2013 VA 8th Congressional District Democratic Convention (mobile)
The 8th Congressional District (VA8thCDDems.org, calendar, Facebook, Twitter) is the proud home of Congressman James P. Moran, Jr. (JimMoran.org, facebook.com/jamesmoranjr, twitter.com/Jim_Moran).
Share convention info with a friend, text them a link to this page, click here. Official district convention hashtag: #8thCD2013.
Special Note: To vote at the convention attendees shall be required to sign a Declaration form which includes: an affirmation that the person is a resident of, and registered to vote in, the jurisdiction holding the caucus; does not intend to support any candidate who is opposed to the Democratic nominee in the next ensuing general election; is a Democrat and is not a member of any other political party; and has not, and will not, participate in the nominating process of any other political party for the 2013 general election. Check your voter registration status, click here.
Caucus Rooms
Meeting Rooms
CONVENTION TOPICS
Temporary rules will be presented to the convention for adoption as permanent rules, see below.
REPORT OF THE TEMPORARY RULES COMMITTEE
2013 8th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
I. Convening of Jurisdictional Caucuses and District Convention
A. Jurisdictional Caucuses for the following jurisdictions will convene at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 18, 2013, at Robert E. Lee High School, 6540 Franconia Rd, Springfield, VA 22150:
B. The 8th District Democratic Convention (District Convention) shall convene upon completion of the work of the Jurisdictional Caucuses.
C. The District Convention will be called to order by the Chair of the 8th Congressional District Democratic Committee (District Committee), who shall serve as Temporary Chair of the District Convention, and who will have named Temporary Caucus Chairs for each Jurisdictional Caucus.
II. Order of Business
A. Jurisdictional Caucuses
B. Convention Call to Order
C. Introduction of Temporary Chair and Temporary Secretary
D. Election of Permanent Credentials, Rules, and Resolutions Committees, which may meet immediately following their election as needed.
E. Election of Permanent Chair and Permanent Secretary
F. Welcoming Address, Introductions and Announcements
G. Report of the Permanent Rules Committee
H. Report of the Permanent Credentials Committee
I. Election of the State Central Committee Members
J. Report of the Permanent Resolutions Committee
K. Adjournment
III. Jurisdictional Caucuses and Election of State Central Committee Members
A. Jurisdictional Caucuses shall elect State Central Committee members. Each Jurisdictional Caucus shall elect its own Caucus Chair and adopt its own rules consistent with these rules (see attached Jurisdictional Caucus Rules).
B. The name of each convention attendee shall be checked by the Credentials Committee against a list of registered voters (supplied by the Democratic Party of Virginia) to determine that the attendee is a voter registered in the jurisdiction. Attendees shall be required to sign a Declaration form which includes: an affirmation that the person is a resident of, and registered to vote in, the jurisdiction holding the caucus; does not intend to support any candidate who is opposed to the Democratic nominee in the next ensuing general election; is a Democrat and is not a member of any other political party; and has not, and will not, participate in the nominating process of any other political party for the 2013 general election.
C. If an attendee cannot be found on the list of registered voters, to participate and vote, they must sign an Affirmation of Identity Declaration form that also includes the same requirements as confirmed attendees.
D. Registration shall end at 10:00 am and persons in line by that time may complete the check-in process.
E. Each attendee completing check-in will be given a credential badge indicating their status as determined by the Temporary Credentials Committee, e.g. registered attendee in a jurisdiction, guest, candidate, press, elected official, etc.
i. Any dispute or controversy regarding the assignment or distribution of credentials (registered attendee, guest, press, candidate, etc.) shall be resolved by the District Chair.
F. The Jurisdictional Caucuses shall elect twenty members of the Democratic State Central Committee and the names of persons elected shall be presented to the District Convention. Each Jurisdictional Caucus shall elect the following number of State Central Committee Members:
G. Any references to gender throughout these rules, and equally applicable to the rules adopted by the Falls Church City Jurisdictional Caucus, are to be considered as either male or female with respect to the election of one member of the State Central Committee from Falls Church City, gender balance of the District Committee to be subsequently achieved as needed by election of persons elected under Party Plan, Section 6.2.
* Gender balance: to be compliant with the State Party Plan Section 4.3 Equal Division, and pursuant to advice of the same section, gender balance may be achieved under the authority of Section 6.2 Additional Members; therefore, regarding the election of one Democratic member of the General Assembly and three county or city representatives “any district committee may choose to use these positions to insure that the equal division requirement of Section 4.3 is met”.
H. Prefiling is required to be elected to the State Central Committee from the Congressional District, except if the number of candidates pre-filing for State Central Committee for any jurisdiction by gender is less than the number allocated to a jurisdiction. Persons wishing to be elected are required to pre-file the Membership Prefiling Form with the District Chair by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 10, 2013. The form must be received by the Chair by the designated deadline.
I. If the number of candidates pre-filing for State Central Committee for any jurisdiction by gender is greater than the number allocated to a jurisdiction the election for that gender shall be conducted via preprinted written ballot from among the pre-filed candidates. Each ballot shall list, in alphabetical order by surname (per APA styles*), the female candidates on the left side and the male candidates on the right side and shall clearly state the maximum number of votes permitted for candidates of each respective gender. The ballot shall also state that if more than the allowed numbers of votes for members of one gender are cast, then none of the votes cast for that gender shall be counted. Each voter may cast no more than one vote per candidate, and no voter may cast more votes per gender than the jurisdiction’s total allotment for that gender.
