If Kids Could Vote; Hillary and the Women of Afghanistan
August 17, 2010
IF KIDS COULD VOTE
The House interrupted its summer recess on Tuesday to approve $26 billion in aid to school districts and states to prevent large-scale layoffs of teachers and public employees and to engage in another partisan fight over policy priorities.
- The New York Times, August 10, 2010.
Congress finally overcame objections to pass the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act last week, enabling states to continue employing thousands of public school teachers, public safety employees and emergency workers, and helping provide Medicaid health care benefits.
More than 130,000 teachers will be back at work in classrooms this fall because of this important legislation. As Senator Patty Murray of Washington said, "It will . . . make sure our children don't walk through the schoolhouse doors this September to larger class sizes and few subjects."
"I don't understand how anyone, Democrat or Republican, can be against keeping teachers in the classroom, keeping cops on the beat and keeping firefighters protecting our homes," said House Majority Leader Representative Steny Hoyer.
Somehow, we think if kids could vote, this bill would have passed even sooner and mud fights would be reserved for the playground!
DID YOU HEAR WHAT BARNEY SAID?
No Limits members got an insider's view of the new Finance Reform bill, when Congressman Barney Frank got on the line. He talked about how the new bill will make a difference, with home mortgages and large financial institutions; what he thinks of Elizabeth Warren as Chair of the Consumer Protection Board – and how insuring vampires helps explain what went wrong at AIG!
Watch highlights of the conversation here:
Remember, No Limits members get to hear regular insider conversations with policy makers, like Senator Barbara Mikulski, telling us about the Mikulski Amendment that ensures access for preventive health care and is now part of the health reform law, or Barney Frank on the most important finance reform legislation since the New Deal.
You won't want to miss our next members-only call.
Sign up here to listen to Barney – and be on the line for calls to come!
HILLARY AND THE WOMEN OF AFGHANISTAN
What will be the future for women in Afghanistan? U.S. Global Ambassador for Women's Issues Melanne Verveer told the U.S. Institute of Peace, "At the International Conference on Afghanistan . . . Secretary Clinton emphasized that women need to be involved at every step of the way in the process of building Afghanistan's future; and she introduced the Women's Action Plan, which is incorporated into our U.S. Afghanistan and Pakistan Regional Stabilization Strategy." That plan includes security, women's political participation, and access to judicial institutions, education and health care.
Thanks to Secretary Clinton's leadership, initiatives underway today in Afghanistan now include: developing skills for women in the civic, economic and political sectors (more than 400 women are registered to run for Parliament); training women police officers; working with women and men in the judicial system on the problem of violence against women; and providing substantial assistance to the Ministry of Women's Affairs.
Hillary has emphasized that ensuring women's participation is critical, not just for the women of Afghanistan, but for the future of their county. In her speech at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Ambassador Verveer referred to Secretary Clinton's intervention at the Kabul conference, where Hillary reiterated, "Over many years, I have observed and participated in post-conflict reconciliation efforts – in the Balkans, Northern Ireland, and Latin America – and I speak from my own experience when I say that the work of Afghan women and civil society groups will be essential to this country's success. If these groups are fully empowered to help build a just and lasting peace, they will help to do so. But if they are silenced and pushed to the margins of Afghan society, the prospects for peace and justice will be subverted."
Read the full text of this important speech by Ambassador Verveer on The Critical Role of Women in Peace and Security.
MEET REDBOOK HERO JANICE SCHACTER!
No Limits member Janice Schacter is featured in the latest Redbook Magazine as a Redbook Hero – and she gives a shout out to No Limits:
"Janice Schacter vividly remembers the day, 13 ½ years ago, when her then-2 ½-year-old daughter, Arielle, was diagnosed with hearing loss," the article begins. It goes on to tell how Janice developed as an advocate, founding the Hearing Access project that is making a difference for the hearing impaired across the country.
At our No Limits policy conference in Washington last November, Janice sat in on the Media panel chaired by No Limits Board Member Barbara Lee and credits the workshop with useful tips. As she says in Redbook, issue-based "groups such as nolimits.org . . . help advocates like me learn new ways to get our messages out there."
You can read Janice's inspiring story here.
WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY - AUGUST 26
On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment ensuring the right of American women to vote was inscribed in the U.S. Constitution, the culmination of 72 years of hard work and political organizing by tens of thousands of women and men – and the greatest expansion of our democracy on one single day in American history.
This year, in honor of Women's Equality Day, let's think about the women of Afghanistan, and all the women around the world, who are trying to achieve the rights we take for granted!
THE LAST WORD
"What exactly does maternal health, or immunizations, or the fight against HIV and AIDS have to do with foreign policy?
Well, my answer is everything."
- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Global Health Initiative Remarks, August 16, 2010. Watch the video here.
