Speier Calls Congress 'Enablers of Sexual Assault'

Jackie Speier

Lawmakers came down hard today on military leaders, the morning after allegations emerged of another head of a military sexual assault prevention program engaging in the very behavior he was charged with stopping.

Late Tuesday the Army announced that the coordinator of a sexual assault prevention program at Fort Hood, Texas, is under investigation "for pandering, abusive sexual contact, assault and maltreatment of subordinates." He has been suspended from all duties while his case is investigated by the Army's Criminal Investigative Command.

That report came a week after the lieutenant colonel in charge of the Air Force's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office was arrested for the alleged sexual battery of a woman in a parking lot near the Pentagon.

"Another sex scandal rocks the military," Rep. Jackie Speier said Wednesday. "Is Congress really going to stand by and let the military handle this? "Congress has been an enabler of sexual assault by not demanding that these cases be taken out of the chain of command."

Rep. Speier has a bill pending in Congress that would do precisely that, called the STOP Act. Staff for Speier said the U.S. Capitol Police are investigating threats against the congresswoman.

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin said these reports were evidence of "a disgraceful culture of abuse" within the armed services.

"Reports of a soldier at Fort Hood, Texas, assigned to prevent and report sexual assaults, being accused of serious sexual misconduct, abuse, and maltreatment of soldiers is reprehensible," Sen. Durbin, D-Ill., said in a statement released Wednesday. "Next week, the Army will be before my subcommittee and they will face tough questions about these accusations."

Other lawmakers on Twitter called the Fort Hood scandal " unacceptable," " horrific" and " v[ery] disturbing."

Tuesday Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered that all of the military's sexual assault prevention coordinators and military recruiters to be retrained, re-credentialed and rescreened.

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30th Annual Congressional Awards Reception Honors Members of Congress and Small Business Owners

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Small Business Council of America (SBCA), a national nonprofit organization representing the interests of privately-held and family-owned organizations on tax, employee benefit and health care matters, held its 30^th annual Congressional Awards Reception on May 8, 2013 at the U.S. Capitol.

Senator Mary Landrieu received the Special Congressional Appreciation Award in recognition of her small business leadership in the Senate. As Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Senator Landrieu demonstrates a deep understanding of the issues facing small businesses and their owners and effectively works to solve those problems.  

Senator Rob Portman received the Special Congressional Appreciation Award in recognition of his willingness to tackle difficult and technical tax and employee benefit issues as a member of the Senate Finance Committee. During his tenure in the House of Representatives, Senator Portman was also instrumental in shoring up the qualified retirement plan system to make it work in the small business context. 

Congressman Dave Camp received the Congressional Award for his commitment to comprehensive tax reform. As Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, Congressman Camp has been committed to engaging stakeholders like the SBCA in the tax reform process. 

Jordan Wagner of Los Angeles, California, received the Humanitarian of the Year Award in recognition of his work as Executive Director of Generosity Water. Generosity Water works to fund and oversee the establishment of clean and renewable water sources in developing countries. "What makes Jordan special is that at such a young age, he has learned the importance of helping others in need," said Neil Carrey, SBCA Director and founder of the Humanitarian Award. 

Anthony Sblendorio of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, received the Small Business of the Year Award in recognition of the remarkable success of his company Back to Nature Home and Garden as a leader in ecologically sustainable landscape architecture.  Since its founding, Back to Nature has grown into a multi-faceted company that is behind some of the most innovative projects in New Jersey.  "What I find unique about Anthony is his steadfast desire to educate society about the importance of ecology," wrote Governor David Patterson.

SOURCE Small Business Council of America

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Battle over immigration bill starts in Congress

By Caren Bohan and Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Congress this week opens its first debate in six years on a comprehensive immigration reform bill, testing whether business and labor groups can hold together on a delicately crafted deal that already is under attack.

For 11 million illegal residents, the legislation in the Senate is their best hope of removing the threat of deportation and charting a path to eventual U.S. citizenship after a major push in Congress to reform a 1986 law died in 2007.

The ambitious bill would put more federal dollars into strengthening the southwestern U.S. border against illegal crossings and aims to revamp a dated visa system so that more foreign workers - high- and low-skilled - could enter.

But in a preview of the tough fight ahead, the conservative Heritage Foundation on Monday released a study concluding that the legislation would end up costing the U.S. government $6.3 trillion over the next 50 years as illegal immigrants become citizens and thus eligible for government programs.

The study was quickly attacked by other conservatives, who said it failed to take into account the economic benefits of legalizing the 11 million people.

Amendments to the 844-page bipartisan bill, the product of months of negotiations, were flowing into the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will begin considering the measure on Thursday.

If its backers including President Barack Obama get their way, the legislation will emerge from the committee later this month positioned for approval by an overwhelming majority in the full Senate.

But first, groups ranging from gay rights activists to construction industry representatives are converging on Capitol Hill, trying to win changes.