* Alphabetization in APA Style
http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2010/05/alphabetization-in-apa-style.html;
example: http://blog.apastyle.org/files/alphabetization-in-apa-style-quiz-and-key.pdf
i. The Caucus Chair shall read the names of those candidates listed on the pre-printed ballots and direct them to assemble before the Jurisdictional Caucus and each shall have up to one minute to address the Jurisdictional Caucus. Candidates shall speak in the order in which they are listed on the pre-printed ballot.
J. If the number of candidates pre-filing for State Central Committee for any jurisdiction by gender is equal to the number allocated to a jurisdiction the caucus may dispense with speeches and may also elect those candidates by acclamation.
K. If the number of candidates pre-filing for State Central Committee for any jurisdiction by gender is less than the number allocated to a jurisdiction the caucus may dispense with speeches and may also elect those candidates by acclamation, after which the Caucus Chair may ask for additional nominations from the floor.
i. If the number of candidates nominated from the floor by gender is equal to the remaining number of allocated slots to that jurisdiction, the caucus may again dispense with any speeches and may also elect those candidates by acclamation; however,
ii. If the number of candidates nominated from the floor is greater than the remaining number of allocated slots to that jurisdiction, blank ballots will be available for registered attendees to write in their selection with directions pre-printed on such ballots. Each ballot shall provide for female candidates on the left side and the male candidates on the right side and shall clearly state the maximum number of votes permitted for candidates of each respective gender. The ballot shall also state that if more than the allowed numbers of votes for members of one gender are cast, then none of the votes cast for that gender shall be counted. Each voter may cast no more than one vote per candidate, and no voter may cast more votes per gender than the jurisdiction’s total allotment for that gender.
a. Candidate(s) shall have up to one minute to address the caucus, in alphabetical order by surname per APA styles.
b. As an aid to voters, the Caucus Chair may direct: 1) that the names of the nominated candidates may be written in a prominent place in the order of their nomination, and 2) that the maximum allowed votes is written by the voter in the space provided on the blank ballot.
L. The Caucus Chair may ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to time the speeches and apply the caucus rules to ensure the orderly conduct of business.
M. Following speeches, and at the direction of the Caucus Chair the Caucus Teller shall distribute one ballot to each registered attendee if needed, e.g. for election of candidates not already elected by acclamation. Completed ballots shall be returned to the Caucus Teller for immediate counting. The Caucus Teller may appoint Assistant Tellers if needed.
N. Each candidate for election to the State Central Committee may appoint one caucus attendee to serve as an observer of the vote count, although no observers are required.
O. Following the vote count, the Caucus Teller shall report the tally to the Caucus Chair, who shall announce the results to the Jurisdictional Caucus.
P. Following the adjournment of the Jurisdictional Caucus, the Caucus Teller shall present to the Convention Head Teller all of the ballots and minutes from that jurisdiction.
IV. Convention and Permanent Committees
A. Following the Jurisdictional Caucuses, convention attendees will convene as the District Convention.
i. Registered attendees shall be seated by component jurisdiction at the front of the convention, while all other convention attendees, other than special guests (guests addressing the District Convention, and/or others designated by the District Chair, e.g. press, candidates), shall be seated behind the registered attendees.
B. There shall be three Permanent Committees of the Convention: Rules, Resolutions and Credentials. Each committee shall be composed of as many as 15 members, and each shall choose its own chair. The membership of the Permanent Committees shall be apportioned in the same manner as the Temporary Committees as follows:
C. Following the election of the Permanent Chair and Permanent Secretary, at the appropriate time the District Convention shall hear the report of the Permanent Rules, and Credentials Committees and vote to adopt their reports and recommendations.
D. Each Caucus Chair shall report to the District Convention, at the appropriate time, the person(s) elected by their respective Jurisdictional Caucus to the State Central Committee. The Permanent Chair of the Convention shall declare that the persons elected by the Jurisdictional Caucuses are elected as 8th District members of the State Central Committee.
V. Resolutions
A. For a resolution to be considered at the District Convention, it must be emailed to the District Chair at the following address: resolutions@VA8thCDDems.org by 5:00 pm on Friday, May 3, 2013. Preferred format as a Word doc/docx attachment.
B. Public hearings on resolutions may be held at the discretion of the Temporary Resolutions Committee.
C. The Chair of the Permanent Resolutions Committee in presenting their report may offer for approval each resolution individually, or as part of one or more groups. No resolutions or amendments to resolutions may be proposed from the floor of the convention.
D. The Chair of the Permanent Resolutions Committee shall poll the registered attendees in a voice vote regarding a desire for debate regarding individual resolutions (such a poll is not a vote to adopt a resolution, only whether it is to be debated), and all those resolutions favored by the registered attendees and not requiring debate shall be voted for adoption by acclamation, followed by debate on individual resolutions. Debate on all resolutions shall be limited to no more than 60 minutes of the District Convention, and no more than 10 minutes on any one resolution, time to be kept and enforced by the Sergeant-at-Arms. The Convention Chair shall make reasonable efforts to ensure equal time for debate pro and con, to the extent such time is sought.
