Focusing on multiracial activism and political advocacy. http://multiracial.com/site Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:35:39 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://multiracial.com/site/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://multiracial.com/site Focusing on multiracial activism and political advocacy. http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1674/39/ Immigration Chaos The Abolitionist Examiner - August 1, 2011 by Fergus Hodgson The presence of illegal immigrants in the United States continues to generate ineffectual political initiatives, from employment verification mandates (http://www.numbersusa.com/content/learn/illegal-immigration/map-states-mandatory-e-verify-laws.html) to referendums (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-tuition-petition-certified-20110722,0,5076236.story) against in-state tuition access. These fail to resolve the underlying causes for the presence of illegals, such as the arbitrary (see the immigration lottery (http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1322.html)), expensive, and humiliating immigration process (and I speak from experience). They also tend to ignore what happens to the individuals caught in the bind — the supposed deportation process — as though they’ll just disappear from America. Last week, however, the Center for Immigration Studies (http://cis.org/About) released a lengthy report (http://www.cis.org/articles/2011/reasoner-alien-removal.pdf), “Deportation Basics: How Immigration Enforcement Works (Or Doesn’t) in Real Life.” This report is particularly revealing because CIS scholars tend to oppose “current, high levels of immigration,” in favor of a “low-immigration, pro-immigrant” vision. Despite the apparent low-immigration, pro-immigrant contradiction, CIS scholars deserve credit for at least addressing the touchy deportation subject. In doing so, they present the thinking of those who sincerely believe stricter enforcement of the prevailing laws is the way to go, and they are perhaps the most prominent organization with that perspective. That perspective, though, is fraught with confusion and prejudices, and it begs for a rebuttal. The author uses a pseudonym, “W.D. Reasoner,” which seems unnecessary, but he notes that he is a retired government employee with many years of experience in immigration administration. Presumably, that allowed him to observe what he admits is a cumbersome and dysfunctional process of deportation. That description leads to his and CIS’s most important confusion. Despite the abject failure of federal officials to curb illegal immigration — about 11 million (http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=133) live here — even with multiple agencies on the job, he wants to divert more Justice Department resources to them. The call for expanded budgets goes to show how these agencies have an incentive to maintain the problem, not end it. Reasoner notes at least 20 required forms to initiate an immigration charge, greater than one-year backlogs for hearings (which only 41 percent of defendants attend), and a scarcity of detention space. This fecklessness matches that of the E-Verify program (http://www.thepelicanpost.org/2011/05/11/immigration-status-checks-an-employer-obligation/), where even U.S. Customs and Immigration admits 54 percent (http://www.cilawgroup.com/news/2010/02/25/report-highlights-e-verify-accuracy-problems/) of unauthorized workers receive approval for employment. Yet, he does not call for legislative changes, nor does he acknowledge that they are fighting a futile battle. Reasoner also points to a “significant review and restructuring” of another agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This has been going on for nearly two years, and its claim to success is the cancellation of many contracts, but total spending has continued to climb. Reflective of the entire report, the term “alien,” which legally (http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=2382) refers to any non-citizen, appears throughout. Even jargon such as “alienage” arises — whatever that means. Offensive to many, “alien” dehumanizes immigrants and promotes a fallacious us-versus-them mentality that undergirds the report. This collectivist mentality manifests itself with repeated calls for the dismissal of due process “trappings” in immigration disputes. Apparently, benefit of the doubt and presumption of innocence are less relevant when someone may be born outside of the country. Additionally, the supposed adverse impacts of illegal immigrants on health and social service systems merit mention, while their cultural and economic contributions do not. Contrary to popular perception, illegal immigrants are not heavy users (http://www.cato.org/pubs/tbp/tbp-032.pdf) of welfare, and the majority pay (http://reason.org/news/show/122411.html) income taxes. Cato Institute research (http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=13089) also suggests that legal status would enable higher wages and greater tax contributions. The irony is that what Reasoner describes as “thousands of productive hours” toward deportation are a waste of time, and they divert our attention from real problems. Already Puerto Ricans immigrate to and work in the United States without impediment. And any Cuban that arrives here receives permanent residence status within one year (http://feministing.com/2010/12/08/for-proof-the-dream-act%E2%80%99s-a-good-idea-look-at-cuban-americans/). Do we lose sleep at night over that reality? Of course not; nor should we — just as we would not seek to impede someone moving from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. Far from being a plague, migration elevates (http://www.learnliberty.org/content/impact-immigration-jobs-and-income) human prosperity and helps to hold governments in check (http://www.fff.org/comment/com1106m.asp). I remember a visit to Ellis Island, the place where so many people without documentation once found welcome in the United States. Sadly, millions of people now assume grave risks to immigrate illegally, and they testify to a legal route that no longer greets immigrants with open arms. Fergus Hodgson is a policy advisor with The Future of Freedom Foundation (www.fff.org). TAE Articles and Commentary - TAE Commentary and Articles Tue, 02 Aug 2011 02:54:24 +0100 http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1673/49/ July 27, 2011Chairman Lamar SmithU.S. House Judiciary Committee2138 Rayburn House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515Ranking Member John ConyersU.S. House Judiciary Committee2138 Rayburn House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515Re: Sign on Letter in Opposition to Section 4 of H.R. 1981Dear Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Conyers:The undersigned groups write today to express our opposition to section 4 of H.R. 1981, the ―Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011.‖ We believe that any data retention mandate is a direct assault on bedrock privacy principles.Section 4 of H.R. 1981 would impose sweeping new requirements on companies that provide internet access, forcing them for the first time to keep large volumes of records on their customers — impacting hundreds of millions of individuals who have no connection to the sexual exploitation of children whatsoever. The scope of this new requirement is very broad. Contrary to the title of the legislation, there nothing in the bill that would limit the use of these records to child exploitation cases. In fact, the records would involve all internet users everywhere and they would be available to law enforcement for any purpose.This new mandate is a direct assault on the privacy of internet users. Temporarily assigned network addresses, also known as IP addresses, are the direct link between individuals and their online activity. In many ways, an IP address is similar to an individual’s name or other identifier online. Access to this information can allow anyone to determine the websites users visit and, consequently, what their interests are, where they bank, what online accounts they have.For more than 40 years it has been a core privacy principle that records should only be created for a specific purpose and deleted as soon as that purpose is complete. But the data retention mandate of H. R. 1981 moves in exactly the opposite direction and creates a true slippery slope. If law enforcement officials are faced with the tempting prospect of access to such a vast treasure trove of private online records, they will be hard-pressed not to desire more retention of those records. And who could blame them? Some internet records – such as identifiers for email and other services – could be useful in criminal investigations – or they could more easily be irrelevant to any criminal investigation. Location information from cell phones could certainly provide help to law enforcement in many cases – but the vast majority of such data has no bearing on any crime. While any record could in theory be useful in nvestigating some crime somewhere the vast majority are simply the records on innocent Americans.We live in an age where our devices and the way we use the internet are constantly generating records – what we read, where we go, who our friends are. If those records must always be saved for future use, they become a persistent and pervasive assault on our privacy and an irresistible temptation to law enforcement. That is why best practices in privacy demand the deletion of records as soon as they are no longer necessary – exactly the opposite of the mandate of H. R. 1981.Existing laws are wholly insufficient in protecting against access to such records. As this Committee has recognized in previous hearings, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) has not been substantially updated since 1986, while the type and detail of records have increased dramatically since that time. The data retention mandate of H.R. 1981 would exacerbate ECPA’s problems, making records available and identifiable for even longer periods of time.For all of these reasons, we urge the committee to withhold approval of H.R. 1981 in any form containing section 4 or any other data retention mandate.Sincerely,Advocacy for Principled Action in GovernmentAmerican Booksellers Foundation for Free ExpressionAmerican Civil Liberties UnionAmerican Library AssociationAssociation of Research LibrariesBill of Rights Defense committeeCenter for Democracy TechnologyCenter for Digital DemocracyCenter for Financial Privacy and Human RightsCenter for Media and DemocracyCenter for National Security StudiesConsumer ActionConsumer Federation of AmericaConsumer WatchdogCouncil on American-Islamic RelationsDefending Dissent FoundationDemand ProgressDownsizeDC.org, Inc.Electronic Frontier FoundationElectronic Privacy Information CenterFriends of Privacy USALiberty CoalitionMuslim Public Affairs CouncilNational Association of Criminal Defense LawyersNational Workrights InstitutePatient Privacy RightsPrivacy ActivismPrivacy Journal, Robert Ellis Smith, PublisherPrivacy Rights ClearinghouseWorld Privacy Forum Advocacy and Letters - Letters to Government Agencies Signed by TMA Wed, 27 Jul 2011 19:00:00 +0100 http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1672/61/ From the good folks at EPIC: EPIC, joined by the American Library Association (http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/wo/index.cfm), Liberty Coalition (http://www.libertycoalition.net/), Bill of Rights Defense Committee (http://www.bordc.org/), and the Center for Media and Democracy (http://www.prwatch.org/), among others, sent a statement (http://privacy.org/privacy_coalition_comments_trusted_ids.pdf) to the Department of Homeland Security (http://www.dhs.gov/index.shtm) responding to the Administration's call for comments regarding its National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace Creating Options for Enhanced Online Security and Privacy (NSTIC) (http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/ns_tic.pdf) draft policy. The coalition's comments press the Administration for a clearer definition of the problems that the policy intends to solve. The coalition further advocates for the maintenance of a free and open Internet that protects the creative content of users, assures privacy, and creates accountability and oversight of government activity, especially as it relates to law enforcement and surveillance. For more, see EPIC's Cybersecurity and Privacy (http://epic.org/privacy/cybersecurity/default.html).Relevant Links:Statement posted at Taking The Gloves Off: http://jameslandrith.com/content/view/3808/40/ (http://jameslandrith.com/content/view/3808/40/) Statement postedf at The Multiracial Activist: http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1671/49/ (content/view/1671/49/) A Mixed Blog - From The Editor Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:00:00 +0100 http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1671/49/ StatementNational Strategy for Trusted Identities in CybersecurityCreating Options for Enhanced Online Security and PrivacyWe thank the administration for this valuable opportunity to engage in a national conversation about privacy, and we welcome this chance to comment on the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cybersecurity Creating Options for Enhanced Online Security and Privacy.The rights to free speech and free association have taken on new meaning in the Internet age. Internet users both shape and are shaped by their use of the Internet. Users are not only content consumers, but also content producers. The ability of users to generate content enriches and strengthens