By MATT BROWN, Related Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Congressional Black Caucus kicked off its annual legislative convention this week, which has been upended by President Donald Trump’s second time period and by the presence of Nationwide Guard patrols close to the convention’s venue.
The 62-member caucus, all of whom are Democrats, gathered with enterprise leaders, activists, coverage specialists, native authorities officers, and different professionals from throughout the nation to strategize find out how to construct its new agenda and to counter Trump’s insurance policies, which have disrupted federal authorities applications that deal with civil rights, schooling, healthcare, housing, immigration and labor coverage, amongst different areas.
Whereas this yr’s convention has featured the standard panels, technique periods and cocktail events, many attendees hoped to listen to from the “conscience of the Congress” — a moniker bestowed on the CBC for its civil rights work — about what classes could be realized from American historical past for the present political local weather, and the way lawmakers would govern ought to they win future elections.
Listed below are some feedback from the CBC lawmakers who attended this yr’s convention:
Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina
“That is in all probability going to be one of the crucial consequential weeks that you’ve ever spent in your lives,” stated Clyburn, the previous Home Democratic chief, throughout an deal with on the outset of the convention. “Take it from me: we’re on the precipice of dropping this democracy. We’re. And if you happen to don’t suppose so, take a journey by the historical past of the nation.”
“I might hope that I might not go away this Earth, and my youngsters and grandchildren wouldn’t be sentenced to having to reside the life that their grandparents and fogeys lived,” stated the 85-year-old congressman.
Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York
“This isn’t a standard time. That is the time that we make for ourselves our personal future,” Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, stated in an deal with to convention attendees.
“This isn’t a scenario the place we are able to essentially say, nicely, look, these individuals in Congress have gotten it. As a result of the Congress is damaged,” Clarke stated. “We delivered democracy to the US of America. Have been it not for the abolitionists, have been it not for the Civil Rights leaders, have been it not for the foot troopers on the bottom, we’d nonetheless be residing in apartheid. So let’s get it straight and let’s straighten up our backs.”
Clarke added: “I consider in us as a result of have been it not for the parents who got here earlier than me, I wouldn’t be standing right here immediately as chairwoman of the most important Black Caucus within the historical past of the US.”
Rep. Jennifer McClellan of Virginia
“It’s not that if (Democrats) get the gavel, we rebuild again to what we had. We’re additionally taking this chance to see what we are able to begin from scratch,” stated McClellan.
“There are some Republicans within the committee rooms, or in delegations, who share our considerations on some points, whether or not it’s the NIH funding cuts, whether or not it’s First Modification points, or whether or not it’s clear vitality rollbacks. And they’re taking their considerations behind the scenes to the administration. And in some instances, they’ve been profitable and no less than making the dangerous much less dangerous.”
Rep. Glenn Ivey of Maryland
“It’s going to be a brand new day, partly as a result of they’ve modified the governing construction a lot,” Ivey stated of how Democrats are planning on governing in response to Trump’s adjustments to the federal authorities.
“A part of what we’re going to should do is fireplace a giant chunk of the paperwork that he’s placing in proper now, simply transfer them out and begin over from scratch,” stated Ivey, who represents the suburbs of Washington. “And we’ve bought to verify we perceive that for lots of the laws we’ve achieved, we depend on explicit authorities businesses to make it work. That’s not going to fly anymore. The Division of Justice and the Civil Rights Division is an instance of that.”
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California
“The truth is that among the dangerous stuff is simply going to occur,” stated Kamlager-Dove. “There isn’t a technique to cease among the dangerous stuff besides to proceed to teach people in regards to the hypocrisy and the duplicity that’s occurring.”
“Many of those particular elections, many of those native elections which can be occurring ever since Donald Trump got here into workplace and began implementing his Mission 2025, Democrats have been successful,” she stated. “The technique is to have interaction community-based organizations. The technique is to work extra diligently with our authorized neighborhood. The technique is to take every thing to the court docket. The technique is to create some outrage. The technique is to battle the battles on the native elections. The info of technique are to make it possible for we’re shored up in order that when 2028 comes round, people are prepared.”
Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts
“I believe that the air feels so much heavier than it does usually. That being stated, after each session, after each engagement that I’ve had, I go away emboldened and extra fortified,” stated Pressley.
“It’s so essential that we’re leaning into neighborhood, but additionally that we’re strategizing, that we’re being intentional in our thought partnership and in our organizing, within the work of resistance and the work of reimagining,” she stated. “So I might say, you recognize, on this second proper now, I really feel very inspired.”
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