E. All resolutions adopted by the District Convention shall be certified by the Permanent Chair and forwarded to the State Central Committee for consideration by Thursday, May 23, 2013.
VI. Miscellaneous Rules
A. One may file a Membership Prefiling form via mail, email, or in-person (hand deliver) provided that the form is received by the designated deadline. Faxed forms will not be accepted. No matter which method one uses, a signature must be affixed to the Membership Prefiling Form.
B. The Permanent Chair shall appoint a Parliamentarian, a Sergeant-at-Arms, a Head Teller, and fill any other positions deemed necessary. It shall be the responsibility of the Permanent Chair to conduct and expedite the business of the District Convention, and to preserve order and decorum. Each attendee is called upon and directed to assist in completing the business of the District Convention in an orderly and timely manner. The Permanent Chair shall be authorized to recess the District Convention at any time. The Permanent Chair will state, whenever possible, when the District Convention is to reconvene. The Permanent Chair may recognize special guests at appropriate times.
C. Ballots and minutes from each Jurisdictional Caucus will be turned over to the Convention Head Teller after the adjournment of a Jurisdictional Caucus, and will be maintained by the Permanent Chair for thirty days.
D. Any individual or group of Democrats may sponsor or endorse a team of candidates for election to the State Central Committee; however, the District Convention does not allow a preprinted ballot to specifically provide for slates or slate voting.
E. Except as set forth in these rules, the District Convention, the Temporary and Permanent Committees, and the Jurisdictional Caucuses shall be governed by the Virginia Democratic Party Plan (Party Plan), as amended, and Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised.
Respectfully submitted,
Pat Morrison and Steve Bunn, Co-Chairs
8th Congressional District Democratic Committee 2013 Convention Temporary Rules
SUGGESTED JURISDICTIONAL CAUCUS RULES (TEMPORARY RULES)
2013 8th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
* Alphabetization in APA Style
http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2010/05/alphabetization-in-apa-style.html;
example: http://blog.apastyle.org/files/alphabetization-in-apa-style-quiz-and-key.pdf
CANDIDATES
Candidates who prefiled by the May 10th deadline:
2013 8th Congressional District Democratic Committee
Report of the Temporary Resolutions Committee
From the Rules
The Chair of the Permanent Resolutions Committee in presenting their report may offer for approval each resolution individually, or as part of one or more groups. No resolutions or amendments to resolutions may be proposed from the floor of the convention.The Chair of the Permanent Resolutions Committee shall poll the registered attendees in a voice vote regarding a desire for debate regarding individual resolutions (such a poll is not a vote to adopt a resolution, only whether it is to be debated), and all those resolutions favored by the registered attendees and not requiring debate shall be voted for adoption by acclamation, followed by debate on individual resolutions. Debate on all resolutions shall be limited to no more than 60 minutes of the District Convention.
Preamble: Women’s rights are human rights. Given the acceptance of this premise in our international diplomacy and the Charter of the United Nations, it is inconceivable that in numerous initiatives by state legislatures across our country and in certain national political movements, segments of this nation would attempt to undermine this very premise.
Whereas, an alarming number of state legislatures have enacted or attempted to enact laws severely impacting and restricting the rights of women to make decisions about their reproductive health; and
Whereas, more specifically, the Virginia House of Delegates showed its complete disregard for human dignity by adopting a proposed bill that would require women seeking an abortion to obtain a transvaginal ultrasound even if the doctor did not find this intrusive test medically necessary and the patient did not desire the test; and
Whereas, the Virginia General Assembly adopted legislation mandating that the Virginia Board of Health adopt new regulations that would regulate clinics which perform abortions to unnecessarily high standards, that are neither medically necessary nor required for other clinics offering comparable medical treatment on an out-patient basis; and
Whereas, when the Board of Health sought reasonableness in attempting to grandfather existing facilities, Attorney General Cuccinelli used legal threats to intimate the Board into adopting facility standards that would require expensive retrofitting of existing clinics; and
Whereas, Governor McDonnell signed the final regulations into laws; and
Whereas, the 2013 session of the General Assembly adopted new legislation prohibiting the use of even private money to purchase abortion coverage through the insurance exchanges, notwithstanding that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) allows abortion coverage to be available under a separate rider (to address the problem of an employer having religious objections to an employee seeing such coverage); and
Whereas, the prior Virginia law already prohibits state health insurance coverage for abortions except in case of rape, incest, or fetal abnormality; the new Virginia law would deprive women of insurance coverage for those important exceptions; and
Whereas, national efforts – and in some cases, violent efforts – are underway to inhibit the access of women to comprehensive health care advice and services; and
Whereas, certain political factions have proposed and aggressively promote opposition to women receiving benefits of such equitable laws as the Lilly Ledbetter Act; and
Whereas, the business and governmental leadership communities of this nation are severely lacking in terms of the presences of women; and
Whereas, the progress in even approaching equality for women in our society has been painstakingly slow – as epitomized by suffrage in 1926, the Civil Rights laws of the 1960’s, the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, and the Lilly Bedletter Act in 2009, and still-unratified Equal Rights Amendment.