non--‐government organizations (NGOs) in two ways. First, access to the Internet is central to the ability of NGO personnel to communicate. And second, communication between NGO personnel is, in turn, central to NGO collaborative and creative opportunities.However, the Internet also poses unique challenges for the protection of privacy and consumer rights. The open nature of the Internet creates pressing questions as to how best to facilitate Internet communications. The balance between what technologies could achieve and what policy should restrain is a delicate one. Policymakers therefore face a unique challenge – to assure that the essential freedoms of Internet communication survive while at the same time protecting user privacy and consumer rights.The draft document states clearly that the focus is on creating an identity ecosystem that preserves the security of online transactions and supports provider choice.Our comments regarding the draft pertain to the most pressing issues of privacy, civil liberties, and consumer rights. These issues include the need for:a complete enumeration of the sources of the problems identified by the draft; a clear plan for privacy protection;a strategy for the protection of private communications by fair information practices;the assignment of responsibility of government agencies to oversee authorities, courts, and credential users regarding constitutional rights; andthe assurance that Internet users can continue to create, control, and own web content.First, cybersecurity initiatives should be designed in a manner that does not discourage lawful, constitutionally protected activity. Overreaching cybersecurity measures deter individuals and organizations that rely on the Internet from engaging in constitutionally protected activities. Such activities include research, collaboration, political participation and speech, fundraising, coalition building, campaigning, advocacy, “watchdog” activities, dissemination of information, and outreach to constituencies.1Defining the ProblemAt present, the draft cites security, efficiency, ease--‐of--‐use, confidence, increased privacy, greater choice, and innovation as the goals of its proposed credential requirements program. Security is indeed important, particularly for sensitive communications that involve financial information, personal health information, and human resources information, but these types of communications make up a small fraction of the volume of messages sent and received by individuals on a routine basis.The draft’s goals are valuable ones. However, the draft fails to discuss the ease with which an individual might be re--indentified or tracked when a credential system is associated with his or her personal digital device. This concern is a pressing one, because registration for a credential system necessarily requires the collection of personal identifiable information (PII).At present, there is no great consumer demand for credential systems. Commercialattempts to develop online credential systems, such as Microsoft Passport and the Liberty Alliance, were rejected by consumers. Federal efforts to establish credential adoption and use should not create a market where one does not exist, in part because such systems place significant financial demands on Internet consumers and content providers.We agree that there are real threats to online consumers that require additional government oversight and engagement. Identity theft, spam, and malicious code each poses serious threats to consumers. However, the draft fails to clearly articulate the connection between online ID systems and the resolution of these problems.2 The question remains as to how a credential system will solve the problem of identity theft and malicious computer code.Identity theft is facilitated by a number of off--‐line business practices regarding PII that are not addressed in the draft document. Excessive collection, retention, use, and reuse of PII by commercial actors creates identity theft vulnerabilities. Additionally, widespread institutional reliance on PII in the form of social security numbers further aggravates the incidence of identity theft.All digital privacy threats originate with the collection, retention, use, and sharing of PII. Requiring users to register for a credential can create privacy threats for users. Users wishing to engage in Internet communications without a credential should be able to do so. Content providers must not be requiring credentials at the behest of federal agencies. The grey area of what is required and what is a choice should be eliminated.The Internet provides a vehicle for selling and sharing PII that may be used for identity theft purposes. Any credential system that is not regulated by fair information practices either through federal law, contract, or strong standards will expose users to additional privacy harms should the information shared be open for other uses.3Recommendations:Address the off--‐line systemic problems related to the abuse of PII, which would include enforcing federal law that restricts the use of the social security number for identification purposes.Establish limitations on PII collection, retention, use, and reuse beyond the original purpose.Vulnerabilities Found in Software and ApplicationsSoftware vulnerabilities are unavoidable contributing factors that make malicious attacks possible. Exploits like the “I Love You Virus” or “Conficker” rely upon changing the underlying code housed on a computer or digital device without the user's knowledge or consent.Most Internet consumers are unaware that the software and firmware on computing devices may have inherent vulnerabilities that can be exploited by thieves, vandals, or the curious. These vulnerabilities can enable the collection, retention, and tracking of users. Further, such vulnerabilities can also allow damage, theft, or co‐opting of digital devices for criminal or malicious activity.These vulnerabilities also mean that unsuspecting users who make errors or use Internet--enabled technology incorrectly can cause harm to their own computer devices or those of other users.Recommendations:Provide a comprehensive description of the problems associated with the harms enumerated in the draft document.Clarify the connection between certain consumer-‐related threats such as identity theft, viruses, or threats to privacy and the solution offered.Review the approaches sought to address software enabled exploits to address fundamental changes in how software is developed and certified for use in computing systems.Finally, define cyber threats or crimes as intent-‐oriented and not outcome--driven because of the challenges posed by attribution. Fixing the underlying problems with software should be the focus for addressing many of the problems identified.Privacy ProtectionPrivacy is assured by the application of fair information practices regarding the collection, retention, and use of PII. The federal Privacy Act establishes regulations regarding fair information practices that federal agencies must follow. The Privacy Act applies to federal government agency activity as it relates to the collection, retention, and use of PII. Government policy discussions with businesses, academic institutions, or media regarding credentials may create expectations that authentication takes priority over consumer control of PII.Recommendations:There should be mandates for government--‐required credential systems. These mandates should include requirements that credential--‐issuing authorities and credential using entities (both public and private) must follow fair information practices as outlined by the Federal Privacy Act.Acknowledge and address the problems for privacy that will result as a direct consequence of requiring credentials for users and content providers.Ensure that the federal Privacy Act applies to credential--‐related information, including IP address, e--‐mail address, keystroke pattern recognition, user-- assistive devices, browsing history, and other information that may be used to identify or re--‐identity an individual.Maintenance of a Free and Open InternetThe Internet has historically been treated as a free and open media, with the ability for universal access. Government policy should be careful to continue this tradition, without creating barriers to entry in the form of fees to access certain information. Many current and past credentials programs in the private sector have charged fees for access or membership. Such fees, comparable to a “poll tax,” run the risk of creating an Internet caste system, where certain government information is available only to those who can afford the credentials that are required for access.Recommendations:All standards for adequate Internet credentials should be made public in order to enable development of free and anonymous credential programs for consumers.The government must be careful to avoid creating information cul--de--sacs, which would prevent universal access to information and contradict government policies of transparency and the Internet’s status as a free media.Trusted Communications Based on the TransactionConsumers can benefit from assurances regarding transactions that involve things of value, such as online purchases. Consumers can also benefit when sensitive personal information is exchanged—such as communications with medical professionals. However, the benefit to consumers can be lost if the purpose of the trusted exchange can be compromised without Constitutional protections guarded by well--‐established due process mechanisms.Recommendations:Government proposals for credential systems must involve transparent and frank discussions with the Internet--‐using public.Government should engage in full disclosure of the motivations and rationales for online identity system proposals.Participation in online credential systems must be based on choice and not direct or indirect government coercion.Establish transparent legal processes in advance that provide a privacy protective framework for strong due process rights for Internet users.Accountability of Government Agencies to Independent OversightThere is a history of government engaging in unlawful surveillance activity.Cybersecurity activity undertaken by the federal government must be carefully monitored. Congress must accept responsibility for ensuring that all cybersecurity measures, including any mandated credential requirements program, is not abused. In order to effectively ensure the security of the system, any policies should be subject to the independent oversight of an empowered and effective Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. This body must be funded sufficiently, and it is critically important that it be staffed with a diverse group of technical, policy, and legal experts to take on the challenges of monitoring federal government activity related to cybersecurity by both civilian and military authority. Cybersecurity efforts should also be subject to rigorous public and congressional reporting.4The federal courts must continue to be a source of relief for citizens. The use of national security exceptions to stop court processes should be disallowed.Further, the importance of whistleblowers, in both the public and private sectors, in keeping the credential system free from corruption, abuse, and misuse cannot be overstated.Your time and attention these comments are appreciated. If you have questions or would like to engage in further discussions on the topic of credentials and online transactions, you may contact Lillie Coney, Associate Director, EPIC at 202-483-1140 x 111.Sincerely,Lillie Coney,Associate DirectorElectronic Privacy Information CenterShahid Buttar,Executive DirectorBill of Rights Defense CommitteeJessica McGilvrayAssistant DirectorAmerican Library AssociationSue Udry,Executive DirectorDefending Dissent FoundationJohn W. Whitehead,PresidentThe Rutherford InstituteMichael Ostrolenk,Executive DirectorLiberty CoalitionTracy Rosenberg,Executive DirectorMedia AllianceAlejandro Beutel,Government LiaisonMuslim Public Affairs CouncilStephen Kohn,Executive DirectorNational Whistleblower CenterJames Landrith,FounderThe Multiracial ActivistLisa Graves,Executive DirectorCenter for Media and DemocracyDane vonBreichenruchardt,PresidentU.S. Bill of Rights FoundationTom DeWeese,PresidentAmerican Policy CenterDeborah Pierce,Executive DirectorPrivacyActivisimScholars and ExpertsChip Pitts,Lecturer in Law, Stanford Law School and Oxford UniversityPresident, Bill of Rights Defense CommitteeFootnotes1Cybersecurity Policy Working Group, Letter to Howard Schmidt, available at http://epic.org/privacy/cybersecurity/Cybersecurity_Letter_5--12-‐10.pdf (http://epic.org/privacy/cybersecurity/Cybersecurity_Letter_5-%E2%80%9012-%E2%80%9010.pdf), May 12, 20102White House, National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, June 25, 2010.3EPIC, Bankruptcy of Verified Identity Pass and the Privacy of Clear Registered Traveler Data web page, available at http://epic.org/privacy/airtravel/clear/ (http://epic.org/privacy/airtravel/clear/) 4Cybersecurity Working Group, Letter to Howard Schmidt White House Coordinator, http://epic.org/privacy/cybersecurity/Cybersecurity_Letter_5-12-10.pdf (http://epic.org/privacy/cybersecurity/Cybersecurity_Letter_5-12-10.pdf) , May 12, 2010 Advocacy and Letters - Letters to Government Agencies Signed by TMA Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:00:00 +0100 http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1670/27/ By-Products of Segregation,Integration and Pasteurization by Shannon Palmer BennettJuly/August 2011 in The Multiracial Activist ACU (http://www.acu.edu/), where I was scheduled to attend a week of classes as part of a distance learning program. Our travels took my mother back to the school that grudgingly admitted her, one she left after a grueling and oppressive semester.It’s kinda poetic. The unfulfilled prophecy of the militant, black, coed is fulfilled through her biracial daughter.The story reads like a script. This is not the same Abilene Christian University. My favorite professor is half of an interracial marriage and we converse about diversity, multiculturalism and biraciality. Her dear friend and professor is an advocate of equity and inclusion and we converse about my role as a minority woman making moves in higher education. There are signs of progression all around and I am comfortable here, as comfortable as I am at my alma mater, a historically black university; maybe even more so.This feeling saddens and confuses me because questions of my purpose rise and fall like turbulence over the southeast.When we return home, exhausted and dehydrated from over a week of 100 degree weather, I reach for the pitcher of cold water on the second shelf and accidentally knock the gallon onto the floor. Standing in the sea of milk, I crack and the emotion of the week, what I have learned and where I go from here overwhelms me. By the time I have dried the mess, my eyes are also dry and the empty jug in the recycling bin catches my eye.June 22, 2011.Shannon Palmer Bennett (http://mulattotude.wordpress.com/author/palmerbennett/) is a single mom, student, student affair professional and blogger (http://mulattotude.wordpress.com/) of mixed race championing for common sense in the midst of common stupidity. Originally published at mulattotude (http://mulattotude.