"Every lobbyist who has any interest in immigration reform is going to be all over the Hill," said Emily Lam, of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which represents high-tech companies such as eBay, Microsoft and Yahoo! as well as other companies such as Citibank and Verizon.

In the first quarter of 2013, 500 organizations and companies registered to lobby on immigration. A sampling includes the Commissioner of Baseball, MGM Resorts , the U.S. Olympic Committee, Perdue Farms, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and a variety of companies in the business of secure identification, such as Cogent, a 3M Company .

The lobbying activity has the eight senators who wrote the bill - four Democrats and four Republicans - nervous that any change could unravel the entire effort.

But that is not discouraging lobbyists from trying.

The construction industry and other business representatives plan to push for increases in the number of low-skilled foreign workers they would be allowed to hire. If successful at any stage of a complicated legislative process, organized labor's support for the bill could erode amid fears the bill would undercut American workers.

Several business groups also are concerned about E-Verify, a system for checking the legal status of workers. All businesses would be required to use it for new hires. Businesses do not object to the mandate but want to make sure they are not held liable if the system turns up erroneous information.

ANGLING FOR A BIG VOTE

Meanwhile, gay-rights activists want the legislation to allow U.S. citizens and permanent legal residents to sponsor their same-sex partners for residency.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont introduced the same-sex partner provision as a separate measure earlier this year, along with Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine. Immigrants' rights groups expect him to offer it as an amendment to the immigration bill.

Including such an amendment "will virtually guarantee that it (the bill) won't pass" the Senate, said Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, one of the eight senators who wrote the legislation.

He made the prediction in an interview last week with the newspaper Politico.

If any of the controversial amendments do clear the Senate Judiciary Committee, they could complicate strategists' efforts for a resounding vote in the full 100-member Senate.

Anything less than 70 votes for passage, they fear, may not be enough to build the type of momentum needed to get the measure through the more resistant Republican-led House of Representatives.

"Seventy (Senate) votes would give the bill a big boost," a senior Senate aide said. "Less than 70 wouldn't kill it, but it would make it a heavier lift."

The strategy of building a big Senate vote to help create momentum to get legislation through the House worked twice before this year: Once on a bill to avert "the fiscal cliff" of steep, across-the-board tax hikes, and also on a measure to renew a landmark law combating domestic violence against women.

The Senate passed the two measures on bipartisan votes of 89-8 and 78-22, respectively.

In both cases, House Speaker John Boehner cleared the way for passage even though a majority of his Republican lawmakers were not on board.

House Speakers generally do not like passing bills opposed by the members of their own party and if they do it too often, it could stir up a political firestorm.

But with the growing number of Hispanic-Americans becoming more influential in U.S. elections, Boehner has expressed support for immigration reform, though he has not endorsed the Senate bill.

"Boehner could decide to save Republicans from themselves by allowing immigration reform to pass," said Ron Bonjean, a former House Republican leadership aide turned political strategist. "And it could cost him the speakership," he added.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Fred Barbash and Cynthia Osterman)

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Pentagon prepares to ask Congress for break from 'sequester'

By David Lawder and David Alexander

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is preparing to ask Congress soon for more authority to shift funds to cope with automatic spending cuts, confronting lawmakers with another exception to the "sequester" just days after they gave a break to the flying public and the airline industry.

The request may be sent to the House of Representatives' Appropriations Committee as early as next week, a House Republican aide said on Wednesday.

The Pentagon won increased budget flexibility in March, but officials have told members of Congress they believe it was insufficient to cover shortfalls in training and operations.

The Defense Department move would follow closely the fix last week to ease airline flight delays caused by the temporary furloughs of air-traffic controllers by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The cuts, known as "sequestration," were originally hatched by Washington in 2011 as a way to force the White House and Congress to find an alternative budget deal rather than have spending cuts kick in automatically.

But policymakers failed to reach such a deal earlier this year and the cuts - totaling $109 billion for the current fiscal year - took effect on March 1.

Defense spending has taken the single biggest hit from the automatic cuts, with a $46 billion reduction through the September 30 end of the fiscal year.

One House aide said the request would cite a shortfall in war-fighting because of higher than expected costs of withdrawing from Afghanistan.

Pentagon officials paved the way for the move in testimony to congressional committees over the past few weeks in which they expressed worries about the sequester's impact on military readiness, particularly with tensions rising in Syria and Korea.

"With the events in the world today, with Korea, Syria, Iran, the continued fight in Afghanistan ... the discussion on readiness could not come at a more critical time," General John Campbell, Army vice chief of staff, told a U.S. Senate panel on April 17.

"The reality is that if sequestration continues as it is ... we risk becoming a hollow force," he added.

Members of Congress from states with a heavy military presence have been urging a shift of funds since the sequester took effect and might be hard-pressed to vote against it.

An April 18 bipartisan letter from Virginia senators and representatives urged Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to move quickly to prevent furloughs and loss of pay for "thousands of Virginians."