Therefore be it resolved that Eighth District Democratic Convention:
Our government of, for and by the people requires that each citizen be afforded the opportunity to exercise the right to vote in the democratic process that determines the makeup, policies and programs of that government. To thwart, impede or otherwise unduly interfere with a citizen's right or reasonable access to vote is tantamount to undermining our form of government. It is therefore the duty of the Eighth District Democratic Convention to sternly denounce efforts to complicate, confuse or render less accessible the public voting process in the United States of America,
Whereas, numerous state legislatures, supported by their governors in some cases, have put in place (or attempted to do so) laws that establish artificial requirements, and unnecessary and frequently costly procedures; and.
Whereas, such requirements and procedures impact disproportionately and unfairly upon minorities and low income citizens; and
Whereas such conditions prevent the a truly representative government;
Be it therefore resolved that the Eighth District Democratic Convention
Whereas developed and leading nations and societies of the world have traditionally evolved from cultures that valued creativity, innovation and intellectual endeavor; and
Whereas such leading nations of the world have without exception invested significant national resources in cultivating a vibrant network of institutions of higher learning; and
Whereas technology has served to promote an astronomical rate of progress in development and dependence upon technological disciplines and the educational underpinnings thereof; and
Whereas such technological advances must in the interest of a humane world society be accompanied by intellectual development in the humanities, arts and sciences to include ethics and morality; and
Whereas emerging and developing societies of the world are advancing in an ever-increasing rate, the United States of America regresses in its educational standing among the nations of the world; and
Whereas the cost of higher education is becoming prohibitive to the average citizen, and the quality of pre-secondary and secondary education are lacking in the preparation of American students for higher education; and
Whereas a continuation of this trend will inevitably lead to a “second rate” society and an inferior national posture; and
Whereas the Commonwealth of Virginia has been historically a beacon of higher education and a storehouse of intellectual contributions to our national fabric;
Be it therefore resolved that the Eighth District Democratic Convention urges the Virginia legislature to take immediate and significant steps to:
Background
The U.S. Supreme Court recognized in its 1967 Loving v. Virginia decision that civil marriage is one of the basic civil rights fundamental to our very existence and survival and one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness.
Marriage equality is about civil marriage, not religious marriage, and civil unions and domestic partnerships can never be a substitute for full and equal marriage.
Marriage is a powerful and important affirmation of love and commitment, a source of social support and recognition, and the legal protections which are invaluable to the safety and security of every family.
All couples in loving and committed relationships should be given the opportunity to create stronger and more successful families through civil marriage.
The continued refusal to deny same sex partners the ability to enjoy the benefits, rights and responsibilities of a legally recognized civil marriage union is tantamount to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Such discrimination is inconsistent with the Democratic Party’s commitment to equal rights and opportunities for all people.
The Democratic Party has a noble history of fighting for the human and civil rights of all Americans.
The Obama Administration has refused to defend the Constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act and has argued in favor of marriage equality in two cases currently before the Supreme Court.
In contrast, the Republicans pushed through the Marshall Newman Amendment to the Virginia Constitution which seeks to restrict marriage to “one man and one woman”.
The time has come for the Party to hold true to this record and add to its legacy by taking a stand in support of the freedom to marry for all loving and committed couples.
Action
Therefore, be it resolved, that the Eighth District Democratic Convention:
Background
Offshore resources are divided so that the first three miles are under state control and beyond these miles are under Federal control. Because of geography, Virginia has very little off-shore waters near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
In general, revenues from Federal offshore resources go to the Federal treasury to meet national needs and priorities. However, some states obtained special federal legislation to provide them with a share of Federal offshore revenues as an incentive to support drilling in the Federal waters beyond their shores. To date, no such legislation has been passed for Virginia.
Most of the waters off the Virginia coast are essential for naval operations, and the Department of Defense has said that offshore drilling in those locations would prejudice the continued basing of naval operations in the Tidewater area.
Congressman Jim Moran has been instrumental in postponing the leasing of the federal waters off the Virginia coast out of a concern for environmental protection as well as for protecting jobs in Virginia associated with naval operations. In contrast, Republicans have pressed for drilling in federal waters off the Virginia coast.
Action
The Eighth District Democratic Convention calls upon Congress to continue to keep Federal waters off the Virginia coast free of leasing and drilling.
