My Letter to Martha

Please go to Representative Betty McCollum’s website to read her letter written with other members of Congress to the President and Secretary of State.

News from Representative Betty McCollum

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November 16, 2023  Dear Fourth District Constituent, Thank you to everyone who was able to join me for my virtual update from Washington yesterday. If you missed it, you can watch the briefing on YouTube. I cover the latest updates on the status of federal funding and avoiding a government shutdown, and answer questions I have been receiving from constituents related to the Israel-Hamas War.  This week, Republicans tried and failed to pass two more of their extreme federal funding bills for FY 24–the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education bill and the Commerce, Justice, Science bill. Republican leadership pulled them from consideration when they realized they did not have enough of their own votes to pass them. And while I maintain that Speaker Johnson’s “laddered Continuing Resolution” approach is no way to responsibly fund the government for the long-term, I voted to avoid a government shutdown that would harm American families. Now, Speaker Johnson must get serious about a bipartisan path forward to fully fund the government after these short-term bills expire in January and February.  Yesterday, my colleagues Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02), and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) joined me in sending a letter to the Biden administration asking them to take action to stop the violence to protect the rights of children in Gaza and Israel. With more than 4,500 children killed in just over a month, we ask the Biden administration to push for a regional ceasefire and clarity on the U.S. strategic objectives for achieving a peaceful future. You can read the full letter here, and find all of my recent public statements on the war along with resources and guidance for American citizens in the Middle East here. As always, don’t hesitate to reach out if you need assistance with a federal agency or to voice your policy opinion. Thank you for being an informed and engaged constituent. Sincerely,   Betty McCollum  Member of Congress

New York Mysteries. Com

Good News!!! The Guardian reports that many Icelandic women and non-binary people will not work on Tuesday. The goal is to highlight the gender pay gap and the gender based violence. The Icelandic PM, Katrin Jakobsdottir, will participate as well as teachers, nurses, cleaners, caregivers, fishing industry workers.

There’s a 21% wage gap and 40% of women have suffered sexual violence. Ironically, Iceland has been cited as an equality paradise. The strike will include publishing the wages of workers in female-dominant professions and with emphasis on the perpetrators of sexual violence.

Should we American women do this?

Nargas Mohammadi is serving a thirty year prison sentence. She has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize.

I’m quoting from the GREAT Rashida Tlaib’s recent email:

“We can’t continue the piecemeal, inadequate status quo of government services. Our neighbors are struggling to put food on the table, fighting to keep a roof over their heads, and rationing their medication. Most families are living paycheck to paycheck. 

But the majority of my colleagues in Congress are millionaires. They don’t understand what it feels like not being able to pay rent or make ends meet.

I grew up in a working-class UAW household, and my lived experience teaches me to lead with compassion. I understand how urgently we need bold federal action for economic justice.

I led the fight for the temporarily expanded Child Tax Credit, which lifted millions of children out of poverty in 2021 and cut child poverty in nearly half. But corporate Democrats and Republicans let it expire. So I introduced legislation to cut childhood poverty by 70%—by providing families with a universal benefit of nearly $400 per month per child.

I’m also fighting alongside restaurant workers to end the shameful federal tipped minimum wage of just $2.13 an hour—a starvation wage. I reintroduced the Restaurant Workers Bill of Rights to ensure thriving wages, require paid leave and healthcare coverage, protect workers’ ability to unionize without fear of retaliation, and more.

Last year, I led the fight in Congress to support rail workers preparing for a historic strike. And I ended up being one of the few Democrats who voted against forcing an unfair contract on them. Congress and the President squashed rail workers’ right to strike. We cannot undermine worker power again. 

I’m calling on Democrats to truly be the party of the working class, and to defend the right to strike—which is a powerful tool to fight corporate greed.

Our federal government is supposed to protect everyday people from corporate greed and exploitation. That’s the government I’m building, with your support. “

And adding my two cents: We have a creaking, elderly congress. Who wants to give up his/her position with all those lovely perks??