'REPROGRAMMING'

The Defense Department is preparing the request to shift funds, said Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Robbins, a Pentagon spokeswoman, but has not "yet specified the timing or the amount" it wants to transfer, or "reprogram" in budget jargon.

Congress last week approved a similar request from the Justice Department to shift $313 million within its budget to avoid furloughing some 60,000 employees.

Robbins said it was not yet clear whether the Pentagon would submit several different reprogramming requests or one large omnibus-style request, but the budget shifts would be sought "soon."

The Pentagon was one of several government agencies that won some budget flexibility in a stop-gap government funding measure passed in late March.

That allowed more than $10 billion that was locked up in other accounts to be shifted to the Pentagon's operations and maintenance account, which funds training exercises and military readiness.

While that has helped, it did not make up for the deep budget cuts brought on by the sequester. The Army alone is facing about a $13 billion shortfall in training, operations and Afghanistan war costs, Army Secretary John McHugh and Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno told lawmakers last week.

(Editing by Fred Barbash and Peter Cooney)

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Congress passes plan to ease flight delays

By Doug Palmer and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved a Senate plan to ease nationwide air-traffic delays caused by automatic federal spending cuts, seeking to calm irritated travelers but sparking a backlash from interest groups not spared from cuts.

The Senate had unanimously voted for the plan late Thursday and the House approved it by a 361-41 vote. White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Barack Obama plans to sign the bill.

The legislation will give the Department of Transportation flexibility to use about $250 million in unspent funds to cover the costs of air traffic controllers and other essential employees at the Federal Aviation Administration who had been furloughed.

Congressional approval of the bill, barely four pages long, came as lawmakers looked to fly out of Washington for a week-long recess. It was not clear how quickly the air delays will ease once the bill is enacted.

Lawmakers were eager to stem the growing wrath of the traveling public, which had dealt with significant take-off and landing delays since the furloughs started on Sunday.

They had also faced anger from airline CEOs whose companies had mounted a grassroots campaign through a website called dontgroundamerica.com, encouraging Americans to send messages to Congress and the White House.

The quick legislative action marks a surprising bipartisan effort, especially after many Republicans had accused the Obama administration of manipulating funds to maximize the impact of the budget cuts and thus make Republicans look bad.

FRESH LOBBYING TO FOLLOW?

The move does come with the risk, though, of unleashing lobbying campaigns to ease other program cuts triggered by the controversial "sequestration" that took effect on March 1, requiring across-the-board spending cuts among most federal agencies.

Even as they lined up behind the bipartisan bill, House Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for what House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called "mindless" across-the-board spending cuts that brought the FAA furloughs.

Republican Representative Tom Latham of Iowa, who oversees transportation spending, accused the Obama administration of "shameful politics" by carrying out the furloughs, which the FAA said were required by the deficit-reduction law. "This is no way to run a government," he said.

Democrat after Democrat reminded Republicans that the Republican-controlled House had approved the sequestration in 2011. They complained that the FAA legislation fails to prevent 70,000 poor children from losing pre-school education, 4 million fewer meals from being delivered to poor, elderly people and stop the grounding of some military air combat units.

"Let's deal with all the adverse cuts, not just those that affect the affluent traveling sector," said Representative Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking House Democrat.

JOB 'WELL DONE'

Democratic Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland summed up the quick passage of the bill, as Congress hurried to start its recess, by saying: "Members of this House are going to run for the airports. They're all going to be flying home on airplanes. And, yes, they will make it easier for members of Congress to get through those lines. And they will pat themselves on the back and say job well done."

The plan for the budget cuts was originally hatched by Washington in 2011 as a way to force the White House and Congress to find an alternative budget deal. But policymakers failed to reach such a deal earlier this year.

The cuts aimed to trim a total $109 billion from federal spending through September of this year and affect a broad range of programs, from early education to medical research.

Congress faces yet another round of these automatic spending cuts that would start on October 1.

Some interest groups immediately cried foul at the FAA fix.

Cynthia Pellegrini, an executive at March of Dimes, a nonprofit that advocates for the health of mothers and babies, said she was troubled by Congress acting on a case-by-case basis.

"Over the next several months we feel there are going to be significant impacts on women, children and families," Pellegrini said in an interview. "This may not be as visible as longer lines at the airport. You can't see that a child's belly is emptier because her family couldn't get food assistance."

The U.S. Travel Association on Friday said it appreciated Congress' swift action, but said it was concerned that funds may be diverted from critical infrastructure projects.

"At a time when we should be modernizing our infrastructure to improve efficiency, capacity and U.S. global competitiveness, sequestration-related issues should not be solved on the backs of airports," the group said in a statement.

BAND-AID

Without the legislation, the FAA said it would have to furlough 47,000 employees for up to 11 days through September 30 in order to save $637 million that is required by the sequestration.

Of those 47,000 workers, almost 15,000 are full-time air traffic controllers or trainees.

While supporting the legislation, the White House on Friday said it falls short of broader action needed to address sequestration. "It will be good news for America's traveling public if Congress spares them these unnecessary delays," White House spokesman Carney said in a statement.