Whereas, numerous studies have found that tobacco smoke is a major contributor to indoor air pollution, and that breathing secondhand smoke (also known as environmental tobacco smoke) is a cause of disease in healthy nonsmokers, including heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and lung cancer; and
Whereas, the 2006 U.S. Surgeon General’s report, “The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke,” concluded that there is no risk-free level of exposure to second-hand smoke; ventilation and other air cleaning technologies cannot completely control for exposure of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke; smoke-free workplace policies are the only effective way to eliminate secondhand smoke exposure in the workplace, and evidence from peer-reviewed studies shows that smoke-free policies and laws do not have an adverse economic impact on the hospitality industry; and
Whereas, the Public Health Service's National Toxicology Program has listed second-hand smoke as a known carcinogen; and
Whereas, based on a finding by the California Environmental Protection Agency in 2005, the California Air Resources Board has determined that second-hand smoke is a toxic air contaminant, finding that exposure to second-hand smoke has serious health effects, including low birth-weight babies; sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS); increased respiratory infections in children; asthma in children and adults; lung cancer, sinus cancer, and breast cancer in younger, premenopausal women; heart disease; and death; and
Whereas, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has issued a warning that anyone at risk for heart disease should avoid entering smoke-filled environments; and
Whereas, secondhand smoke is particularly hazardous to elderly people, individuals with cardiovascular disease, and individuals with impaired respiratory function, including asthmatics and those with obstructive airway disease; and
Whereas, raising cigarette taxes have proven effective in discouraging smoking, and neighboring Maryland charges a $2 per pack tax while Virginia charges only $0.30 per pack (1.5 cents per cigarette); and
Whereas, local and state governments throughout the country have successfully passed smoke-free air laws to protect people against the harmful effects of second-hand smoke; and
Whereas, second-hand smoke constitutes a nuisance and trespass in multi-unit housing complexes where smoke can easily travel from unit-to-unit; and
Whereas, smoking in multi-unit housing complexes poses a fire hazard to all the people and housing units in the complex; and
Whereas, existing condominium laws make it very difficult for a simple majority of unit owners to convert a building to a smoke-free status; and
Whereas, it is consistent with the policy of Arlington County, Virginia, to favor policies and laws that limit exposure to second-hand smoke; and
Therefore, be it resolved, that the Eighth District Democratic Convention urges the state legislature to take all available steps that reduce the hazards of indoor second-hand smoke, including measures to:
Background
The Commonwealth of Virginia is divided into nine Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) districts, each of which oversees maintenance and construction on the state-maintained highways, bridges and tunnels in its region.
Gasoline tax revenues go into a special fund that is allocated among the VDOT districts based upon the miles of road in each district rather than the traffic density (vehicle miles) in each district. As a result, although a significant portion of gasoline tax revenues are collected in Northern Virginia, Northern Virginia ends up subsidizing the areas of the state with lower traffic density.
The Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA) of 1995 (and its successor statute) allows private entities to make unsolicited offers to construct infrastructure on a for-profit basis. The PPTA promised to bring additional private capital into infrastructure funding. It also promised meaningful competition because competitors would be free to make competitive offers on any PPTA project. However, experience has shown that municipal bond financing and federal funds have been a lower-cost source of funding for infrastructure investments than have PPTA private sector borrowings.
Because a PPTA bidder may have worked on preparing its complex bid for years prior to filing it, it is extremely difficult for potential competing bids to be prepared within the narrow time frame allowed by the PPTA. Many commentators believe that the result has been creating projects that impose tolls on motorists that are higher than would be the case if the projects were undertaken with municipal bond financing and with competitive bidding of construction contracts.
On May 2, 2013, the Private Public Partnership Agreement covering the construction of a new tunnel under the Elizabeth River was held to be an unconstitutional delegation of taxing authority to a non-elected entity. This ruling places the legal foundation of PPTA projects into doubt.
Action
The Eighth District Democratic Convention calls upon the Virginia General Assembly to:
Background
In May 2011 President Barack Obama issued his outline for comprehensive immigration reform entitled, “Building a 21st Century Immigration System.” The Obama Administration continues to work for comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Given the intransigence of Republicans in the Congress, President Obama cannot get Congress to act on this important proposal.
Immigrants now constitute more than 12 percent of the American population. Immigrants are entrepreneurial and create jobs in the United States. Immigrants started 25 percent of the highest-growth companies between 1990 and 2005, and these companies employ an estimated 220,000 people inside the United States. Immigrants are nearly 30 percent more likely to start a business than are non-immigrants, and they represent 16.7 percent of all new business owners in the United States.
According to a Duke University study, from 1998 to 2006, the share of patent applications from foreign-born nationals residing in the United States rose from 7.3 percent to 24.2 percent. Currently, immigrants represent 24 percent of United States scientists and 47 percent of United States engineers.
The Internal Revenue Service estimates that undocumented immigrants paid almost $50 billion in federal taxes between 1996-2003. These taxes include payroll and Social Security taxes, property taxes and sales taxes. Because about 40 percent of undocumented immigrants work off the books, they pay lower taxes. Getting these undocumented workers on the books would increase both the taxes paid by these workers and the taxes paid by their employers.
Republicans have advocated divisive policies to make life hard for immigrants. Republicans would bar undocumented high school graduates from attending state universities. Some Republicans would amend the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution that guarantees citizenship to all babies born in this country. In Virginia, Republicans pushed through legislation that deprives the children of undocumented immigrants’ in-state tuition at the Commonwealth’s college and universities.
The current immigration system discriminates against same-sex couples, as a heterosexual spouse is allowed to sponsor the immigrating spouse, while a spouse in a same-sex relationship does not have such rights.
Action
Therefore be it resolved that:
Background
If “Justice delayed is justice denied”, then the number of unfilled judicial vacancies in both the federal and Virginia courts is diminishing the quality of justice delivered to our citizens. Both federal and Virginia courts are clogged with heavy case backlogs. Filling judicial vacancies already authorized by law would help address those backlogs.
In Virginia, judicial vacancies have been left unfilled largely as a budgetary measure. The 2013 session of the General Assembly took steps to fund and fill 32 judicial positions as of July 1, 2013 but have left 17 judge positions unfilled. Of the positions funded by the General Assembly, 6 circuit court judges, 3 general district court judges and 1 juvenile and domestic relations court judge are still vacant. Of the 17 unfunded, frozen judge positions, 9 are circuit court judges and 8 are general district court judges.