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/by-products-of-segregation-integration-and-pasteurization/). TMA Articles and Commentary - TMA Commentary and Essays Fri, 01 Jul 2011 02:52:03 +0100 http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1669/49/ March 25, 2010Dear President Obama,We represent a wide range of air travel, educational, civil liberties, human rights, religious and taxpayer rights organizations from across the country.We are writing to ask you to suspend the further deployment of body scanners in US airports.In addition to the privacy and health concerns that have been raised, we are becoming increasingly aware of growing doubts about the effectiveness and safety of the devices as well as the very real offense to deeply held religious views. Many religious leaders have spoken recently in opposition to body scanners. We join them in urging you to suspend this program.We further believe that the full body scanners are contributing to a negative perception of the United States and reducing the number of foreign visitors who will travel to the US.If the program is suspended, there is the very real possibility of saving taxpayers over $400 million this year and much more in the years ahead.We support a proposal to undertake a comprehensive study to evaluate the effectiveness, health risks, and privacy impacts of the devices. We also ask you to consider the importance of sincerely held religious opposition to the digital undressing of air travelers by TSA officials, as well as the economic impact on the US tourism industry.Sincerely,OrganizationsAmerican Civil Liberties UnionBill of Rights Defense CommitteeCenter for Financial Privacy and Human RightsCouncil on American--‐Islamic RelationsConsumer Federation of AmericaConsumer Travel AllianceDoctor--‐Patient Medical AssociationDownsizeDC.orgElectronic Privacy Information CenterEssential InformationGovernment Accountability ProjectIdentity ProjectLiberty CoalitionMuslim Legal Fund of AmericaNational Center for Transgender EqualityNational Workrights InstitutePrivacy ActivismPrivacy InternationalPrivacy Rights ClearinghouseRutherford InstituteThe Multiracial ActivistU.S. Bill of Rights FoundationWorld Privacy ForumIndividual Privacy, Law, and Civil Liberties ExpertsGrayson BarberBob Barr, Former CongressmanDavid Flaherty, Former Privacy Commissioner, British ColumbiaChip Pitts, President, Bill of Rights Defense CommitteePeter GibbonsMary MinowRalph Nader, Consumer AdvocatePeter Neumann, Principal Scientist SRI InternationalEdward G. Viltz, President, Internet Collaboration Coalition Advocacy and Letters - Letters to Government Agencies Signed by TMA Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:00:00 +0100 http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1668/49/ June 29, 2011United States SenateWashington, DC 20510U.S. House of RepresentativesWashington, DC 20515Re: Oppose E-Verify and any Mandatory Provision Expanding the SystemDear Senator/Representative:We write today to express in the strongest possible terms our opposition to H.R. 2164, the “Legal Workforce Act”. H.R. 2164 would mandate the use of the bureaucratic E-Verify system and for the first time in history require every American to be checked against an error prone government database. If a worker’s information is incorrect in E-Verify, he or she can’t work until the problem is resolved. In addition to the harmful effects this process would have on workers and the economy, we believe the risks to individual privacy are too great and the likely benefits are too small to justify inserting the federal government into every hiring decision made by every employer across the country.A nationwide mandatory E-Verify system would be one of the largest and most widely accessible databases of private information ever created in the U.S. Its size and openness would present an irresistible target for identity thieves. Additionally, because the system would cover everyone eligible to work in the United States, it could quickly expand to a host of other uses for the intelligence community, law enforcement, and corporate America.The current E-Verify system, implemented in a small fraction of the country’sworkplaces, contains an enormous amount of personal information including names, photos (in some cases), social security numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, workers’ employer and industry, and immigration information like country of birth. It links to a variety of other databases such as the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) TECS database (a vast repository of Americans’ travel history) and the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) BSS database (all immigration fingerprint information from US VISIT and other sources).1 CIS has recently announced the inclusion of drivers’ license information from at least one state.2Because E-Verify contains photos and will very soon contain drivers’ license informationit could quickly evolve into a national identity system. E-Verify is internet-based and hence available almost anywhere. If the system is expanded, it could easily be used to verify drivers’ licenses at airports or federal facilities and combined with travel, financial, or watch list information. The errors and problems with E-Verify would then transform from employment issues to problems with travel and other fundamental freedoms.Additionally, the system must guard against data breaches and attacks by identity thieves.Since the first data breach notification law went into effect in California at the beginning of 2004, more than 510 million records have been hacked, lost or improperly disclosed including Everify databases.3 In October 2009, and again in December 2009, Minnesota state officials learned that the company hired to process their E-verify forms had accidentally allowed unauthorized individuals to gain access to the personal information of over 37,000 individuals due to poor authentication practices and web application vulnerabilities in their system.4 If the Department of Homeland Security and states are unable to provide proper data security, we cannot possibly expect small business across America to do so.H.R. 2164 also contains a pilot biometric ID card program. This program would allowany employer to fingerprint all employees and would create private sector “enrollment providers”. These providers would combine biometrics, information from employers, commercial databases, and information from DHS and Social Security Administration – all for the purpose of identity verification. Such a card would exacerbate the existing problems with EVerify by adding additional sensitive information and allowing it to be kept in private hands.For all of these reasons, we oppose H.R. 2164 and any expansion of the E-Verify system and we urge you not to move the bill from committee.Sincerely,American Civil Liberties UnionAmerican Library AssociationAmerican Policy CenterBill of Rights Defense CommitteeCenter for Digital DemocracyCompetitive Enterprise InstituteConsumer ActionConsumer WatchdogCyber Privacy ProjectDefending Dissent FoundationElectronic Frontier FoundationGaurdian I-9 And E-Verify Blog, May 4, 2011.The 5-11 CampaignIdentity ProjectLiberty CoalitionThe Multiracial ActivistThe National Center for Transgender EqualityNational Workrights InstitutePrivacyActivismPrivacy Rights ClearinghousePrivacy TimesThe Rutherford InstituteUnited SikhsFormer Congressman Bob BarrLaw Professor Chip Pitts, Stanford Law School Oxford UniversityFootnotes1 73 Fed. Reg. 75449.2 Notice of Privacy Act System of Records, 76 Fed. Reg. 26738 (May 9, 2011), available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-05-09/html/2011-11291.htm (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-05-09/html/2011-11291.htm) 3 Privacy Rights Clearinghouse Chronology of Data Breaches, http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/ChronDataBreaches.htm (http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/ChronDataBreaches.htm) .4 John Fay, FTC Settlement Highlights the Importance of Protecting Sensitive I-9 Data in an Electronic World, Advocacy and Letters - Letters to Government Agencies Signed by TMA Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:40:00 +0100 http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1667/49/ June 24, 2011The Honorable Darrell Issa U.S. House of Representatives House Oversight and Government Reform Committee 2157 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515The Honorable Elijah Cummings U.S. House of Representatives House Oversight and Government Reform Committee B350A Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman Issa and Ranking Member Cummings: In recognition of the upcoming 45th anniversary on July 4th of the signing of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the undersigned organizations write to ask that you support and move forward the Faster FOIA Act, which would establish the Commission on Freedom of Information Act Processing Delays (the Commission). The Senate unanimously passed the legislation, co-authored by Senators Leahy (D-VT) and Cornyn (R-TX), earlier this year. In our experience, agency backlogs impose one of the greatest impediments to access under the FOIA and create a disparity across the federal government in the administration of the FOIA. Moreover, while backlogs have presented a longstanding problem in agency implementation of the FOIA, we still do not understand fully the conditions and practices that create those backlogs. Particularly in light of President Obama’s directive to agencies to reduce significant backlogs of outstanding FOIA requests, it is imperative that we identify the root causes of FOIA processing delays. Toward that end, the Commission established by the Faster FOIA Act would examine agency backlogs and recommend to Congress and the President steps that should be taken to reduce delays and make the administration of the FOIA equitable and efficient throughout the federal government. By including representatives of the FOIA requester community, the Commission would bring a fresh perspective to a persistent problem. The Commission would also be tasked with examining the current FOIA system for charging fees and granting waiver fees. In our experience, an agency’s refusal to recognize a requester’s entitlement to a fee waiver all too often causes further processing delays and imposes yet another unreasonable bar to access under the FOIA. Additionally, the Commission will examine and determine why the Federal Government’s use of the exemptions under FOIA increased in Fiscal Year 2009, what efforts were made by Federal agencies to comply with the Administration’s guidelines and whether those efforts were successful, and the extent to which political appointees have been involved in the FOIA process. We welcome the opportunity this legislation presents for meaningful study of this problem, specifically considering whether the current statutory provision should be reformed. