I believe that the divisity is tiring, and stops progress in the US. Contrary to some beliefs, I believe President Bush is striving for unity in the US!!:)
URL:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,89825,00.html
DNC Works to Heal Rift With Congressional Black Caucus
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
WASHINGTON — The Democratic National Committee (search) is taking steps to ease tensions with the Congressional Black Caucus (search) after members of the group were angered by the party's minority hiring.
At the request of the DNC, Alexis Herman (search), who served as Labor secretary in the Clinton administration, is working with the party group and the caucus to help resolve any problems. The DNC also has promised to work closely with the caucus on several issues.
"Alexis Herman has tremendous credibility with, I would venture, every single member of the black caucus and with the black community overall," Rep. Elijah Cummings (search), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Wednesday.
Late last month, the DNC was forced to backtrack on plans to lay off 10 black employees after Congressional Black Caucus members and other leading Democrats expressed outrage. Democratic Chairman Terry McAuliffe met with several caucus members last week, and the DNC agreed to:
--Work closely with caucus members in the party's targeting of key races.
--Have McAuliffe meet regularly with caucus members.
Members of the caucus also will work on a Southern strategy to win races in states where the black vote plays a crucial role.
"I feel comfortable that our issues with the DNC will be resolved," Cummings said. "We are basically on the same page with uplifting the lives of people."
Caucus members have demanded that the DNC award more contracts to minority firms, arguing that it has not put a priority on providing work to a community that typically supports Democrats by a margin of 9-to-1.
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said the organization's concerns date to the 2002 midterm elections and the limited role of minority contractors in get-out-the-vote efforts. In that election, the campaign committees for the House and Senate, and the state parties, handle that outreach effort.
"In the last election, all of this get-out-the-vote stuff was done under contract. If you've got no African-American contractors out there, who was conducting the get-out-the-vote program?" Clyburn said.
Democrats also said they will be providing a list of party job openings to the black caucus and the Hispanic caucus to get input on possible firms that could be eligible. Hispanics in the DNC have been pushing the committee to show its commitment to Hispanic voters by naming New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to be chair of the Democratic National Convention in 2004, a position the Democrats say won't be filled until summer 2004 with input from the party's nominee.
Democratic spokeswoman Debra DeShong said McAuliffe "is proud to have assembled a team made up of the highest percentage of minorities in the history of the party." |