In the Federal Courts, President Obama has nominated a number of highly qualified people to serve as judges, but many of those nominations have been delayed by Republican Senators. This year 90 federal judgeships, about 10 percent of the total are unfilled.
The resulting case backlogs take a toll on the general public as well as the overall economic health of the country.
Action
The Eighth District Democratic Convention calls upon the Senate to give President Obama’s judicial nominees an up-or-down vote with dispatch and urges the General Assembly to fully fund all authorized judicial positions.
References:
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/judicial/265969-obamas-success-at-filling-judicial-vacancies-in-virginia
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/02/25/172884587/would-be-federal-judges-caught-in-washington-waiting-game
Background
The Budget Control Act of 2011 resulted from Republicans withholding approval of a routine measure to increase the ceiling on public debt. This placed the nation in imminent danger of defaulting on its obligations and closing the government. As a compromise, Republicans and Democrats agreed to a series of across-the-board cuts that were so unworkable, that both sides would be expected to cooperate to develop a better alternative solution. However, the “Supercommittee” that was supposed to develop the alternative plan could not reach agreement.
At the end of 2012, Congress enacted a compromise which removed the “Fiscal Cliff” and delayed implementation of Sequestration for two months.
The consequences of the across-the-board cuts have been devastating, particularly to middle class Americans and to federal workers. However, Republicans in Congress prefer Sequestration to a more rational approach because Sequestration allows them to make budget cuts without taking responsibility for the adverse impact of those cuts.
Although Congress has enacted quick fixes to address USDA meat inspectors and FAA air traffic controllers, Congress has allowed the detrimental effects of the remaining sequestration cuts to stay in effect.
Although the President and the Senate adopted Budget have made proposals to cut spending based on priorities instead of the sequestration, the House Republicans have blocked consideration of any common-sense solution.
Action
The Eighth District Democratic Convention calls upon Congress to immediately end sequestration and the damage it is causing to our nation’s economy.
Background
One in four adults—approximately 57.7 million Americans— experience a mental health disorder in a given year. One in 17 lives with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder and about one in 10 children live with a serious mental or emotional disorder.
Less than one-third of adults and less than one-half of children with a diagnosable mental disorder receive mental health services in a given year.
Individuals living with serious mental illness face an increased risk of having chronic medical conditions. Adults living with serious mental illness die 25 years earlier than other Americans, largely because of treatable medical conditions.
Following the shootings at Virginia Tech and Newtown Connecticut, gun advocates argued that increased funding of mental health services was the answer to preventing such tragedies from recurring. Although there are many possible causes of such events, these events dramatize the need for an adequate mental health system as a part of a healthy and free society.
Historically, state governments were the primary provider of mental health services, mostly through large in-patient hospitals. But with the advent of psychotropic drugs and an increased emphasis on preserving each patient’s ties to family and community, treatment has shifted to community-based mental health programs. Once patients were transferred away from Commonwealth-run hospitals back into the community, their needs became less visible and funding was not treated as a pressing priority.
The stresses created by the recent economic downturn, have made these problems more acute, both by imposing greater stress on the lives of the mentally ill as well as diminishing the financial capacity of families and health providers who address their needs.
Action
The Eighth District Democratic Convention urges the Congress and the General Assembly to provide increased funding to address this pressing need for diagnosis and care of mental illness.
Background
Recent press reports show that Governor Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli had both received sizable gifts from political friends that were not previously included in their public disclosure forms. For example, one donor had paid $15,000 to cover the cost of the catering at the wedding of Governor McDonnell’s daughter. The Governor claimed that such a sizable gift was not reportable because it benefitted the Governor’s daughter and not the Governor.
Large gifts made to the spouse or children of a Virginia office holder could appear to influence the office holder’s decision-making. Because sunshine is the best disinfectant, the current disclosure requirements should be expanded.
Action
The Eighth District Democratic Convention calls upon the General Assembly to reexamine and reform its ethic rules particularly to require disclosure of large gifts to members of the immediate family of government officials.
Background
President Obama and the Senate Democrats have called for a balanced approach toward addressing the nation’s budget deficit. This includes both eliminating ineffective or wasteful spending and collecting sufficient revenues to fund necessary government services.
Although many tax credits and deductions serve a useful social purpose, some are in fact tax breaks for very wealthy individuals and corporations that cannot be justified in light of present day fiscal constraints.
President Obama and the Senate Democrats propose to close certain tax loopholes, which will both increase revenues and more equitably distribute the cost of funding government operations. However, Republicans have resisted these efforts, claiming that any additional revenues created from closing tax loopholes must be earmarked only for reducing tax rates which would benefit wealthy taxpayers disproportionately. Some House Republicans are proposing to tie the increase in the debt ceiling to progress on so-called tax reform in order to prevent addressing the nation’s budget deficit through a balance of revenue increases and spending cuts. The Republicans are threatening a default on the nation’s full faith and credit.