Yesterday, President Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, whose far-right racist regime wants to eliminate Palestinians altogether. 

Thousands of Israelis have been protesting for months against Netanyahu’s recent judicial overhaul as a threat to Israel’s democracy. 

But for millions of Palestinians, Israel has never been a democracy. The Indigenous Palestinian people have been subjected to forced displacement and genocide, and they’re not allowed to become citizens or have basic rights. 

For calling out these human rights abuses, I’ve faced attacks from Republicans and Democrats who want to silence any criticism of Israel. Their denial enables ongoing apartheid. 

But I’m not backing down. So pro-apartheid AIPAC and its affiliated PACs are gearing up to try to defeat me and other members of our Squad as we run for re-election in 2024. 

Funded largely by pro-Trump billionaires, AIPAC hosted Trump at their annual conference and endorsed over 100 far-right Republicans who tried to overturn 2020’s presidential election.  

They’re trying to destroy the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, because we’re building the power needed to end apartheid. 

Last year, AIPAC’s network spent over $1 million to flood my district with misinformation and attack ads in an attempt to mislead voters. But as the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, I will never stop fighting for a world where we can all be free. 

I will keep humanizing Palestinians, educating my colleagues in Congress, and calling to stop sending billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars each year to the Israeli military. Together, we can hold Israel’s government accountable for its ongoing war crimes. Together, we’ll keep building the movement for Palestinian liberation. 

Thank you for being by my side as we fight for the human rights of all people—with no exceptions. 

In solidarity, 

Rashida

I have copied the following article from The Wall Street Journal. Recently, a commentator on one of the financial programs questioned why we do not have a Technology Committee in Congress. I thought it was worth following. What do you think?

Sponsored by

The Morning Download: D.C. Tech Gathering Sets Stage for AI LegislationBy Tom Loftus

Good morning, CIOs. The government needs to play a role regulating artificial intelligence. That was the view from a gathering of technology VIPs who descended on Washington, D.C. on Wednesday for a closed-door session organized by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.).Despite that consensus—and Schumer’s vow to move toward passing legislation within months—the meeting also laid bare some of the tension points ahead, the WSJ’s Ryan Tracy and Deepa Seetharaman report.AI will: A) End humanity or B) End world hunger. Tesla CEO Elon Musk warned about what he views as AI’s potential to threaten humanity, according to a participant. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates believed it could help address world hunger, said Schumer.Should certain AI programs be open source? Yes, said Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, whose company has released open source models. Tristan Harris, head of nonprofit Center for Humane Technology, argued that bad actors can abuse open-source AI systems, according to people in the room.One open question: Areas the legislation will cover. Issues previously raised by participants in Wednesday’s meeting have included copyright violations, privacy invasions, racial discrimination, economic ties with China, and the use of AI by the government for military or other purposes. Read the story.

BARBIE

 I had to see Barbie. I love Barbieland. That cute pink convertible that fits her like a size 2, her big white teeth, her girlie ways. That lasted for ten minutes. 

Then no more bright, insincere smiles, no more very lightly tanned, hairless skin, no more paper doll hairdos. 

Did the producers rush to their daughters’ Manhattan private schools and hire the sixth graders to write, I mean, create a profoundly meaningful message: be yourself?

Poor Barbie. In her new profundity she looks like the chair of We’re Building Hope for Tomorrow.

Remember James Coburn, the sexy cool actor who had an enchanting grin in every movie? The men in Barbie float through their public humiliation with James Coburn smirks. 

Pagliacci

A confession: I have never appreciated opera. Pretending to be entranced, I had sat through a performance by Maria Callas at La Scala. That was followed by a number of years in Rome and New York suffering through operas at the Met, both old and new.

This afternoon I watched a 1982 filming of Franco Zeffirelli’s production of Pagliacci. Finally, I got it. I was blow away by Plácido Domingo and Teresa Stratas singing on the Met’s recreation of a church’s very steep stairs. I’d been told that filming opera gave the viewer a sense of the drama. It’s true.