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to transparency and open government by strengthening the Freedom of Information Act. Sincerely, American Association of Law Libraries American Association of University Professors American Library Association Association of Research Libraries American Society of News Editors Californians Aware Center for Democracy and Technology Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Defending Dissent Foundation DC Open Government Coalition Electronic Frontier Foundation Essential Information Fund for Constitutional Government Government Accountability Project iSolon.org Justice Through Music Liberty Coalition Minnesota Coalition on Open Government MuckRock The Multiracial Activist National Coalition for History National Freedom of Information Coalition National Security Archive North Carolina Open Government Coalition OMB Watch OpenTheGovernment.org Project On Government Oversight Public Citizen Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press The Rutherford Institute Sage Information Services Society of Professional Journalists Special Libraries Association Sunlight Foundation U.S. PIRG Velvet Revolution Washington Coalition for Open Government Advocacy and Letters - Letters to Government Agencies Signed by TMA Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:38:26 +0100 http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1666/27/ Latin America, 2011 December 29, 2010Alvaro Vargas Llosa (http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=494)Send email (http://www.independent.org/aboutus/emailform.asp?id=494)Alvaro Vargas Llosa is Senior Fellow of The Center on Global Prosperity at The Independent Institute. He is a native of Peru and received his B.S.C. in international history from the London School of Economics. His weekly column is syndicated worldwide by the Washington Post Writers Group, and his Independent Institute books include Full Biography and Recent Publications (http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=494) LESSONS FROM THE POOR: Triumph of the Entrepreneurial Spirit (http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=73)Half the people in the world live on two dollars or less per day and roughly 600 million live on no more than one dollar per day. With thousands of international relief organizations, strategic government programs, and billions of dollars in foreign aid, why do so many underdeveloped countries remain unable to grow their economies beyond mere survival? Learn More »» TMA Articles and Commentary - Current Issue Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:00:00 +0100 http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1665/29/ Massachusetts Commonwealth SenateBill S 252Presented by: Senator William R. Keating (http://www.magnet.state.ma.us/legis/member/wrk0.htm)Petition of William R. Keating for legislation to require forms and questionnaires which elicit racial data from students to include a category of multiracial.01/01/97 S Referred to the committee on Education, Arts and Humanities (http://www.magnet.state.ma.us/legis/comm/j14.htm) -SJ 37A 01/01/97 H House concurred -HJ 314A Public Hearing date May 8 pm at 1:00 in Room B-1 07/10/97 H Accompanied a study order, see H4600 (http://www.magnet.state.ma.us/legis/history/h04600.htm)Return to The Multiracial Activist's Executive, Legislative and Regulatory Center (http://www.multiracial.com/reading/legislation.html)Copyright © 1998 The Multiracial Activist. All rights reserved. Government - Legislation Wed, 01 Jan 1997 19:00:00 +0100 http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1664/29/ THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release October 16, 1995REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENTIN ADDRESS TO THE LIZ SUTHERLAND CARPENTERDISTINGUISHED LECTURESHIPIN THE HUMANITIES AND SCIENCESThe Erwin CenterThe University of Texas at AustinAustin, Texas 9:34 A.M. CDTTHE PRESIDENT: Thank you. You know, when I was a boy growing up in Arkansas, I thought it highly -- (applause) -- I thought it highly unlikely that I would ever become President of the United States. Perhaps the only thing even more unlikely was that I should ever have the opportunity to be cheered at the University of Texas. (Applause.) I must say I am very grateful for both of them. (Laughter.)President Berdahl, Chancellor Cunningham, Dean Olson; to the Texas Longhorn Band, thank you for playing Hail to the Chief. (Applause.) You were magnificent. (Applause.) To my longtime friend of nearly 25 years now, Bernard Rappaport, thank you for your statement and your inspiration and your life of generous giving to this great university and so many other good causes. (Applause.)All the distinguished guests in the audience -- I hesitate to start -- but I thank my friend and your fellow Texan, Henry Cisneros, for coming down here with me and for his magnificent work as Secretary of HUD. (Applause.)I thank your Congressman, Lloyd Doggett, and his wife, Libby, for flying down with me. (Applause.) And I'm glad to see my dear friend, Congressman Jake Pickle here. I miss you. (Applause.) Your Attorney General, Dan Morales; the Land Commissioner, Garry Mauro -- I thank all of them for being here. (Applause.)Thank you, Lucy Johnson, for being here. (Applause.) And please give my regards to your wonderful mother. (Applause.)I have not seen here -- there she is. And I have to recognize and thank your former Congresswoman and now distinguished Professor Barbara Jordan for the magnificent job you did on the immigration issue. (Applause.) Thank you so much. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)My wife told me about coming here so much, I wanted to come and see for myself. I also know, as all of you do, that there is no such thing as saying no to Liz Carpenter. (Laughter.) I drug it out as long as I could just to hear a few more jokes. (Laughter.)My fellow Americans, I want to begin by telling you that I am hopeful about America. When I looked at Nikole Bell up here introducing me, and I shook hands with these other young students -- I looked into their eyes; I saw the AmeriCorps button on that gentlemen's shirt -- (applause) -- I was reminded, as I talk about this thorny subject of race today, I was reminded of what Winston Churchill said about the United States when President Roosevelt was trying to pass the Lend-Lease Act so that we could help Britain in their war against Nazi Germany before we, ourselves, were involved. And for a good while the issue was hanging fire. And it was unclear whether the Congress would permit us to help Britain, who at that time was the only bulwark against tyranny in Europe.And Winston Churchill said, I have great confidence in the judgment and the common sense of the American people and their leaders. They invariably do the right thing after they have examined every other alternative. (Laughter.) So I say to you, let me begin by saying that I can see in the eyes of these students and in the spirit of this moment, we will do the right thing.In recent weeks, every one of us has been made aware of a simple truth -- white Americans and black Americans often see the same world in drastically different ways -- ways that go beyond and beneath the Simpson trial and its aftermath, which brought these perceptions so starkly into the open.The rift we see before us that is tearing at the heart of America exists in spite of the remarkable progress black Americans have made in the last generation, since Martin Luther King swept America up in his dream, and President Johnson spoke so powerfully for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy in demanding that Congress guarantee full voting rights to blacks. The rift between blacks and whites exists still in a very special way in America, in spite of the fact that we have become much more racially and ethnically diverse, and that Hispanic Americans -- themselves no strangers to discrimination -- are now almost 10 percent of our national population.The reasons for this divide are many. Some are rooted in the awful history and stubborn persistence of racism. Some are rooted in the different ways we experience the threats of modern life to personal security, family values, and strong communities. Some are rooted in the fact that we still haven't learned to talk frankly, to listen carefully, and to work together across racial lines.Almost 30 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King took his last march with sanitation workers in Memphis. They marched for dignity, equality, and economic justice. Many carried placards that read simply, I am a man. The throngs of men marching in Washington today, almost all of them, are doing so for the same stated reason. But there is a profound difference between this march today and those of 30 years ago. Thirty years ago, the marchers were demanding the dignity and opportunity they were due because in the face of terrible discrimination, they had worked hard, raised their children, paid their taxes, obeyed the laws, and fought our wars.Well, today's march is also about pride and dignity and respect. But after a generation of deepening social problems that disproportionately impact black Americans, it is also about black men taking renewed responsibility for themselves, their families, and their communities. (Applause.) It's about saying no to crime and drugs and violence. It's about standing up for atonement and reconciliation. It's about insisting that others do the same, and offering to help them. It's about the frank admission that unless black men shoulder their load, no one else can help them or their brothers, their sisters, and their children escape the hard, bleak lives that too many of them still face.Of course, some of those in the march do have a history that is far from its message of atonement and reconciliation. One million men are right to be standing up for personal responsibility. But one million men do not make right one man's message of malice and division. (Applause.) No good house was ever built on a bad foundation. Nothing good ever came of hate. So let us pray today that all who march and all who speak will stand for atonement, for reconciliation, for responsibility.Let us pray that those who have spoken for hatred and division in the past will turn away from that past and give voice to the true message of those ordinary Americans who march. If that happens -- (applause) -- if that happens, the men and the women who are there with them will be marching into better lives for themselves and their families. And they could be marching into a better future for America. (Applause.)Today we face a choice -- one way leads to further separation and bitterness and more lost futures. The other way, the path of courage and wisdom, leads to unity, to reconciliation, to a rich opportunity for all Americans to make the most of the lives God gave them. This moment in which the racial divide is so clearly out in the open need not be a setback for us. It presents us with a great opportunity, and we dare not let it pass us by. (Applause.)In the past when we've had the courage to face the truth about our failure to live up to our own best ideals, we've grown stronger, moved forward and restored proud American optimism. At such turning points America moved to preserve the union and abolished slavery; to embrace women's suffrage; to guarantee basic legal rights to America without regard to race, under the leadership of President Johnson. At each of these moments, we looked in the national mirror and were brave enough to say, this is not who we are; we're better than that.Abraham Lincoln reminded us that a house divided against itself cannot stand. When divisions have threatened to bring our house down, somehow we have always moved together to shore it up. My fellow Americans, our house is the greatest democracy in all human history. And with all its racial and ethnic diversity, it has beaten the odds of human history. But we know that divisions remain, and we still have work to do. (Applause.)The two worlds we see now each contain both truth and distortion. Both black and white Americans must face this, for honesty is the only gateway to the many acts of reconciliation that will unite our worlds at last into one America.White America must understand and acknowledge the roots of black pain. It began with unequal treatment first in law and later in fact. African Americans indeed have lived too long with a justice system that in too many cases has been and continues to be less than just. (Applause.) The record of abuses extends from lynchings and trumped up charges to false arrests and police brutality. The tragedies of Emmett Till and Rodney King are bloody markers on the very same road.Still today too many of our police officers play by the rules of the bad old days. It is beyond wrong when law-abiding black parents have to tell their law-abiding children to fear the police whose salaries are paid by their own taxes. (Applause.)And blacks are right to think something is terribly wrong when African American men are many times more likely to be victims of homicide than any other group in this country; when there are more African American men in our corrections system than in our colleges; when almost one in three African American men in their 20s are either in jail, on parole or otherwise under the supervision of the criminal justice system -- nearly one in three. And that is a disproportionate percentage in comparison to the percentage of blacks who use drugs in our society. Now, I would like every white person here and in America to take a moment to think how he or she would feel if one in three white men were in similar circumstances.And there is still unacceptable economic disparity between blacks and whites. It is so fashionable to talk today about African Americans as if they have been some sort of protected class. Many whites think blacks are getting more than their fair share in terms of jobs and promotions. That is not true. That is not true. (Applause.)The truth is that African Americans still make on average about 60 percent of what white people do; that more than half of African American children live in poverty. And at the very time our young Americans need access to college more than ever before, black college enrollment is dropping in America.On the other hand, blacks must understand and acknowledge the roots of white fear in America. There is a legitimate fear of the violence that is too prevalent in our urban areas; and often by experience or at least what people see on the news at night, violence for those white people too often has a black face.It isn't racist for a parent to pull his or her child close when walking through a high-crime neighborhood, or to wish to stay away from neighborhoods where