TThe United States Senate has confirmed Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The 55 to 44 vote makes Brooks-LaSure the first Black woman to lead CMS in its nearly six-decade history.
Lawmakers are seeking to honor Officer Goodman for his actions that may have saved the lives of many people, including members of Congress, during the deadly insurrectionist attack at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. “He’s a hero. The United States Capitol was under attack by armed, violent extremists, and Officer Eugene Goodman was the only thing standing between the mob and the United States Senate,” Florida Democratic Congressman Charlie Crist declared.
Black women leaders have a recommendation for Dianne Feinstein, California’s senior U.S. Senator: consider giving up your own seat so that California Secretary of State Alex Padilla can fill it. Their call is to appoint a Black Woman with political experience and a track record of success – someone who will be ready on day one to serve.
U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) on Wednesday delivered a speech on the floor of the United States Senate announcing that she will vote to convict President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The appointment of Representatives Jeffries and Demings as managers of the impeachment trial is a historic moment for the Congressional Black Caucus. This is the first time in history that members of the Congressional Black Caucus and women have been selected to play such a crucial role in a presidential impeachment hearing. Regardless of what happens, United States history will note that President Donald Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives. We must now look towards our colleagues in the Senate, on both sides of the aisle, to have the courage to stand for a fair and open impeachment process with evidence and witnesses.”
Carol Moseley Braun became the first African American woman to be elected to the United States Senate, 1992.
It was three years ago that a group of national business leaders launched a movement called Black Wealth 2020 partially based on the economic vision articulated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King said in his final speech on April 3, 1968: “It’s all right to talk about streets flowing with milk and honey, but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here and his children who can’t eat three square meals a day. It’s all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God’s preacher must talk about the new New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee.”
Today’s vote is a betrayal of the Senate’s constitutional duty to advise and consent. The Urban League Movement opposed this nomination because of his extremist positions on civil rights, workers rights, and social justice. A complete vetting of his background was impeded by the White House, which withheld the vast majority of pertinent records.
Dorothy Leavell, Chairman of the NNPA and publisher of the Crusader Newspapers, stated, “The death of Senator John McCain reminds us that none of us are immortal, but his life was one of service and love for his country. Giving of one’s service until the end speaks volumes of his integrity and he fulfilled the call from our maker to be of service to others.”
U.S. Senators Kamala D. Harris (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Tim Scott (R-SC), the only African American members of the United States Senate, have introduced legislation to make lynching a federal crime.