Carney said lawmakers need to take additional steps to alleviate the impact felt beyond the airline industry from the cuts, such as among poorer elderly people, defense industry workers and others brought on by sequestration.

"Ultimately, this is no more than a temporary Band-Aid that fails to address the overarching threat to our economy posed by the sequester's mindless across-the-board cuts," he said.

Transportation officials have made other cuts to their budget but furloughs of air traffic controllers began this week, prompting traveler backlash at major hubs like those in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta.

On Friday morning, departing flights at Newark Liberty International Airport were delayed more than an hour and 15 minutes, and Boston's Logan Airport had departure delays of more than 30 minutes, both due to staffing, the FAA said. Teterboro airport in New Jersey, which handles many corporate jets, also was experiencing delays of more than 90 minutes due to staffing.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan, Doug Palmer, Susan Heavey, Karen Jacobs and Alwyn Scott; Writing by Karey Van Hall; Editing by Bill Trott)

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Boehner, Pelosi Hint at Next Showdowns in Congress

Boehner, Pelosi Hint at Next Showdowns in Congress

After a "rough" week across the country, House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi both addressed tragedy and strategy in their weekly news conferences today, offering their condolences to those affected by the Boston Marathon bombings and the West, Texas, explosion.

"Words alone cannot console the loved ones, but we will do what we can to care for them," Pelosi, D-Calif., said. "With the investigation ongoing, we will make sure that justice is done."

"Our hearts go out to the victims and the people of Boston," Boehner, R-Ohio, added. "[I'm] glad the president's up there today, and I add my prayers to his."

As the investigations in Boston and Texas proceed, inside the beltway Congress continues battling over a series of legislative showdowns.

Pelosi and her leadership team fired off a letter today to the speaker demanding that he appoint conferees to settle differences over the House and Senate-passed budgets.

"Right now the focus is on adopting a budget that reflects our country's values, creates jobs and strengthens the middle class," she said. "The Senate has passed its budget bill…and we're overdue; April 15 was the deadline for us having a budget for a conference report."

When asked whether he intends to comply with Pelosi's request, Boehner encouraged bipartisan informal conversations to continue between House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray. The speaker predicted that the Democrats' approach would only lead to further political warfare because under House rules, if conferees fail to reach an agreement within 20 legislative days, the minority is able to make procedural motions to score political points.

"The minority has the right to offer motions to instruct, which become politically motivated bombs that…show up on the House floor," Boehner said. "We're following what I would describe as regular order. These informal conversations are underway, and that's the way it should work."

Both Pelosi and Boehner also addressed ongoing immigration reform, and congratulated the Gang of Eight on creating a bipartisan compromise.

"I want to congratulate the Senate Gang of Eight for coming forward with their bill," Boehner said. "I'm sure there's parts of it I would agree with, parts that I would disagree with, but the fact is that they've worked together in a bipartisan fashion to craft this bill."

Pelosi echoed the speaker's sentiments, and admitted that while the bill was commendable, it is not a perfect agreement for either party.

"I feel very confident about how we go forward on the immigration bill. I commend the eight Senators for the work that they did," she said. "Of course, it's a compromise. Would I change things? Of course, but I do think that that's what a compromise is about."

Boehner also noted that reaching compromise legislation among a small group of members does not necessarily prepare every other lawmaker to act on the issue.

"You have to remember, about three-fourths of members of Congress have never dealt with the issue of immigration," he said. "There's a big learning curve that the members are going to have to go through."

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Hagel to ask Congress to end commanders' power to overturn jury verdicts

By David Alexander

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Monday he would ask Congress to change U.S. military law to eliminate the power of senior commanders to alter courts martial verdicts for major crimes like murder or sexual assault.

The decision follows a controversial ruling in which a senior military commander in Europe set aside the sexual assault conviction of an Air Force officer, throwing out his one-year prison term and dismissal from the service.

The ruling sparked an outcry in Congress, where the military has faced rising criticism over its failure to deal effectively with the large number of military sexual assault cases. It prompted Hagel to order a one-month review to determine whether a revision to U.S. military law was warranted.

Announcing the results of that review, Hagel said he would ask Congress to revoke the power of military commanders to change a jury's findings of guilt or innocence, but would recommend that they retain the power to alter courts martial sentences.

He said he would recommend military law be changed to require the "convening authority" - the general with the final say over a court martial - to explain in writing any reduction of sentence or change in the verdict in a minor case.

"The intent is to ensure that convening authorities are required to justify - in an open, transparent, and recorded manner - any decision to modify a court martial sentence," Hagel said in a statement.

"These changes, if enacted by Congress, would help ensure that our military justice system works fairly, ensures due process, and is accountable."

PLEA BARGAINING

Defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said commanders needed to retain the power to reduce sentences handed down by courts martial to be able to engage in plea bargaining, in which defendants cooperate in exchange for a reduced sentence.

