Senate

The Senate Subcommittee on Appropriations for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies just approved a funding plan for those agencies in Fiscal Year 2014. The full Committee will consider the bill tomorrow.

During the Subcommittee’s consideration of the bill, Senators voiced their appreciation of the bipartisan effort and conversations leading up to the bill. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Chair of the Subcommittee, expressed her commitment to get the bill on the Senate floor saying “If we move this bill, America and the people who live in it will be in a better place.”  Senator Mikulski explained that the appropriations bill laid the groundwork for expanding opportunity in America through empowering students, investing in education and getting people to work in the 21st century.

We agree. The bill not only rejects the painful cuts from sequestration—it provides additional funding in several key areas, especially early childhood education. Here are seven reasons we were dancing in our offices when we saw the details of the Senate Subcommittee’s FY 2014 Labor, Health and Human Services Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill:

1. Early Childhood Education: A $1.43 billion increase for Head Start, including Early Head Start - Child Care Partnerships, plus a $171 million increase for existing Head Start and Early Head Start programs; a $176 million increase for the Child Care and Development Block Grants, including $110 million for new quality improvement grants and $66 million for child care assistance as well as $750 million for Preschool Development Grants.
2. Implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA): $5.2 billion to the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services to implement the Affordable Care Act, an increase from $3.9 billion in FY 2013.  The ACA will help nearly 30 million Americans, including nearly 15 million women, to access high-quality, affordable health insurance.
3. Mental Health: $40 million for Project AWARE State grants, which will focus on making schools safer and connecting young people with mental health services, and $40 million in new funding to address shortages in the behavioral health workforce.

Because Congress did not act by July 1, subsidized student loan interest rates doubled from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. And student debt in the United States already totals $1.1 trillion, more than credit card debt. 

Today, the Senate will vote on the Keep Student Loans Affordable Act, which would bring the interest rate back down to 3.4 percent for one more year while Congress can consider a long-term solution. The alternative proposal would be more permanent, but would tie the student loan interest rate to the market, with no cap. That may reduce the deficit, but on the backs of needy students! Read more »

This week and next week, the Senate is debating S. 744, the comprehensive immigration reform bill. The current version of the bill includes provisions that are important for immigrant women, including protections survivors of domestic violence and for workers who report abuse, discrimination, or wage law violations on the job. As the bill is debated, we urge Senators to protect these provisions, ensure that women have full access to the path to citizenship, and to guard against amendments that harm women and families.

In a letter to the Senate, sent out this morning, we urge Senators to be guided by the following principles as they consider comprehensive immigration reform:

• Ensure that immigrant women have fair access to the path to citizenship and to green cards.
• Protect against employer exploitation of immigrants.
• Ensure work authorization for spouses.
• Make affordable health care available to lawfully present immigrants.

Yesterday, two different Congressional committees voted against protections for sexual assault victims:

• The House Judiciary Committee, while considering a 20 week abortion ban, voted AGAINST including an exception for victims of rape and incest. During the Committee meeting, Representative Trent Franks joined the long list of abortion opponents who have claimed that the chance of “rape resulting in pregnancy is very low.”
• The Senate Armed Services Committee, in considering a set of new protections for victims of sexual assault, voted AGAINST a provision to give the responsibility for addressing these crimes to independent prosecutors and away from the chain of command. As you may recall, there have been several very public stories in the last few months of commanders failing to pursue claims of sexual assault and overturning sexual assault convictions. And, even reports that the officers charged with enforcing these laws accused of sexual assault themselves.

It is important to note that these two votes took place in very different contexts – the House vote took place during consideration of a bill designed to limit women’s rights while the Senate vote took place during consideration of a bill that will otherwise strengthen the military’s prevention of and response to sexual assault. Read more »

Last week, Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, introduced the Strengthening America’s Schools Act of 2013, a bill to reauthorize (fancy word for “update and fix”) the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as No Child Left Behind.

The “mark-up” of the bill—when the HELP Committee votes on amendments and hopefully sends the bill to the full Senate—starts tomorrow.

The National Women’s Law Center supports http://www.nwlc.org/resource/letter-help-committee-support-strengthening-americas-schools-act this bill, and urges the Senate HELP Committee to further strengthen it during tomorrow’s mark-up. Read more »

Since it came out a few years ago, I’ve been fascinated by the website Microaggressions. The website attempts to create a dialogue around the way small interactions about race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or other characteristics can have enormous impact on an individual’s lived experience. According to the website, “microaggressions are brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, they communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative…slights.” The website is filled with stories of comments and experiences that make submitters feel “erased,” “ignored” or like they don’t matter.

While many of these incidents may seem minor in isolation, put together – and depending on the surrounding circumstances – they can rise to the level of bullying or harassment. This is a particular problem in schools. I certainly remember how, in middle school and high school, a small comment about my hair being frizzy or me not wearing makeup could throw off my entire day. When such comments or other conduct is severe or pervasive, it can create a hostile environment, in which the victim cannot focus on or succeed in his or her schoolwork. In educational settings, harassment is more than a hurtful inconvenience – it’s a barrier to an effective and fair learning environment. Read more »

Today, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) is introducing the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act. This bill is an important step forward in stopping harassment on college campuses. It is named after the former Rutgers University student who, in 2010, tragically took his own life after his roommate used a webcam to spy on him kissing another man and spread links to the webcam stream via Twitter.

The Act would require colleges and universities receiving federal aid to develop and distribute a campus harassment policy that would:

• apply to harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion;
• prohibit harassment of students, faculty, and staff;
• describe the school’s harassment prevention programs;
• explain the procedures that a student should follow if he or she is harassed; and
• set out the procedures that the school will follow once an incident has been reported, including possible sanctions to be imposed in a disciplinary proceeding.

Tuesday, two more federal district court judges, John Dowdell (Northern District of Oklahoma) and Jesus Bernal (Central District of California) were confirmed by the Senate. This follows on the heels of confirmation votes on four district court judges last week, and, potentially one or more votes this afternoon. Although some commentators have characterized these votes as progress, which I suppose it would be as a relative matter, it's important not to forget the Senate minority's blockade of confirmation votes in the months preceding the election: for example, Senate Minority Leader McConnell announced in mid-June that no more circuit court nominees would receive a vote until after the elections, and backed it up with a filibuster of the nominee to an Oklahoma seat on the 10th circuit in July. Further, Senate Republicans only allowed votes on three district court nominees in September. And it's not as though the votes were coming fast and furious before June. Read more »

Wednesday, the Senate confirmed Michael Shea to the District Court of Connecticut. He had been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and thus ready for a vote before the full Senate on April 26, 2012 – over seven months ago. So for seven months, the people of Connecticut have been contending with an overburdened federal court system while a minority of the Senate refused to allow a vote on now-Judge Shea’s nomination.

As an article in the Hartford Courant detailed, “Two of Connecticut's eight federal judgeships are vacant and some of a half-dozen or so semi-retired senior judges – two of whom are 88 years old – carry substantial caseloads.” The article went on to note that “The shortage in Connecticut has not been classified an emergency. But federal litigants in the state now depend on jurists from states such as Arkansas, South Dakota and Montana to preside over scores of their civil trials.” Read more »