robinson, Senator Sherman, and House Minority Leader Dodge have all stated now is the time for Rebecca Morris to resign so a new president pro tempore can be elected and restore confidence in the senate.  Without doing so, it creates nothing but chaos and suspicion on part of Democrats on whether the democratically elected senators votes count under a Morris run senate. As several DNC leaders have called for, the DNC calls for a special prosecutor to be appointed by the Department of Justice, the American people deserve answers to what Morris was doing when counting votes.

Democrats are not inflaming the race situation

Once again as the nation mourns and tries to come to some understanding about the tragic events involving race and violence in our country, the speaker tries to make politics front and certain after releasing a press release calling for calm and for both parties to come together. Speaker White claims that Democrats are associating the Republican Party in particular Senator Rebecca Morris with the KKK. The DNC has nor ever associated the senator with the KKK, nor have we ever associated the Republican party with the KKK. Those allegations are shocking, lies, and disgusting on part of the RNC to even suggest.

What the DNC has made public, was the growing show of indifference by the RNC to support the hates crimes legislation, legislation which would have cracked down on racial violence that has gripped this nation for the past week. Their refusal to support said legislation and claim it’s a government overreach should be attacked as once again the Republican Party being tone deaf. The Democratic Party believes all citizens where created equal, so the law should represent that when it comes face to face with hate motivated crimes against minority communities in this country.

The DNC will not apologize for what one member of our party said, the focus for both parties should be on improving the laws so not another Thomas Ross happens in this country, which should be the focus of the Republican Party who hold a majority in both the house and the senate. However once again that focus has been lost on petty politics being stirred up by John White and Republican senate leadership who in their vain attempts tried to gut the major hate crimes legislation.

Overall going forward, the DNC would like to hear from the American people on ways we can combat racism in our society and our nation in a manner that doesn’t divide us but brings us together to fight hate. Because certainly that is more important than gaining poll numbers and political points in the political arena.

Justice, Justice You Shall Pursue

By April Robinson

Since the tragic events of this past week and now the devastating murder of the Ross family, I’ve had various conversations about the issue of police brutality and systemic racism with fellow Americans. Sadly, these conversations reinforced the conception that in general Americans are out of touch with reality when it comes to understanding race in this country. Americans need to realize that the experiences of a black man are entirely different from those of a white man. They need to understand that black people—everywhere—are not calling everything racist and that there are very real problems to address.

Thomas Ross was a thirteen year old boy who was almost lynched by two white supremacists known to hold membership to the Aryan Youth Front as reported by the Washington Tomorrow. A group known for its vocal and violent solutions to the “race problem” in America; the question is why didn’t the FBI grant protection to the Ross family? And now a case that hangs in the balance due to the only witness and victim dead, it is disturbing to think that an America I grew up in is now breaking by the stems in terms of race.

As a child growing up in Georgia during the 50’s and 60’s, racism was alive and well, we were warned by our parents to avoid speaking to or making eye contact with whites because the response could be brutal. The death of Emmett Till rang clear in the minds of my parents when they themselves where raising us.

The fact of the matter is whether most Americans will admit it, growing up Black in the United States was dangerous then and dangerous now. On top of the violence of continued activities of the KKK and white supremacists, we now deal with the risk of death at the hands of the very people we expect to protect us from those who would harm us. Being Black in America was never easy and while I am proud to be an American, I fear for the life of my child like every other black mother, just like Thomas Ross’s mother feared for him after the attempted lynching. It is a reality we face that no other has to it, this reality makes me cold to those who quote Dr. King and talk about a society that sees no color. Unfortunately we need to see color, to understand differences and come together on those differences. A colorless society allows ignorance and intolerance and while Dr. King’s dream was that his children would be judged by the content of their character; they will never be in America.

I dryly made a point in one of my several conversations that “All Americans are born equal, but some Americans are more equal than others.” Nothing like an Orwellism to hammer home the point that black Americans will always live with the fear of Thomas Ross encounter or a Rodney King encounter, or a Amadou Diallo encounter happening to them, or their children. White Americans on the other hand will not.

Tonight many protestors will continue to march and depend, no justice, no peace. I encourage them due to the fact that the United States has yet to deal with the race problem that has taken decades for this country to address. And when you have those attempts to stifle attempts to stiffen hate crime laws and gut bills; it shows the direction of an America that does not care for minorities. The lives of citizens should and must be protected by all costs afforded by the central power. Minorities are included, Thomas Ross and his family were supposed to be included in that. Times like these prayers and thoughts no longer matter in the general sense, action is required not inaction. Don’t take the easy route out by sending prayers to a dead family but use the chance to do something positive and pass a major piece of hates crimes legislation that would toughen the penalties for those who use hate to commit violence.

April Robinson is the current DNC Chair and Congresswoman for the 5th district of Georgia. She lives in Atlanta with her husband.

DNC in stable hands

Contrary to media reports that the DNC is in chaos over one vote, a melodramatic assessment, the DNC remains in a strong position to counter the awful policy that is now being introduced by house and senate Republicans. As explained before, the DNC is a united big-tent party, there are those who support gun control measures while there are those who are pro-gun rights. While this may upset some people, we must understand the Democratic Party stands behind the common believe in safe gun control and safe gun ownership, a value that all Democrats hold. A vote does not mean the party is suddenly disoriented but shows the strength of the DNC for its multiple voices.

With our new Chairwoman and Deputy Chairwoman, a first in DNC history, we will be ensuring the principles of the middle class will continue to be heard in the halls of Congress. In particular the voices of the marginalized like Thomas Ross and Amadou Diallo and the rising tension of racial violence in this nation. We need leadership and active community dialogue in helping to protect our communities but to also ensure that the police have the resources to deal with migrant and racialized communities with common sense tactics and tactics that respect the community.

An example of what Democrats are doing in congress so the case of Amadou Diallo never happens again is the Police Training and Independent Review Act sponsored by Congressman Tyler Greyson of Ohio which would require in police academies across the nation to have access to fulfill a training session on sensitivity each fiscal year, including training on ethnic and racial bias, cultural diversity, and police interaction with the disabled, mentally ill, and new immigrants. 

Action is being taken but what is needed is for the Republican majority to docket bills that make sense to the American people at a time of national grief and understanding with these new tragic hate crimes engulfing the country. Now is not the time to present a useless bill that only adds to bureaucracy and enlarge the government- a catch phrase of Republican beliefs. Nor is it proper to essentially try and strip a hate crimes bill which would have protected Thomas Ross, we shouldn’t do that in this country and the Democratic party believes such actions are wrong and disgraceful.

Since I couldn't find a thread for this, could we bring back something that we had in the 2005 round in Virtual America, congress members & senators can give a short little statement thing whether it be on radio, newspaper, tv etc instead of a twitter obviously. Could be used for media responses?