They said the authority also was needed so that commanders could ensure that people convicted of the same crimes did not receive wildly varying sentences.

The changes would have implications for virtually all military legal cases, from the trial of al Qaeda suspects at Guantanamo Bay to the prosecution of Private Bradley Manning, who is suspected of releasing secret documents to WikiLeaks.

Critics of the military's handling of sexual assault cases agreed that changes were needed in the court martial process, but some said Hagel had not gone far enough and that sexual assault cases should be removed from the chain of command.

"Today's proposed changes from the Pentagon fall short of the necessary fixes to end the epidemic of sexual assault in the military," said Nancy Parrish, head of Protect Our Defenders, which is pressing the military for action.

Hagel acknowledged that the Pentagon needed to take further steps to address the problem of sexual assault. The Pentagon has estimated that 19,300 military men and women were sexually assaulted in 2010, with only 240 of those cases going to trial.

"It is clear the department still has much more work to do to fully address the problem of sexual assault in the ranks," Hagel said. "This crime is damaging this institution."

Hagel's proposals, if approved by Congress, would tinker with a system that dates back to the Continental Congress - before the adoption of the Constitution - and is now outdated due to creation of a robust appeals process, officials said.

Hagel ordered the review after Lieutenant Colonel James Wilkerson at Aviano Air Base in Italy had his sexual assault conviction overturned by a commander, who threw out his one-year prison sentence and dismissal from the Air Force and returned him to duty.

Lieutenant General Craig Franklin, the officer with final authority in Wilkerson's court martial, reviewed the trial record and concluded that, despite the jury verdict, the evidence was insufficient to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Defense officials said a review of the Wilkerson case found that the Uniform Code of Military Justice had been followed. The Air Force was expected to release further information about that case at a later time, the officials said.

(Additional reporting by Phil Stewart.; Editing by Christopher Wilson)

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Obama launches fund-raising blitz to help Democrats in Congress

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will launch a fund-raising drive for the 2014 U.S. mid-term elections on Wednesday with addresses to deep-pocketed donors in California, hoping the Democratic Party can defy the odds and gain congressional seats in the polls.

The party in power in the White House usually loses seats in election years in which the presidency is not up for grabs. This means Democrats have their work cut out for them in trying to win a majority in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and add to their majority in the Senate.

"An off-year is always tough for the party in power," said Democratic strategist Bud Jackson. "But never say never, and I think it's possible that you could swing some seats. At the very least you make the attempted grab."

The president has an interest in making the effort, because without a significant change in the make-up of Congress, he faces possible paralysis for many of the initiatives laid out in his inaugural address and State of the Union speech.

His second term, won decisively in the election last November over Republican Mitt Romney, has opened with a repeat of the partisan tensions that marked his first term and with an unrelenting stalemate over taxes and spending.

A bid to tighten gun regulations, which Obama will address at a stop in Denver on Wednesday, is in danger as pro-gun groups pressure lawmakers who for decades have been reluctant to take on the powerful gun lobby. Only an immigration overhaul looks promising as Republicans smarting over Hispanic vote losses in 2012 need a victory on it as much as Obama does.

This does not mean Obama is abandoning his priorities until after the mid-terms. His team in general sees the need for action as soon as possible before the country's attention turns to the 2014 and 2016 elections.

OBAMA MAY TEMPER MESSAGE

As a result, Obama may offer a more restrained message when he speaks at fund-raising events in San Francisco, talking up his party's agenda without antagonizing political opponents.

Some Republican senators told Obama when he visited Capitol Hill in March that it did not help their fiscal negotiations with him when he traveled around the country criticizing them.

Obama aides said Obama can both support his own party's campaign apparatus while still seeking compromise with Republicans.

"There's plenty of work to do here in Washington D.C. before we turn our attention to the midterm elections," said White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest.

Obama's San Francisco stop will kick off 14 events he intends to stage this year to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, its Senate counterpart or the Democratic National Committee. The party is still trying to pay off its debts from the last election.

In San Francisco, Obama has two evening events planned to help House Democratic campaigns. California Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi, the top House Democrat who was dethroned as speaker in 2010, is expected to attend.

Democrats need to win 17 seats in 2014 to win control of the House.

"The confidence that the president is showing by dedicating his efforts to our efforts is a shot in the arm for House Democrats," said Jesse Ferguson, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The first event - a cocktail reception priced at $5,000 a person - is at the home of billionaire former asset manager Tom Steyer and his wife, Kat Taylor. After that, a $32,500-per-person dinner will be held at the home of billionaires Ann and Gordon Getty.

The next day Obama will attend two DNC fundraisers.

Obama's trip is all the more important because of the need to pay off debt hanging over party organizations since the 2012 election. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee owed $10.8 million as of the end of February, according to Federal Election Committee disclosure forms, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee owed $15 million.

Republicans note that Obama's electoral sway is not so powerful when his name is not on the ballot. Democrats lost 63 seats and control of the House in 2010 midterms, as well as six Senate seats.