innocent children can be shot in school or standing at bus stops by thugs driving by with assault weapons or toting handguns like old west desperados. (Applause.)It isn't racist for parents to recoil in disgust when they read about a national survey of gang members saying that two-thirds of them feel justified in shooting someone simply for showing them disrespect. It isn't racist for whites to say they don't understand why people put up with gangs on the corner or in the projects, or with drugs being sold in the schools or in the open. It's not racist for whites to assert that the culture of welfare dependency, out-of-wedlock pregnancy and absent fatherhood cannot be broken by social programs unless there is first more personal responsibility. (Applause.)The great potential for this march today, beyond the black community, is that whites will come to see a larger truth -- that blacks share their fears and embrace their convictions; openly assert that without changes in the black community and within individuals, real change for our society will not come.This march could remind white people that most black people share their old-fashioned American values -- (applause) -- for most black Americans still do work hard, care for their families, pay their taxes, and obey the law, often under circumstances which are far more difficult than those their white counterparts face. (Applause.)Imagine how you would feel if you were a young parent in your 20s with a young child living in a housing project, working somewhere for $5 an hour with no health insurance, passing every day people on the street selling drugs, making 100 times what you make. Those people are the real heroes of America today, and we should recognize that. (Applause.)And white people too often forget that they are not immune to the problems black Americans face -- crime, drugs, domestic abuse, and teen pregnancy. They are too prevalent among whites as well, and some of those problems are growing faster in our white population than in our minority population. (Applause.)So we all have a stake in solving these common problems together. It is therefore wrong for white Americans to do what they have done too often simply to move further away from the problems and support policies that will only make them worse. (Applause.)Finally, both sides seem to fear deep down inside that they'll never quite be able to see each other as more than enemy faces, all of whom carry at least a sliver of bigotry in their hearts. Differences of opinion rooted in different experiences are healthy, indeed essential, for democracies. But differences so great and so rooted in race threaten to divide the house Mr. Lincoln gave his life to save. As Dr. King said, We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish as fools. (Applause.)Recognizing one another's real grievances is only the first step. We must all take responsibility for ourselves, our conduct and our attitudes. America, we must clean our house of racism. (Applause.)To our white citizens, I say, I know most of you ever day do your very best by your own lights -- to live a life free of discrimination. Nevertheless, too many destructive ideas are gaining currency in our midst. The taped voice of one policeman should fill you with outrage. (Applause.) And so I say, we must clean the house of white America of racism. Americans who are in the white majority should be proud to stand up and be heard denouncing the sort of racist rhetoric we heard on that tape -- so loudly and clearly denouncing it, that our black fellow citizens can hear us. White racism may be black people's burden, but it's white people's problem. (Applause.) We must clean our house. (Applause.)To our black citizens, I honor the presence of hundreds of thousands of men in Washington today, committed to atonement and to personal responsibility, and the commitment of millions of other men and women who are African Americans to this cause. I call upon you to build on this effort, to share equally in the promise of America. But to do that, your house, too, must be cleaned of racism. There are too many today -- (applause) -- there are too many today, white and black, on the left and the right, on the street corners and radio waves, who seek to sow division for their own purposes. To them I say, no more. We must be one. (Applause.)Long before we were so diverse, our nation's motto was E Pluribus Unum -- out of many, we are one. We must be one -- as neighbors, as fellow citizens; not separate camps, but family -- white, black, Latino, all of us, no matter how different, who share basic American values and are willing to live by them.When a child is gunned down on a street in the Bronx, no matter what our race, he is our American child. When a woman dies from a beating, no matter what our race or hers, she is our American sister. (Applause.) And every time drugs course through the vein of another child, it clouds the future of all our American children. (Applause.)Whether we like it or not, we are one nation, one family, indivisible. And for us, divorce or separation are not options. (Applause.)Here, in 1995, on the edge of the 21st century, we dare not tolerate the existence of two Americas. Under my watch, I will do everything I can to see that as soon as possible there is only one -- one America under the rule of law; one social contract committed not to winner take all, but to giving all Americans a chance to win together -- one America. (Applause.)Well, how do we get there? First, today I ask every governor, every mayor, every business leader, every church leader, every civic leader, every union steward, every student leader -- most important, every citizen -- in every workplace and learning place and meeting place all across America to take personal responsibility for reaching out to people of different races; for taking time to sit down and talk through this issue; to have the courage to speak honestly and frankly; and then to have the discipline to listen quietly with an open mind and an open heart, as others do the same. (Applause.)This may seem like a simple request, but for tens of millions of Americans, this has never been a reality. They have never spoken, and they have never listened -- not really, not really. (Applause.) I am convinced, based on a rich lifetime of friendships and common endeavors with people of different races, that the American people will find out they have a lot more in common than they think they do. (Applause.)The second thing we have to do is to defend and enhance real opportunity. I'm not talking about opportunity for black Americans or opportunity for white Americans; I'm talking about opportunity for all Americans. (Applause.) Sooner or later, all our speaking, all our listening, all our caring has to lead to constructive action together for our words and our intentions to have meaning. We can do this first by truly rewarding work and family in government policies, in employment policies, in community practices.We also have to realize that there are some areas of our country -- whether in urban areas or poor rural areas like south Texas or eastern Arkansas -- where these problems are going to be more prevalent just because there is no opportunity. There is only so much temptation some people can stand when they turn up against a brick wall day after day after day. And if we can spread the benefits of education and free enterprise to those who have been denied them too long and who are isolated in enclaves in this country, then we have a moral obligation to do it. It will be good for our country. (Applause.)Third and perhaps most important of all, we have to give every child in this country, and every adult who still needs it, the opportunity to get a good education. (Applause.) President Johnson understood that; and now that I am privileged to have this job and to look back across the whole sweep of American history, I can appreciate how truly historic his commitment to the simple idea that every child in this country ought to have an opportunity to get a good, safe, decent, fulfilling education was. It was revolutionary then, and it is revolutionary today. (Applause.)Today that matters more than ever. I'm trying to do my part. I am fighting hard against efforts to roll back family security, aid to distressed communities, and support for education. I want it to be easier for poor children to get off to a good start in school, not harder. I want it to be easier for everybody to go to college and stay there, not harder. (Applause.) I want to mend affirmative action, but I do not think America is at a place today where we can end it. The evidence of the last several weeks shows that. (Applause.)But let us remember, the people marching in Washington today are right about one fundamental thing -- at its base, this issue of race is not about government or political leaders; it is about what is in the heart and the minds and life of the American people. There will be no progress in the absence of real responsibility on the part of all Americans. Nowhere is that responsibility more important than in our efforts to promote public safety and preserve the rule of law.Law and order is the first responsibility of government. Our citizens must respect the law and those who enforce it. Police have a life and death responsibility never, never to abuse the power granted them by the people. We know, by the way, what works in fighting crime also happens to improve relationships between the races. What works in fighting crime is community policing. We have seen it working all across America. The crime rate is down. The murder rate is down where people relate to each other across the lines of police and community in an open, honest, respectful, supportive way. We can lower crime and raise the state of race relations in America if we will remember this simple truth. (Applause.)But if this is going to work, police departments have to be fair and engaged with, not estranged from, their communities. I am committed to making this kind of community policing a reality all across our country. But you must be committed to making it a reality in your communities. We have to root out the remnants of racism in our police departments. We've got to get it out of our entire criminal justice system. But just as the police have a sacred duty to protect the community fairly, all of our citizens have a sacred responsibility to respect the police; to teach our young people to respect them; and then to support them and work with them so that they can succeed in making us safer. (Applause.)Let's not forget, most police officers of whatever race are honest people who love the law and put their lives on the lines so that the citizens they're protecting can lead decent, secure lives, and so that their children can grow up to do the same.Finally, I want to say, on the day of this march, a moment about a crucial area of responsibility -- the responsibility of fatherhood. The single biggest social problem in our society may be the growing absence of fathers from their children's homes, because it contributes to so many other social problems. One child in four grows up in a fatherless home. Without a father to help guide, without a father to care, without a father to teach boys to be men and to teach girls to expect respect from men, it's harder. (Applause.) There are a lot of mothers out there doing a magnificent job alone -- (applause) -- a magnificent job alone, but it is harder. It is harder. (Applause.) This, of course, is not a black problem or a Latino problem or a white problem; it is an American problem. But it aggravates the conditions of the racial divide.I know from my own life it is harder because my own father died before I was born, and my stepfather's battle with alcohol kept him from being the father he might have been. But for all fathers, parenting is not easy and every parent makes mistakes. I know that, too, from my own experience. The point is that we need people to be there for their children day after day. Building a family is the hardest job a man can do, but it's also the most important.For those who are neglecting their children, I say it is not too late; your children still need you. To those who only send money in the form of child support, I say keep sending the checks; your kids count on them, and we'll catch you and enforce the law if you stop. (Applause.) But the message of this march today -- one message is that your money is no replacement for your guiding, your caring, you loving the children you brought into this world. (Applause.)We can only build strong families when men and women respect each other; when they have partnerships; when men are as involved in the homeplace as women have become involved in the workplace. (Applause.) It means, among other things, that we must keep working until we end domestic violence against women and children. (Applause.) I hope those men in Washington today pledge among other things to never, never raise their hand in violence against a woman. (Applause.)So today, my fellow Americans, I honor the black men marching in Washington to demonstrate their commitment to themselves, their families, and their communities. I honor the millions of men and women in America, the vast majority of every color, who without fanfare or recognition do what it takes to be good fathers and good mothers, good workers and good citizens. They all deserve the thanks of America. (Applause.)But when we leave here today, what are you going to do? What are you going to do? Let all of us who want to stand up against racism do our part to roll back the divide. Begin by seeking out people in the workplace, the classroom, the community, the neighborhood across town, the places of worship to