Serrano votes against House passage of emergency spending bill

Yesterday, the House voted to pass the "Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006." The bill included more than $90 billion for military operations, foreign aid, and recovery and reconstruction from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The bulk of the funding, $68 billion, would be allocated to the Department of Defense.

"It is unfortunate that we were forced to vote on this bill without being able to consider the war in Iraq separately," Serrano said. "I fully support more funding to the recovery of the devastated Gulf Coast, but even before this bill reached the floor, I stated that I could not vote for more funding for this futile war in Iraq. The military funding in this bill should be put toward bringing our troops home safely, and nothing more or less."

The bill now moves to the Senate.

Serrano challenges Attorney General on government's enforcement of voting rights protections

On Tuesday, during a hearing of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice and Commerce, Congressman Serrano questioned U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about the Justice Department's enforcement of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA).

"As you know, I represent a district that was created under the Voting Rights Act," Serrano said at the hearing. "How do you defend the department against the charges that it is moving out people who have the institutional knowledge— since the '60s, some of them— to be able to secure our rights, and that this is purposely being done because they're not conservative enough?"

Gonzales denied that any systematic effort existed to undermine the Department's enforcement of the VRA. "And if it were true, it would stop immediately," he said. Gonzales offered to work with Serrano to address concerns surrounding the Department's commitment to the civil rights.

Under Section 5, voting jurisdictions with a history of voter discrimination are required to submit all changes to voting rules, including district maps, polling locations and voter requirements, to the Justice Department for "pre-clearance." Recent press reports have revealed that Bush-appointed Justice Department leaders have cleared election rule changes that were previously rejected by career Justice Department attorneys in internal memos. Other reports have pointed to a spike in retirements within the Department's Civil Rights Division as a symptom of political pressure from the Administration.

In the Bronx This Week

Serrano to headline Out-of-Iraq event

On Monday, March 20th, Congressman Serrano will be the keynote speaker at a Working Families Party event dedicated to ending the Iraq War. Serrano will speak about the war in Iraq and its links to the "war on terror" and the erosion of our civil liberties. Congressman Serrano will also discuss the systematic threats to our democracy posed by the Bush Administration's actions both at home and abroad, and the opportunities for withdrawing the troops from Iraq.

• WHAT: Congressman José E. Serrano to deliver keynote address on Iraq and the war on terrorism at Working Families Party event.
• WHEN: 7 P.M. - 9 P.M., Monday, March 20, 2006
• WHERE: Barnard College, Lehman Auditorium, 202 Altschul. Enter from the west side of Broadway at 117th St.

Bronx Office hosts CITGO community benefits forum

On Thursday, March 16th, Congressman Serrano's New York office hosted representatives from the CITGO Petroleum Corporation and approximately 40 community residents from the 3 nonprofit housing organizations participating in CITGO's heating oil program. Serrano worked with CITGO to set up the program late last year. With the program now in its third month, Thursday evening's forum gave CITGO representatives the opportunity to meet with some of the program's beneficiaries.

Nearly 8,000 low and moderate-income households are currently participating in the 16th Congressional District's reduced cost heating oil program. On December 6th, 2005, 3 Bronx housing nonprofits signed an agreement with CITGO to purchase home heating oil at a 40 percent reduced rate for four months, with the understanding that the nonprofit landlords would return the majority of the savings back to tenants in the form of rent credits. Both residents and their nonprofit landlords have praised this program as a great success, and residents are now seeing significant savings in their monthly rent bills each month ranging from 41 to 77 dollars.

Serrano speaks at town hall meeting on immigration reform

Congressman Serrano was the keynote speaker at a Bronx Immigration Reform Town Hall on March 4th, which drew over 600 participants and representatives of 30 organizations to Hostos Community College. This historic event brought together grassroots organizers, faith-based leaders, community advocates, and activists who are working in concert with the Congressman to educate and empower Bronx immigrants.

At the forum, Congressman Serrano drew long applause when he said, "The Sensenbrenner bill would build a wall along the 2,000 mile Mexican Border after we told the Germans in 1980s to 'Tear down this wall.' We need more bridges, not walls."

He added that "While xenophobes and naysayers decry immigration and fight to restrict immigrants' rights, those same immigrants are revitalizing our inner city neighborhoods, breathing new life into distressed housing stock, bringing family picnics back into our city parks, energizing the service and small business sectors and repopulating neighborhoods that had previously been left for dead."