"There's something to his appeal when he's on the ballot. I'm not sure they can deliver the same vote when he's not," said Republican strategist Charlie Black.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Marilyn W. Thompson and David Brunnstrom)

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Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock And Coalition Of Faith And Community Members To Call On Congress To End Gun Violence On The Anniversary Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Death

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Releases New Ad and Research on How Weak Gun Laws Turn Domestic Abuse into Murders; www.DemandAction.org

***MEDIA ADVISORY***

NEW YORK, April 3, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s death, Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Kimberly Brusk, a domestic violence and gun violence survivor and Halsey Knapp, a member of the Trinity Presbyterian Church and lawful gun owner, will call on Congress to support comprehensive and enforceable universal background checks. 

In conjunction with this event, Mayors Against Illegal Guns released on Wednesday new research findings highlighting the disturbing link between guns and violence against women and an ad featuring Elvin Daniel, a gun owner and NRA member whose sister Zina Daniel was murdered in the Brookfield, Wis., spa shooting in October 2012.  Several days after she obtained a restraining order against her violent estranged husband – which made him a prohibited purchaser – he bought a semiautomatic handgun from a private online seller without a background check, which he used the next day to murder her and two other people.  If Zina and her husband lived in nearby Michigan, where a background check is required for every handgun sale, she and the other victims might still be alive today.  In fact, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has found that in states that require a background check for every handgun sale, 38 percent fewer women are shot to death by intimate partners.

The event in Atlanta is part of a series of events hosted by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, in conjunction with Organization For Action and other groups supporting background checks, to continue the push for commonsense gun laws like comprehensive and enforceable background checks while members of Congress are back in their home states on recess. The bipartisan coalition has been hosting events across the country featuring mayors, faith leaders, moms, law enforcement officials, gun violence survivors and family members of victims who will speak about the need for comprehensive gun laws and the disturbing link between domestic violence and guns. 

WHAT: Coalition of faith leaders, community members and gun safety advocates will call on Congress to support comprehensive and enforceable background checks.

WHO:  Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock
Kimberly Brusk, a domestic violence and gun violence survivor
Halsey Knapp, a member of the Trinity Presbyterian Church and lawful gun owner

WHEN:  Thursday, April 4 at 2:30 PM

WHERE: Ebenezer Baptist Church
Horizon Sanctuary
400 Auburn Ave, NE
Atlanta, GA 30312

About Mayors Against Illegal Guns

Since its creation in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 members to more than 900 mayors from across the country. We have more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters, making us the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country.  The bipartisan coalition, co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, has united the nation's mayors around these common goals: protecting communities by holding gun offenders accountable; demanding access to crime gun trace data that is critical to law enforcement efforts to combat gun trafficking; and working with legislators to fix weaknesses and loopholes in the law that make it far too easy for criminals and other dangerous people to get guns.  Learn more at www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org

CONTACTS
Christina Freundlich: christina.freundlich@gmail.com or 314-302-0602
Erika Soto Lamb: esotolamb@rabengroup.com or 646-580-5281

SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns

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North Carolinians Call On Congress To End Gun Violence As Part Of National Day To Demand Action

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Releases First Ad Featuring Newtown Family Members Demanding Political Leaders Pass Commonsense Reforms

More than 120 Events Taking Place Across the Nation – and The White House – to Drive Largest Day of Advocacy in U.S. History to Address Gun Violence; www.DemandAction.org /March28

NEW YORK, March 28, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- North Carolinians gathered today in Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro and Raleigh as part of the National Day to Demand Action to end gun violence as President Obama met with gun violence survivors, law enforcement officials and mothers at the White House to urge Congress to reform U.S. gun laws. Mayors Against Illegal Guns also released the first television ad featuring family members of those killed at Sandy Hook calling on political leaders to support sensible reforms like comprehensive and enforceable background checks.  The ad can be viewed here: www.DemandAction.org/Newtown-Families.

In Charlotte, Rev. Dr. Dwayne A. Walker and Suzanne Rallis, head of Charlotte Moms Demand Action, held a press conference. In Durham, Mayor Bill Bell, Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt, Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton, Morrisville Mayor Jackie Holcombe and gun violence survivor Effie Steele held a press conference.  In Greensboro, Mayor Pro Tem Yvonne Johnson held a press conference while in Raleigh, gun violence survivor Kim Erickson Yaman and Jen Geurin Ferrell, founder of Forward Americans, held a candlelight vigil. 

"Since I witnessed the 1991 University of Iowa shooting, it's been 21 years and a whole generation of trying to bring people together to address gun violence," said gun violence survivor Kimberly Yaman.  "There has to be something more we can do than just training our children and grandchildren to hide in bathrooms, like they live in a war zone.  For me, this is now the second generation of living with the danger of shooters in schools and public institutions, and I don't see how we can possibly tolerate another generation of this.  The responsibility for protecting our children lies with us."??