actually sit down and have those honest conversations I talked about -- conversations where we speak openly and listen and understand how others view this world of ours.Make no mistake about it, we can bridge this great divide. This is, after all, a very great country. And we have become great by what we have overcome. We have the world's strongest economy, and it's on the move. But we've really lasted because we have understood that our success could never be measured solely by the size of our Gross National Product. (Applause.)I believe the march in Washington today spawned such an outpouring because it is a reflection of something deeper and stronger that is running throughout our American community. I believe that in millions and millions of different ways, our entire country is reasserting our commitment to the bedrock values that made our country great and that make life worth living.The great divides of the past call for and were addressed by legal and legislative changes. They were addressed by leaders like Lyndon Johnson, who passed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. (Applause.) And to be sure, this great divide requires a public response by democratically-elected leaders. But today we are really dealing, and we know it, with problems that grow in large measure out of the way all of us look at the world with our minds and the way we feel about the world with our hearts.And therefore, while leaders and legislation may be important, this is work that has to be done by every single one of you. (Applause.) And this is the ultimate test of our democracy, for today the house divided exists largely in the minds and hearts of the American people. And it must be united there in the minds and hearts of our people.Yes, there are some who would poison our progress by selling short the great character of our people and our enormous capacity to change and grow. But they will not win the day; we will win the day. (Applause.)With your help -- with your help -- that day will come a lot sooner. I will do my part, but you, my fellow citizens, must do yours. Thank you, and God bless you. (Applause.)END 10:15 A.M. CDTReturn to The Multiracial Activist's Executive, Legislative and Regulatory Center (http://www.multiracial.com/reading/legislation.html)Copyright © 1998 The Multiracial Activist. All rights reserved. Government - Speeches by Legislators and Regulators Sun, 16 Oct 2005 19:00:00 +0100 http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1663/29/ Floor Statement: Government IDs and Identity Theftby The Honorable Ron E. Paul (http://www.house.gov/paul/)January 6, 2005Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the Identity Theft Prevention Act. This act protects the American people from government-mandated uniform identifiers that facilitate private crime as well as the abuse of liberty. The major provision of the Identity Theft Prevention Act halts the practice of using the Social Security number as an identifier by requiring the Social Security Administration to issue all Americans new Social Security numbers within five years after the enactment of the bill. These new numbers will be the sole legal property of the recipient, and the Social Security administration shall be forbidden to divulge the numbers for any purposes not related to Social Security administration. Social Security numbers issued before implementation of this bill shall no longer be considered valid federal identifiers. Of course, the Social Security Administration shall be able to use an individual's original Social Security number to ensure efficient administration of the Social Security system.Mr. Speaker, Congress has a moral responsibility to address this problem because it was Congress that transformed the Social Security number into a national identifier. Thanks to Congress, today no American can get a job, open a bank account, get a professional license, or even get a driver's license without presenting his Social Security number. So widespread has the use of the Social Security number become that a member of my staff had to produce a Social Security number in order to get a fishing license!One of the most disturbing abuses of the Social Security number is the congressionally-authorized rule forcing parents to get a Social Security number for their newborn children in order to claim the children as dependents. Forcing parents to register their children with the state is more like something out of the nightmares of George Orwell than the dreams of a free republic that inspired this nation's founders.Congressionally-mandated use of the Social Security number as an identifier facilitates the horrendous crime of identity theft. Thanks to Congress, an unscrupulous person may simply obtain someone's Social Security number in order to access that person's bank accounts, credit cards, and other financial assets. Many Americans have lost their life savings and had their credit destroyed as a result of identity theft. Yet the federal government continues to encourage such crimes by mandating use of the Social Security number as a uniform ID!This act also forbids the federal government from creating national ID cards or establishing any identifiers for the purpose of investigating, monitoring, overseeing, or regulating private transactions among American citizens. At the very end of the 108th Congress, this body established a de facto national ID card with a provisions buried in the “intelligence” reform bill mandating federal standards for drivers’ licenses, and mandating that federal agents only accept a license that conforms to these standards as a valid ID.Nationalizing standards for driver's licenses and birth certificates creates a national ID system pure and simple. Proponents of the national ID understand that the public remains wary of the scheme, so proponents attempt to claim they are merely creating new standards for existing state IDs. However, the “intelligence” reform legislation imposed federal standards in a federal bill, thus creating a federalized ID regardless of whether the ID itself is still stamped with the name of your state. It is just a matter of time until those who refuse to carry the new licenses will be denied the ability to drive or board an airplane. Domestic travel restrictions are the hallmark of authoritarian states, not free republics.The national ID will be used to track the movements of American citizens, not just terrorists. Subjecting every citizen to surveillance diverts resources away from tracking and apprehending terrorists in favor of needless snooping on innocent Americans. This is what happened with suspicious activity reports required by the Bank Secrecy Act. Thanks to BSA mandates, federal officials are forced to waste countless hours snooping through the private financial transactions of innocent Americans merely because those transactions exceeded $10,000.The Identity Theft Prevention Act repeals those sections of federal law creating the national ID, as well as those sections of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 that require the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a uniform standard health identifier--an identifier which could be used to create a national database containing the medical history of all Americans. As an OB/GYN with more than 30 years in private practice, I know the importance of preserving the sanctity of the physician-patient relationship. Oftentimes, effective treatment depends on a patient's ability to place absolute trust in his or her doctor. What will happen to that trust when patients know that any and all information given to their doctors will be placed in a government accessible database?By putting an end to government-mandated uniform IDs, the Identity Theft Prevention Act will prevent millions of Americans from having their liberty, property, and privacy violated by private and public sector criminals.In addition to forbidding the federal government from creating national identifiers, this legislation forbids the federal government from blackmailing states into adopting uniform standard identifiers by withholding federal funds. One of the most onerous practices of Congress is the use of federal funds illegitimately taken from the American people to bribe states into obeying federal dictates.Some members of Congress will claim that the federal government needs the power to monitor Americans in order to allow the government to operate more efficiently. I would remind my colleagues that, in a constitutional republic, the people are never asked to sacrifice their liberties to make the jobs of government officials easier. We are here to protect the freedom of the American people, not to make privacy invasion more efficient.Mr. Speaker, while I do not question the sincerity of those members who suggest that Congress can ensure that citizens' rights are protected through legislation restricting access to personal information, the only effective privacy protection is to forbid the federal government from mandating national identifiers. Legislative privacy protections'' are inadequate to protect the liberty of Americans for a couple of reasons.First, it is simply common sense that repealing those federal laws that promote identity theft is more effective in protecting the public than expanding the power of the federal police force. Federal punishment of identity thieves provides cold comfort to those who have suffered financial losses and the destruction of their good reputations as a result of identity theft.Federal laws are not only ineffective in stopping private criminals, but these laws have not even stopped unscrupulous government officials from accessing personal information. After all, laws purporting to restrict the use of personal information did not stop the well-publicized violations of privacy by IRS officials or the FBI abuses of the Clinton and Nixon administrations.In one of the most infamous cases of identity theft, thousands of active-duty soldiers and veterans had their personal information stolen, putting them at risk of identity theft. Imagine the dangers if thieves are able to obtain the universal identifier, and other personal information, of millions of Americans simply by breaking, or hacking, into one government facility or one government database?Second, the federal government has been creating proprietary interests in private information for certain state-favored special interests. Perhaps the most outrageous example of phony privacy protection is the “medical privacy'” regulation, that allows medical researchers, certain business interests, and law enforcement officials access to health care information, in complete disregard of the Fifth Amendment and the wishes of individual patients! Obviously, privacy protection'' laws have proven greatly inadequate to protect personal information when the government is the one seeking the information.Any action short of repealing laws authorizing privacy violations is insufficient primarily because the federal government lacks constitutional authority to force citizens to adopt a universal identifier for health care, employment, or any other reason. Any federal action that oversteps constitutional limitations violates liberty because it ratifies the principle that the federal government, not the Constitution, is the ultimate judge of its own jurisdiction over the people. The only effective protection of the rights of citizens is for Congress to follow Thomas Jefferson's advice and bind (the federal government) down with the chains of the Constitution.''Mr. Speaker, those members who are not persuaded by the moral and constitutional reasons for embracing the Identity Theft Prevention Act should consider the American people’s opposition to national identifiers. The numerous complaints over the ever-growing uses of the Social Security number show that Americans want Congress to stop invading their privacy. Furthermore, according to a survey by the Gallup company, 91 percent of the American people oppose forcing Americans to obtain a universal health ID.In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I once again call on my colleagues to join me in putting an end to the federal government's unconstitutional use of national identifiers to monitor the actions of private citizens. National identifiers threaten all Americans by exposing them to the threat of identity theft by private criminals and abuse of their liberties by public criminals, while diverting valuable law enforcement resources away from addressing real threats to public safety. In addition, national identifiers are incompatible with a limited, constitutional government. I, therefore, hope my colleagues will join my efforts to protect the freedom of their constituents by supporting the Identity Theft Prevention Act.Official Website of The Honorable Ron E. Paul (R-TX-14) (http://www.house.gov/paul/)Signup for The Multiracial Activist Newsletter (http://www.multiracial.com/newsletter.html)Return to The Multiracial Activist - Home Page (http://www.multiracial.com/) Copyright © 2005 The Multiracial Activist and Ron Paul. All rights reserved. Government - Speeches by Legislators and Regulators Thu, 06 Jan 2005 19:00:00 +0100 http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1662/29/ Speech by Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich before the Orphan Foundation of America, Washington, DC - 18 June 1997 Thank you, Jim Taylor, for that very nice introduction. Even more, thank you and the GATEWAY 2000 Foundation for underwriting the scholarships for these remarkable young people. I would also like to thank Eileen McCaffrey as President of the Orphan Foundation of America for her leadership in organizing the 4th Annual OLIVER Project