Working for Democratic Majorities
By Mike Hersh, Oct 10, 2006

I work with Progressive Democrats of America, various MeetUp.com groups, MoveOn.org and Democracy for America - all of which endorse and support Democratic control of the House and Senate. I stand for the issues by working for the issues every day. I'm proud to work to help John Conyers return as the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee replacing Right wing anti-immigrant extremist Sensenbrenner next January and Russ Feingold will assume the Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights.

PDA works closely with the Congressional Progressive Caucus. I was proud to work with their Executive Director Bill Goold on the CPC "retreat" which brought together several members of Congress with dozens of grassroots organizations last Spring. Why do progressives like PDA and the CPC want to help Democrats regain control of the House? The following CPC members are currently in line to become committee chairs if Democrats gain a majority:

* George Miller, Education and Workforce
* Barney Frank, Financial Services
* Henry Waxman, Government Reform
* Bennie Thompson, Homeland Security
* Tom Lantos, International Relations
* John Conyers, Judiciary
* Louise Slaughter, Rules
* Nydia Velazquez, Small Business
* Charles Rangel, Ways and Means

The following CPC members would become subcommittee chairs:

* Appropriations: Rosa DeLauro, Marcy Kaptur, John Olver, Jose Serrano, and Ed Pastor
* Armed Services: Neil Abercrombie
* Education and Workforce: Lynn Woolsey and Dennis Kucinich
* Energy and Commerce: Ed Markey, Jan Schakowsky and Hilda Solis
* Financial Services: Maxine Waters and Luis Gutierrez
* Government Reform: Diane Watson, Dennis Kucinich, Elijah Cummings, Danny Davis of Illinois, and William "Lacy" Clay
* International Relations: Donald Payne
* Judiciary: Sheila Jackson-Lee, Jerry Nadler and Melvin Watt
* Interior: Raul Grijalva, Tom Udall and Donna Christensen
* Rules: Jim McGovern
* Small Business: Madeleine Bordallo
* Transportation and Infrastructure: DeFazio, Filner, Holmes-Norton, and C. Brown
* Ways and Means: Pete Stark, Jim McDermott, and John Lewis of Georgia

(Thanks to Tim Carpenter, PDA Executive Director)

Progressive Democrats are the key to progress on the issues. PDA works to help elect the best, most progressive candidates. We do that because that's the best way to make progress on the issues. We behave the same way between elections as we do during elections. We're always working for progress on the issues. Don't let anyone's snarky remarks mislead you.

Election season gets the most attention, but PDA does most of our work behind the scenes. We push for progress from the grassroots to the Halls of Congress every day of the year, not just when the cameras are rolling. We always put the issues first. We get yelled at by some of our Democratic friends for supporting people like Donna Edwards and our own Marcy Winograd in the primaries against incumbent Democrats. We won't stop. For more on PDA, see: www.pdamerica.org.

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