"There are two things that I am adamant about in this debate: we need an assault weapons ban, and we need in-depth background checks," said Greensboro Mayor Pro Tem Yvonne Johnson.  "I don't have any problem with law-biding citizens buying guns to hunt with, but the process to purchase guns has to be strengthened so we can keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't be getting them."

The National Day to Demand Action – organized by Mayors Against Illegal Guns in conjunction with Organizing for Action, Americans for Responsible Solutions and other groups – will feature hundreds of mayors, law enforcement officials, faith leaders, gun violence survivors and family members who want Congress to take immediate action to strengthen our background check system and reduce gun violence.  The day is expected to be the largest gun violence advocacy event in history and is part of the largest field campaign in U.S. history to address gun violence.  The coalition recently announced that it is hiring dozens of organizers and opening campaign offices in ten states, including in North Carolina.    

In addition to the National Day to Demand Action, the bipartisan coalition is also broadcasting television ads demanding action from U.S. Senators, including in North Carolina.    The Senate is expected to take up gun violence prevention legislation when it reconvenes in the second week of April.  The ads can be found here: www.demandaction.org/recessads

A partial list of major events taking place across the country is available here.   

About Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Since its inception in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 mayors to more than 900 mayors from across the country. We have more than 1.4 million grassroots supporters, making us the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country.  The bipartisan coalition, co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, has united the nation's mayors around these common goals: protecting their communities by holding gun offenders and irresponsible gun dealers accountable; demanding access to trace data that is critical to law enforcement efforts to combat illegal gun trafficking; and working with legislators to fix gaps, weaknesses and loopholes in the law that make it far too easy for criminals and other prohibited purchasers to get guns.  Learn more at www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org

Contact:      
Mayor Bloomberg's Press Office                   (212) 788-2958
Mayor Menino's Press Office                         (617) 635-4461

Contact:
Alex Katz: akatz1@cityhall.nyc.gov or 617-721-3779

SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns

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Obama: 'Shame on us' if Congress forgets Newtown

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama pressed Congress on Thursday not to forget the heartbreak of the Newtown elementary school massacre and "get squishy" on tightened gun laws, though some lawmakers in his own Democratic Party remain a tough sell on an approaching Senate vote to expand purchasers' background checks.

"Shame on us if we've forgotten," Obama said at the White House, standing amid 21 mothers who have lost children to shootings. "I haven't forgotten those kids."

More than three months after 20 first-graders and six staffers were killed in Newtown, Conn., Obama urged the nation to pressure lawmakers to back what he called the best chance in over a decade to tame firearms violence.

At the same time, gun control groups were staging a "Day to Demand Action" with more than 100 rallies and other events planned from Connecticut to California. This was on top of a $12 million TV ad campaign financed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg that has been pressuring senators in 13 states to tighten background-check rules.

But if political momentum was building after the nightmarish December shootings, it has flagged as the Senate prepares to debate gun restrictions next month. Thanks to widespread Republican resistance and a wariness by moderate Democrats from Southern and Western states — including six who are facing re-election next year — a proposed assault weapons ban seems doomed and efforts to broaden background checks and bar high capacity ammunition magazines are in question.

In one statement that typifies moderate Democrats' caution, spokesman Kevin Hall said Virginia Sen. Mark Warner is "still holding conversations with Virginia stakeholders and sorting through issues on background checks" and proposals on assault weapons and magazines.

In stronger language this week, Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota said, "I do not need someone from New York City to tell me how to handle crime in our state. I know that we can go after and prosecute criminals without the need to infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding North Dakotans."

Expanding federal background checks to private sales at gun shows and online is the gun-control effort's centerpiece and was the focus of Obama's remarks. The system, designed to block criminals and the mentally disturbed from getting firearms, currently applies only to transactions by licensed gun dealers.

The National Rifle Association opposes the expansion, citing a threat that it could bring federal registries of gun owners, which would be illegal. The NRA says what is needed is better enforcement of the existing system, which it says criminals too easily circumvent.

Democratic sponsors are sure to need 60 votes to prevail — a daunting hurdle since the party has just 53 of the Senate's 100 seats, plus two Democratic-leaning independents. In a sign of potential trouble ahead, six Democrats backed a failed GOP proposal last week that would have required 60 votes for all future bills restricting guns.

"The week after Newtown, we thought it would be a tough road to 60 votes but we'd get there," said Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group that Bloomberg helps lead. "Three months after Newtown, it looks like a tough slog but we'll get there."

Exactly how they can achieve that has yet to be demonstrated, with Obama's turn Thursday as arm-twister-in-chief underscoring the political pressure that proponents feel is needed 104 days after the Newtown killings.

"Now's the time to turn that heartbreak into something real," said Obama. While not naming the NRA, he chided opponents for trying to "make all our progress collapse under the weight of fear and frustration, or their assumption is that people will just forget about it."

NRA officials are unyielding in their opposition, with spokesman Andrew Arulanandam saying, "We have a politically savvy and a loyal voting bloc, and the politicians know that."