in support of foster youth attending college.The Orphan Foundation is but one part of a worldwide movement toward helping people. We are a movement of people who believe that combining the wisdom of the founding fathers, with the opportunities of the Information Age and the world market, will help each person exercise their Creator-endowed right to pursue happiness and will eventually lead to freedom, prosperity, and safety everywhere. It seems to me that that is a good description of what Eileen, Jim and everyone associated with the success of this year's OLIVER Project hope to achieve.I understand that the young people honored here tonight were in foster care for a long time. Thankfully, you were able to reach out on your own to private organizations like the Orphan Foundation to find mentors and parents that have been more helpful in brightening your future than any government bureaucracy.For example, David DiBernardo, now a freshman at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania survived twenty-nine foster care placements before he found the Orphan Foundation. This illustrates the fact that investing in our youth and strengthening permanent families is not accomplished by any government program--it happens one child at a time.It is essential that we learn from organizations like The Orphan Foundation and specifically the OLIVER Project, which honors foster youth attending college. Their goal is to replicate the OLIVER Project in the states for high school students.As we pursue these endeavors to brighten the future of every young American, it is important that we listen and learn from the real experts: the young people here with us tonight. For example, Elizabeth DeBroux, a senior at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, and her friends can advise us in Georgia on the most effective policies to help young people.The Orphan Foundation has the right idea and is the right model: It saw a need and chose to provide an opportunity. You have seen what these young people have managed to accomplish so far. You have faith in them that they will be achievers. You have assisted them in helping them make their dreams come true. You have given them a precious opportunity to now have the tools to exercise their Creator-endowed right to pursue happiness. In your eyes, there is no black or white or any other color. There is only a genuine need and the possibility to offer an opportunity. What you are doing is uniquely American -- in more ways than you may realize. When we look around this room, and we see children of many, many hues, we learn, frankly, that it is the common bonds of experience which truly bring us together. These bonds have as much influence on our lives, our successes and our ultimate futures than something that is as ultimately superficial as race.Consider the experience of the orphan: Whether because of war, famine, accident, irresponsibility or illness, a child is suddenly alone in the world. The obstacles that child has to overcome and the opportunities that organizations such as the Orphan Foundation provide for that child -- those experiences shape them in a particular way. And so one orphan -- black, white, Asian, Muslim, Christian or whatever combination of those characteristics you can imagine -- can look to another and say, Yes, I've been down the same road that you've traveled and regardless of how you may look or how you may worship, I can see that you and I share the same experience. This is a particularly apt metaphor for America writ large. America is a nation of immigrants. In certain ways, the experience of the immigrant and the experience of the orphan mirror one another. We have, in America, people who have, for various reasons come to America for a better opportunity. Before there was a nation called the United States, Pilgrims, fleeing religious persecution, landed in a place they called the New World. In the 1800's the Irish came to these shores fleeing a famine which had devastated their country. As recently as the 1970s, Vietnamese fled a homeland wounded by decades of war. These and so many others saw hope and opportunity in America. They came here for a chance to succeed. They made the conscious decision to become part of a new family -- to become Americans. And becoming an American is a unique experience, which comes with certain responsibilities, certain habits that one has to absorb and accept to successfully finish the process.An American is not French the way the French are or German the way Germans are. You can live in either of those countries for years and never become French or German. I think one of the reasons Tiger Woods has had such a big impact is because he is an American. He defines himself as an American. I think we need to be prepared to say, the truth is we want all Americans to be, quite simply, Americans. That doesn't deprive anyone of the right to define further define their heritage -- I go to celebrations such as the Greek festival in my district every year. It doesn't deprive us of the right to have ethnic pride, to have some sense of our origins. But it is wrong for some Americans to begin creating subgroups to which they have a higher loyalty than to America at large. The genius of America has always been its ability to draw people from everywhere and to give all of them an opportunity to pursue happiness in a way that no other society has been able to manage.That is a particularly useful way of discussing the question of race which I raised at the beginning of the year, when I was re-elected Speaker, and which the President addressed this past weekend in California. This question of race is at the heart of America's darkest moments -- slavery, the Civil War, segregation -- and yet dealing with it in the public sphere also produced two of our most brilliant and influential leaders -- Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. Such has been the tragedy and the triumph of race in America. As W.E.B. DuBois observed, the 20th century has in some ways been defined by the color line As we move into a new century, we have to look at what has worked when it comes to race, what hasn't and what lessons we should learn. Because, as the old adage goes, there is no surer sign of insanity than doing the same thing over and over again -- and expecting a different result each time.Looking to the new rather than repeat a failed pattern is a very American truth. To those who doubt whether America holds promise even in the most hostile of circumstances, we need only turn to the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave -- his autobiography. While the question of a federal apology for slavery can be discussed by reasonable people of all persuasions, let us not forget someone like Douglass who didn't wait for an apology. He allowed bonds neither physical nor mental to prevent him in one lifetime to go from being a slave to becoming an adviser to the President. That is quintessentially an American story. That is a story like many others in this unique nation. It stands as one of many historic lessons which all Americans can benefit from learning. Slavery was an awful period in this country's existence -- one which we as a country -- must never forget. That's why I was glad that J.C. Watts introduced his June Teenth resolution yesterday, observing the day many African-Americans celebrate as the traditional end of slavery. The more Americans learn about America -- the triumphs and the tragedies -- the more we mature as a nation. But while Americans must respect the past, part of being an American is about looking forward.The scholarships being awarded here tonight are a good place to continue the dialogue on race -- because they are awards of pure achievement, pure merit rewarding individuals for their superior work as individuals. They are not being granted because somebody felt sorry for you or thought you needed assistance because you were a particular race or gender. You are being rewarded for your hard work as individuals. That is the way we must approach the issue of opportunity. We will not be successful in moving our society forward if we submerge individuals into groups.Unfortunately, government policy has concentrated on groupings over the last thirty years. The results of the group-think approach are in and they have proven tragic. Let me draw a distinction. I was an Army brat. I was born in Harrisburg, PA. I grew up in an integrated institution. I went to the South as a teenager and was in Columbus, Georgia when there was still legal segregation. Segregation was the legal imposition by the state of a set of unfair rules. Ending segregation was an inherently political fight. It made perfect sense for people who wanted to advance the cause of freedom and end government-imposed segregation to focus on politics and government. Since the rules of segregation were focused on a specific group, it made sense that the focus was on removing the impediments at the group level.Having ended segregation, however, the next struggle, frankly, is and has been economic and educational achievement. Government is a peculiarly ineffective institution in those areas. This is a lesson we now tell the Chinese, we tell the Russians, we say everywhere around the planet. Centralized, bureaucratic, command-and-control systems don't work. Well, guess what? They don't work very well in the inner cities of Washington, D.C., New York or Detroit, either. And they have proven tragically not to work on Indian reservations.We need to treat individuals as individuals and we need to address discrete problems for the problems they are -- and not presume them to be part of an intractable racial issue which will never be torn out.Consider education as an example. Following the removal of racial quotas in the University of California system, Berkeley experienced a precipitous drop in accepted black students for their fall classes. The old way of thinking assumes this to be a racial problem that must be addressed in a race-specific manner. That is exactly the wrong kind of thinking. If in fact, enough young people are not being educated well enough to get into Berkeley, the focus should be on what's wrong with the schools that are producing them and how we improve those schools. And if the need is for more tutoring... and if the need is for better education...if the need is for a way to dramatically overhaul the schools -- then let's overhaul the schools.Similarly, if there are not enough young blacks in particular -- young Hispanics to a lesser extent -- going out and creating small businesses, then let's look at what are the inhibitions to creating small businesses. All of the set-asides in the world will not change Anacostia or other such pockets of poverty. We have to have a profound fundamental rethinking of the assumptions that have failed for thirty years.As you look at the success of West Indian, first-generation immigrants or of Koreans or you look at the success, for that matter, of people who have come here from Africa in the last thirty years, the fact is a surprising number of people of color rise surprisingly rapidly. And by rising I mean get wealthier, buy property, have freedom and go on nice vacations. They rise very rapidly. They rise because they have the right habits, skills and networking ability. But if you trap people into public housing with anti-work and anti-achievement regulations, send them to schools that fail, teach them a set of habits about not working, create an environment where no one near them gets up on Monday to go to a job, have nobody in the neighborhood who opens a small business, it shouldn't shock you that we end up with cycles of despair which repeat for generations.What we've done is artificially create, both on Indian reservations and in the inner city, zones of despair and depression where people have no hope. So we need to talk about a very different model. The President's commission needs to begin with this new, more powerful approach. In America everyone is an individual. Everyone in America has the Creator-endowed right to pursue happiness. In America, we pragmatically solve problems by asking, Why isn't this happening? For example, Why aren't children learning in a particular neighborhood? Then systematically break the problem into components and solve it. In many cases, a solution will require a replacement rather than a repair. That's why we developed a replacement for the failed welfare system. You couldn't repair the old welfare system of passivity and lifetime dependency. It had to be replaced with a different model that emphasized training work and self-help. I would argue the same is true with much of the public housing rules. You can't repair them. You have got to replace them with a different model.If you do create a replacement system at a practical level, what behaviors are you trying to encourage among large numbers of people? You want to make it easy to open a small business. Most big cities make it hard. Hernando DeSoto fifteen years ago wrote The Other Path. It is based on anti-job rules in Lima, Peru. It applies as well to Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, New York, Los Angeles and virtually all large American cities. So the very place we want more business -- we're going to face this problem of local anti-job taxes and rules now. I'm the leading advocate for tax breaks for Washington, D.C. We have nearly $580 million in tax breaks (over ten years) in the tax bill for our nation's capital. We have fought hard to protect these tax breaks. Yet D.C. city taxes are one-third higher than the surrounding counties' taxes. Now, it is not hard for any student of Adam Smith to figure out why, if you are a rational small businessperson, you