Action
The Eighth District Democratic Convention calls upon Congress to take a balanced approach toward deficit reduction and to include in that effort the closing of tax loopholes. Investing in our future through infrastructure, research and education as well as maintaining a strong national defense are higher priorities than lowering overall tax rates. Revenues from closing tax loopholes should not be reserved for such a narrow purpose. Tax loopholes should not be perpetuated by creating a partisan stalemate.
The Convention commends President Obama on his refusal to negotiate over the debt ceiling legislation and deplores any threat to default on the nation’s debt obligation as leverage to produce tax policy changes harmful to the middle class.
Whereas, continued gun violence across the nation, including in Virginia, demonstrates the need for immediate federal enactment of common-sense regulation of firearms;
Whereas, this violence includes more than 60 mass murders by firearms in the United States over the last 30 years, in which almost 1,000 people were killed or wounded – making the United States, by far, the major democracy with the most gun violence;
Whereas, the deadliest attack by a single gunman in U.S. history was the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech, in which 32 people were killed;
Whereas, the U.S. Senate on April 17 thwarted the support of a clear majority of Senators and an overwhelming majority of Americans, as shown in public-opinion polling, for universal background checks that would make it harder for a dangerous person to buy a firearm;
Whereas, the Senate’s action resulted in what President Obama correctly called “a pretty shameful day for Washington”;
Whereas, as the President observed, the gun lobby and its allies “willfully lied” about the background-check legislation, resulting in a pattern of intimidation;
Whereas, in the President’s words, opponents “could not offer any good reason why we wouldn’t want to make it harder for criminals and those with severe mental illness to buy a gun”;
Whereas, our own Congressman, Rep. James P. Moran, has described universal background checks as “an excellent enforcement mechanism” to overcome “massive loopholes” in the current background-check process;
Whereas, the convention is proud of Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner for voting in favor of background checks;
Whereas, the convention salutes Senator Kaine for voting in favor of common-sense measures regarding gun violence, including the Feinstein amendment to regulate assault weapons and the Lautenberg amendment to regulate large-capacity ammunition feeding devices.
Resolved, that the Convention is appalled by the failure of Congress to enact common-sense legislation on gun violence and calls on all Democratic members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia to press for and support such measures.
Background
During his 2008 campaign for President, Barack Obama pledged to close the detention facility in Guantanamo. He recognized that Guantanamo is costly to operate and detaining people there is ill-advised. He also recognized that the United States has an excellent track record of prosecuting terrorists in the Federal Courts while creating special untested tribunals in Guantanamo poses a variety of problems.
Although President Obama signed an Executive Order calling for the closing of detention facilities at Guantanamo in 2009, Congress has created a series of roadblocks to that goal.
Recently, a number of detainees have gone on a prolonged hunger strike, which has renewed international attention to Guantanamo. On the whole, Guantanamo has proven to be an important recruiting tool for anti-American groups.
On April 30, 2013, President Obama renewed his commitment to close Guantanamo.
Action
The Eighth District Democratic Convention commends President Obama for his efforts to close Guantanamo and urges the Congress to work with him toward that goal.
Whereas the temperature change experienced by humans is affected by the share of the additional energy absorbed by the deep ocean. During the last decade, a larger share of the energy has been absorbed by the deep ocean. This has slowed but not stopped the rise in temperatures over that period.
Whereas the imbalance in Earth’s energy budget is caused by the growing atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas, and its largest source is the burning of fossil fuels.
Whereas future temperature increases will depend on whether humans can slow and ultimately stop the buildup of greenhouse gases.
Whereas under current policies that build-up will continue, and global temperatures by the end of this century will reach a level not seen since millions of years before the appearance of humans.
Whereas the most effective and cost-efficient way to reduce United States greenhouse gas emissions would be a broad carbon tax or cap-and-trade regime, political objections have been raised to both of these, leaving policy choices that include: (1) Federal legislation that reduces emissions but is not explicitly linked to climate change, (2) Administrative action by the Environmental Protection Agency, and (3) Actions by state and local governments.
Action
Therefore be it resolved that the Eighth District Democratic Convention calls for the following steps to address this important problem:
Federal legislation
Environmental Protection Agency
State & Local government
Background
The Obama Administration is currently negotiating a free-trade agreement with other Pacific Rim nations to form a “Trans-Pacific Partnership.” (TPP).
Although the United States economy can benefit from greater trade with other nations, there can be concerns due to differences in labor standards, environmental protections and non-tariff regulatory barriers.
Of particular concern is that some Pacific Rim nations have been manipulating their currency to gain unfair trade advantages.
Action
The Eighth District Democratic Convention urges the Obama Administration and the Congress to include provisions addressing exchange rate manipulation and to insure that the utmost caution in negotiating and ratifying the TPP so that the final agreement benefits our economy and increases high-wage jobs in the United States.
Background
Social Security provides the foundation for the retirement plans of many Americans. Under current law, Social Security payments are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the measure of inflation.
Social Security is funded through a separate trust fund, which is supported by payroll taxes that are paid by both workers and their employers. Social Security payments do not use general funds and have no impact on the federal budget deficit.
Some economists have proposed an alternative “Chained CPI” as an inflation adjustment technique. The current CPI measures inflation of the cost of a fixed basket of goods, while the Chained CPI considers the fact that people will purchase less expensive items as prices go up. In general, the Chained CPI places the rate of inflation about 0.3 percent lower than the current CPI.