Obama and his backers find themselves in an unusual position — struggling to line up votes for a proposal that polls show the public overwhelmingly supports.

An Associated Press-GfK poll in January found 84 percent support for expanding background checks to include gun show sales. Near-universal checks have received similar or stronger support in other national surveys.

Polls in some Southern states have been comparable. March surveys by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute found more than 9 in 10 people in Florida and Virginia backing expanded background checks, the same margin found in February by an Elon University Poll in North Carolina.

Analysts say politicians are loath to alienate the people who oppose broader background checks and other gun restrictions because they tend to be dedicated, single-issue voters.

The polling also points to a broader context that politicians are watching: The same Quinnipiac polls that show one-sided support for gun restrictions show people closely divided over whether Obama or the NRA better represents their views on guns.

"They can be for a specific kind of gun control, but they may be suspicious of efforts of other kinds that they think might come down the pike," said Peter Brown, the Quinnipiac poll's assistant director.

Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., have spent weeks negotiating with GOP senators, hoping to find a formula that could win the needed bipartisan support.

"I'll wait and see the outcome of that," Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, said of those talks, adding that the message his constituents give him is, "Don't take away our rights, our individual rights, our guns."

Other moderate Democratic senators who could be tough for supporters of broader background checks to persuade include Heitkamp of North Dakota, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Max Baucus of Montana and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.

Also targeted by Bloomberg's ads are 10 Republican senators, including Jeff Flake of Arizona, home of ex-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was severely wounded in a mass shooting, the retiring Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and moderate Susan Collins of Maine.

The Senate gun bill also would increase penalties for illegal gun sales and slightly boost aid for school safety.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama will travel to Denver Wednesday to talk to local leaders about Colorado's efforts to reduce gun violence.

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Congress Democrats Holding Out on Gay Marriage in the Minority

The number of Democrats who publicly oppose gay marriage dwindled this week as arguments in two Supreme Court cases drew national attention - and political pressure - to the issue.

In a matter of four days, six Democratic senators issued statements indicating that their view of the marriage debate had changed in favor of allowing Americans to marry regardless of gender. Only nine of the 53 Democrats in the Senate continue to oppose marriage equality in some way, and of those, few come down staunchly on the side of preserving the traditional one-man, one-woman definition.

Those nine senators are Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Tom Carper of Delaware, Bill Nelson of Florida, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Tim Johnson of South Dakota. Of the nine, some oppose DOMA, some have adopted a wait-and-see attitude, others are less specific.

Manchin's answer is straightforward: Spokesperson Katie Longo said that guided by his faith, Manchin "believes that a marriage is a union between one man and one woman" and wants to uphold DOMA.

Nelson is a more complicated case. In May 2012 he told the Miami Herald he believes the issue should be left to the states, but a spokesperson for his office told TIME this week that Nelson supports the one-man, one-woman vision of traditional marriage.

Some of those with more complicated stances on the issue tend to value a term President Obama once used to describe his views on gay marriage: "evolving."

"Senator Carper was proud to support Delaware's efforts to enact civil union legislation and earlier this month he joined 211 of his Congressional colleagues in co-signing the amicus brief that urges the Supreme Court to invalidate Section 3 of DOMA," a spokesperson for Carper told ABC News this week. "Like many Americans including Presidents Obama and Clinton, Senator Carper's views on this issue have evolved, and continue to evolve."

"Change" is another favorite.

"We'll have to see what the Supreme Court says about gay marriage," Landrieu told POLITICO on Tuesday. "And I just think that people's views about it are changing quite rapidly, a more progressive position. I'm just going to continue to talk to the people of my state."

An ABC/Washington Post poll released last week showed support for legal gay marriage among Americans had grown from 37 percent in 2003 to 58 percent. Almost 84 percent of Democratic Congress members signed an amicus brief for the Supreme Court asking them to overturn DOMA.

That said, not all those who signed the brief have come out in favor of legalizing gay marriage in their state - Carper, for example.

Even Republicans, typically a group staunchly opposed to gay marriage, have seen some switching up in the past month. More than 80 signed on to a similar amicus brief, led by former George W. Bush White House political director Ken Mehlman. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, announced his support for marriage equality earlier this month, and Wednesday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, announced she was "evolving" on the issue, after her Democratic counterpart, Sen. Mark Begich, endorsed it.

Political strategist Jason Johnson predicts the flood of politicians piling onto the other side isn't going to dry up any time soon. Any hesitancy to express support for same-sex marriage on either side of the aisle stems from uncertainty in how important gay marriage is to voters, according to Johnson.

"No one has been able to figure out with any effective consistency how gay voters vote and how straight voters vote on gay issues," Johnson told ABC News on Thursday. "It's very hard to determine what percentage of your population in your constituency are openly out gay voters and if gay marriage is their driving issue."

For Democrats, though, he said pressure is only going up.

"It's going to become a litmus test for Democrats and they're going to receive money pressure, and really at this point there's not much of a benefit … to standing against it, because it's the direction that the entire country is going in."

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