go to Prince George's County. It's safer, it's cheaper and the local government doesn't make it so difficult for the entrepreneur to succeed.It doesn't matter how many quotas you have. If you're not willing to confront the central need to reform and replace the systems that have failed, they will continue to fail. I would hope the President's commission will have the moral courage to erase the assumption that we are a group society. If they will look to Canada right now, they will see profound reasons for Americans to want to avoid our decaying into a series of groups. I hope this commission will decide that its goal must be to have every American succeed as an individual within the framework of their Creator-endowed rights.We must focus on individuals and their personal educational and economic achievements. Obsessing on race will not allow us to move beyond race. We must follow the example of the Orphan Foundation and recognize specific needs and provide principles that will allow Americans of all backgrounds to open the doors of opportunity.We have to start with the development of a solid foundation -- with an economic and social pillar -- which will allow us to build a true opportunity society. We must emphasize continuing economic growth with low inflation and rising take-home pay. Within this economic growth we must emphasize creating opportunities for minorities to create new small businesses. Our goal should be to encourage at least a three-fold growth in black-owned small businesses over the next few years. This will require reductions in taxation, litigation and regulation to make it dramatically easier to launch small businesses. It also will require an aggressive outreach program to encourage minority individuals to create their own business as an alternative to working for others.In addition to expanded economic opportunity we should insist on solving other challenges which affect all Americans but bear particularly harshly on minority populations. I imagine it is January 1, 2001, the first day of a new century and a new millennium. It is a Monday morning. Imagine waking up in an America that was virtually drug-free, in which practically every child was learning at their best rate, and in which almost all children were born into or adopted into families that could nurture and raise them.I am not describing a utopia. This is the America I went to high school in in 1960. Drug use was marginal. There was an expectation you could read the diploma before they gave it to you. Self-esteem was earned not given. Young males knew that fatherhood was a responsibility not just a biological side effect of hedonism.All of America will be better of if we create a drug-free, learning-oriented America of children growing up in families -- minority Americans in general and black Americans in particular -- would find their lives dramatically improved by these changes.Stopping drug addiction, drug-related violence, and drug-generated wealth will do more to improve the lives of young blacks and the prospects of poor neighborhoods than all of the quotas and set-asides combined. When neighborhoods are drug-free and crime free, businesses will return, jobs will reappear and economic opportunity will be re-established.True learning is infinitely more powerful than social promotion combined with quotas and set-asides. Every child of every background in every neighborhood deserves their full rights to pursue happiness as their Creator endowed them. Recently, I attended an 8th grade graduation at St. Augustine private school here in Washington. 98% of the private school children will graduate. The public schools which cost three to four times as much will graduate less than half as many of their entering children. Saving the children who are dropping out requires new approaches not new quotas.We know we can dramatically reduce single teen pregnancy because it is being done. Kay Granger, former mayor of Fort Worth and now a freshman member of Congress, worked on a YWCA project for 800-at-risk teenage girls. Statistically 70% should have become pregnant. The program taught these young girls ambition, integrity, and motivation. Instead of 560 becoming pregnant, only two did. We can break the cycles of dependency and despair in our poor neighborhoods.This is not a proposal for a massive new government program. If centralized bureaucracies in Washington could have stopped drugs, guaranteed learning and ended single teen pregnancy, the job would have been done -- we have created the bureaucracy and spent the money. It was just the wrong model.America is a great country filled with good people. Tocqueville pointed out in the 1840s that volunteerism, local leadership and faith-based charities were the unique attributes that gave America its dynamic character. Marvin Olasky recaptured these principles of American success in his 1994 book The Tragedy of American Compassion.Instead of focusing on broad sweeping generalizations about race, the President's commission needs to focus on practical, doable, immediate action steps that can solve America's problems. If Americans get busy enough working together to achieve real goals, racism will recede. Perspiration and teamwork will dissolve racism faster than therapy and dialogue.I'm sure most of you saw the Bulls-Jazz championship game last week. In the closing moments, when Michael Jordan looked to find an open man for a winning shot, he didn't look for the closest black player. He looked for the nearest Chicago jersey. That happened to be Steve Kerr who is white. This is the example for society to follow: A group of individuals so focused on a common goal of winning -- that they don't have time to worry about what color the other guy is. I will also remind everyone here and watching on C-SPAN that Michael Jordan tragically lost his father a few years ago. Steve Kerr, while a college freshman, lost his father to Middle East violence. They are also good examples of overcoming adversity and triumphing in the face of it. We thank the President for wishing to continue the dialogue on race last weekend. But frankly, there has been much talk on this issue and very little action of the sort which will dramatically change people's lives.Let me now suggest 10 practical steps which, started today can build a better America and, in the process, close the racial divide:LEARNING -- We must create better opportunities for all children to learn by breaking the stranglehold of the teachers' unions and giving parents the financial opportunity to choose the public, private, or parochial school that's best for their children (as outlined in Majority Leader Armey's Educational Opportunity Scholarships for District of Columbia students).SMALL BUSINESS -- We must set a goal of tripling the number of minority-owned small businesses by bringing successful small business leaders together to identify -- and then eliminate -- the government-imposed barriers to entrepreneurship.URBAN RENEWAL -- We must create 100 Renewal Communities in impoverished areas through targeted, pro-growth tax benefits, regulatory relief, low-income scholarships, savings accounts, brownfields clean-up, and home-ownership opportunities (as outlined in Jim Talent and J.C. Watts' American Community Renewal Act).CIVIL RIGHTS -- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should clear its existing backlog of discrimination case by enforcing existing civil rights laws, rather than trying to create new ones by regulatory decree.EQUAL OPPORTUNITY -- We must make America a country with equal opportunity for all and special privilege for none by treating all individuals as equals before the law and doing away with quotas, preferences, and set-asides in government contracts, hiring, and university admissions (as outlined in the Canady-McConnell-Hatch Civil Rights Act of 1997).RACIAL CLASSIFICATION -- We must break down rigid racial classifications. A first step could be to add a multiracial category to the census and other government forms to begin to phase out the outdated, divisive, and rigid classification of Americans as blacks or whites or other single races. Ultimately, our goal is to have one classification -- American .HOME OWNERSHIP -- We must ease the path toward home ownership by giving local communities and housing authorities the flexibility and authority to more effectively and efficiently house low-income Americans (as outlined in the Housing Opportunity and Responsibility Act). We must also expand faith-based charities such as Habitat for Humanity, which grow families as well as build homes.VIOLENT CRIME -- We must make our cities safe and secure places to live and work through community policing, tougher sentences for violent criminals, and innovative anti-crime programs (as outlined in the Juvenile Crime Control Act of 1997). We must also dramatically expand the community-based anti-drug coalition efforts and insist on a victory plan for the war on drugs.ECONOMIC GROWTH -- We must expand economic opportunities for all Americans by promoting continued economic growth with low inflation and rising take-home pay, through tax cuts, tax simplifications, litigation reform, less regulation and overhaul of the burden of government on small businesses. After all, for welfare-to-work to be successful, work needs to be available.WELFARE REFORM -- We must take the next step in welfare reform by fostering and promoting innovative local job training, and entry-level employment programs to move welfare recipients into the workforce (as outlined in the Personal Responsibility Act of 1996 and the welfare-to-work initiatives of Governor George Bush of Texas and others).These ten steps are examples of the kind of practical, down-to-earth, problem-solving efforts which will improve the lives of all Americans, but have an especially important and dramatic impact on the lives of poor Americans and minority communities.I hope the President's commission will establish a goal of practical reforms and practical changes and will hold hearings designed to elicit pragmatic, down-to-earth proposals for real change.The commission would do well to start right here with the Orphan Foundation. This is a uniquely American institution -- in your generosity of spirit, in your inner strength and in your boundless optimism. But most of all, you are uniquely American because in giving these and many other young people the rarest of treasures -- a sense of hope, a sense of place and a sense of possibility -- you are in fact helping show them what it means to be citizens and part of the American family. And those are the greatest gifts of all. You are part of a worldwide movement of freedom and faith. You are all making our jobs a little bit easier.I thank the Foundation for its work; I salute this year's scholarship winners and I thank you for allowing me to join you this evening.Return to The Multiracial Activist's Executive, Legislative and Regulatory Center (http://www.multiracial.com/reading/legislation.html)Copyright © 1998 The Multiracial Activist. All rights reserved. Government - Speeches by Legislators and Regulators Wed, 18 Jun 1997 19:00:00 +0100 http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1658/27/ The Roma Tragedy September 22, 2010Alvaro Vargas Llosa (http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=494)Send email (http://www.independent.org/aboutus/emailform.asp?id=494)Alvaro Vargas Llosa is Senior Fellow of The Center on Global Prosperity at The Independent Institute. He is a native of Peru and received his B.S.C. in international history from the London School of Economics. His weekly column is syndicated worldwide by the Washington Post Writers Group, and his Independent Institute books include Full Biography and Recent Publications (http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=494) LESSONS FROM THE POOR: Triumph of the Entrepreneurial Spirit (http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=73)Half the people in the world live on two dollars or less per day and roughly 600 million live on no more than one dollar per day. With thousands of international relief organizations, strategic government programs, and billions of dollars in foreign aid, why do so many underdeveloped countries remain unable to grow their economies beyond mere survival? Learn More »» TMA Articles and Commentary - TMA Commentary and Essays Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:00:00 +0100 http://multiracial.com/site/content/view/1657/49/ September 17, 2010The Honorable Charles E. SchumerChairman, Committee on Rules and Administration305 Russell Senate Office BuildingWashington, DC 20510The Honorable Bob BennettRanking Member, Committee on Rules and Administration479 Russell Senate Office BuildingWashington, DC 20510The Honorable Robert A. BradyChairman, Committee on House Administration1309 Longworth House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515The Honorable Dan LungrenRanking Member, Committee on House Administration1313 Longworth House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515Dear Chairmen Schumer and Brady and Ranking Members Bennett and Lungren:On the 223rd anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, we the undersigned organizations write to urge that the legal treatise Constitution Annotated be published online in XML format each time it is updated. The Constitution of the United States: Analysis and Interpretation, as it is formally known, is an invaluable resource for students, scholars, and others interested in learning how the U.S. Supreme Court interprets our nation’s governing document. Organized to explain the Constitution clause by clause, the Constitution Annotated has been continuously published for nearly 100 years and