The cost of living adjustment in Social Security payments is of particular importance because most private pension plans do not adequately protect against inflation, so retirees on private plans rely on Social Security more during their later retirement years.
It would be unjust to attempt to reach a “grand bargain” on the backs of senior citizens living on a fixed income instead of raising general revenues from other sources.
Action
The Eighth District Democratic Convention believes that the economic security of senior citizens should not be eroded by inflation and urges the Congress to reject the use of a Chained CPI to measure Social Security cost-of-living adjustments.
Background
The legal basis for unmanned drone strikes has come under criticism. The current criteria are not public and raise many questions under the Law of War and under various International conventions to which the United States is a party.
Action
The Eighth District Democratic Convention calls upon the Obama Administration to rethink its drone policy.
This “Stand Your Ground” and laws based upon it have no place in civilized society. It is a remnant of days gone by and does not represent a level of cultural maturity to which our country should aspire and exemplify.
Whereas this “Stand Your Ground” concept and laws based upon it promote confrontation and conflict instead of reason and resolution, it contributes to the violent behavior that now permeates our society; and
Be it therefore resolved that The Eighth District Democratic Convention
Background
Food and shelter are fundamental to human existence. In our largely affluent American society, homelessness and substandard or inadequate housing are both morally and economically unacceptable.
Every American deserves to live in decent, affordable housing, and federal state and local governments have worked together for many decades to achieve this goal.
Our General Assembly delegation has worked to fund the Virginia Housing Trust Fund which supports both low-cost loans to homeowners and assistance to house the homeless.
The sequestration cuts under the Budget Control Act of 2011 took effect in March 2013 has had a devastating effect on federal affordable housing program nationwide:
There are not sufficient state and local resources to make up for these sequestration cuts.
Action
The Eighth District Democratic Convention:
References:
http://www.nahma.org/content/grassroots_sequestration.html
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+HB2005ER
Background
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission (FEC) legalized unfettered corporate spending to influence federal elections, overturned a century of established law that acknowledged the power of citizens to limit corporate influence in elections and opened the floodgates to the flow of money in politics.
By enabling the rise of super PACs and secret campaign spending, this ruling has also led to an unprecedented flood of money in elections across the United States from a few wealthy individuals. Super PACs today can accept and spend unlimited corporate, special interest and individual donations, essentially as unregulated and out of control adjuncts of the campaigns.
The vastly greater financial resources corporations and a few wealthy donors have to influence elections dwarf those of most individual citizens and unions. The Supreme Court’s decision thereby allows the “speech” of corporations and a wealthy few to drown out the speech of ordinary citizens. Fair elections are fundamental to the health and well-being of our democracy.
In the 2012 elections, including the Republican Presidential primaries, we saw how a few wealthy individuals spending vast sums could distort the election process.
Failure to reverse Citizens United and restore to the people the right to limit corporate and special interest influence will lead to the weakening of laws that ensure and protect fairness in labor, financial services, anti-trust, consumer protection, corporate governance, tax code, social services, and the environment.
Given the current Court, the only way to reverse the Court’s decision is to amend the U. S. Constitution. Accordingly, many Senate and House bills proposing Constitutional remedies to Citizens United have been introduced in the 112th Congress and nearly 300 at the state and local level throughout the nation.
Congressman James P. Moran has been at the forefront of efforts to address this problem.
President Obama said “corporations are not people, people are people,” and through his campaign said that he “opposed the Citizens United decision. . .And [he] favors action– by constitutional amendment, if necessary.” Multiple polls continue to reveal that Americans oppose Citizens United by about 4 to 1.
Action
The 8th District Democratic Convention:
Background
Consumers in Virginia, and throughout the nation, are concerned about the moral consequences of their purchasing decisions. They do not want to contribute to the repeated avoidable loss of innocent lives of workers making the goods that they purchase. Such concern has been renewed by the collapse of a clothing factory building last month near Dhaka, Bangladesh in which over 800 workers died. Last November, the Tazreen fashions fire, also in Bangladesh, left over 100 dead because the exit doors were locked shut, condemning those within to certain death by asphyxiation or being burned alive. In fact, over the last six years more than 600 workers have died in similar circumstances in Bangladesh alone. Questionable working conditions exist in other impoverished nations as well. Improving working conditions requires efforts at the government-to-government levels as well as United States importers contractually imposing a code of conduct on their suppliers.
Action
Be it therefore resolved that the Eight District Democratic Convention encourages the Obama administration to:
Background
Virginia is believed to have Uranium deposits that could be mined. However, serious concerns have been raised about the health and environmental consequences of such mining. Any Uranium dust that is released into the air or water poses serious risks.
In 1982, the Virginia legislature enacted a statewide ban on uranium mining that still exists today. However, bills were introduced into the 2013 session of the General Assembly seeking to repeal the ban. The bill was withdrawn before any Committee votes on it.
Action
The Eighth District Democratic Convention calls upon the Virginia General Assembly to continue the ban on Uranium mining, because such operations have not demonstrated that they pose no risk to the public health and safety.
###
8th District Dems: VA8thCDDems.org, calendar, and on Facebook and Twitter
| Paid for and authorized by the Virginia 8th Congressional District Democratic Committee, www.VA8thCDDems.org. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. |