I Wish Alabama's Other Representatives Were More Like Mine

[Syrinx]

He's not perfect, but by the far the best Congressman Alabama has.

"I find flag-burning, cross-burning, the display of the swastika, and all expressions of hate offensive. But our 230-year tradition is to tolerate even the worst and most mean-spirited ideas, and to trust the better angels of our nature to overcome them.

"The reality is that the Supreme Court's refusal to let Congress outlaw flag-burning 15 years ago has not led to a flag-burning epidemic. These last 15 years have not been a period in which more Americans have come to hate our country. To the contrary, this last decade and a half has been a time of renewed faith in our country and our fighting forces.

"I wish that the advocates of this amendment appreciated that we have already won this battle and that the flag-burners have already been defeated. "

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/al07_davis/flagburning062205.html

This bill will make an enormous difference to the African Americans around this country who often struggle with blood matches. Cord bloods do not require a blood match. The young man that we saw on the Cannon terrace yesterday who suffered from sickle cell anemia whose life has been permanently transformed by cord blood cell technology speaks to the power of this bill. We talk a great deal about health care disparities, and we ought to talk about health care disparities in this country; but rather than talk, this bill acts. It actually provides relief for a group of people who otherwise would not have seen it.

But I want to talk for just a moment about the concept of principled
difference, because I think it is very much illustrated today. Mr.
Speaker, the reason that this cord blood bill made it to the floor is in large measure because rather than digging in in opposition to stem cell opposition, as strongly as the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) feels about this issue, rather than digging in in opposition, the gentleman worked with the scientific community, he worked across the aisle to try to find another approach. And as circumstance has it, both of these approaches are before us today.

If we would somehow as an institution learn from his example, if we figured out how, rather than digging in and deciding how much we disagree with each other, what other ways exist, what ways can we find to work together, we would not have a 34 percent approval rating as an institution.

The final point that I will make is that I firmly believe that we have all of our genius and all of our brilliance as a scientific and medical community for a very good reason. I think that we are meant to use it. I am hopeful that all of the technological advances that have happened in the last several years, with cord blood cells and with stem cells, can make a significant difference.

So to all the Members of this institution, I simply urge them and
encourage them to vote for both of these bills but, even more
importantly, to accept this as an example of what happens when Democrats and Republicans find intelligent common ground. There will be people who will benefit from this, and I do not think it is going too far to say that lives will be saved because of these two bills.

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/al07_davis/stem_cell_floor_speech.html

Mr. Speaker, a minute is not a long time, but I want to spend it thanking the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt) for building the unanimity on this side of the House. I make that observation because, frankly, this is only the second time on a major vote this year that this side of the House will have been united, and that is in large tribute to the gentleman's good work.

But it speaks to something else: To everyone in this caucus, to everyone in every corner of America who styles himself or herself as a
progressive, if you want to know if Democrats still stand together, if you want to know if we still have common ground, I submit that you see it in the debate over this budget. The common ground that we occupy is in defense of 46,000 families in Mississippi who have been cut from the Medicaid rolls; 300,000 families in Tennessee who have been cut from the Medicaid rolls; 13.5 million children in this country who live below the poverty line who cannot stand to see subsistence programs cut further; millions of veterans who cannot stand to see their premiums rise; and it is a common ground for everyone who believes in a more generous, more responsible, more inclusive America.

So I thank the gentleman for building that unanimity, and I hope it stand for the whole country to see. As it is so often said by the leader on the other side, there are profound differences between these two parties. We stand for a fairer country. They stand for a narrower
country and a narrower vision, and I hope the people will take note of that.

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/al07_davis/floor_speech_budget.html

Mr. Chairman, sometimes I know a lot of the people listening to these debates hear us talking about a lot of sound and fury, and you would almost have the impression, when we hear the words “tax cuts” over and over again, you would almost have the impression that we are talking about real money for some people.

The reality is that for 53 percent of the families who are listening right now around this country, the tax cut they will receive is $100 or less a year, not $100 or less a paycheck, but $100 or less a year.

The middle-income Americans in this country will receive a tax cut on average of $217 a year, which by my math is around $20-some a month.

So when we hear our colleagues and friends on the other side of the aisle talk so boldly about these tax cuts and what these tax cuts have done for our economy, I hope that our economy is not so fragile that it rests on $100 a year, and I want to introduce one other word that we have not heard today, and it is a word called “sacrifice.”

When the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) came to this city in 1963 and he demonstrated so valiantly for the cause of civil rights, we had a President who talked about sacrifice, but he meant sacrifice for all Americans, not just the least of us.

So many people have come in my office as recently as 1 hour ago, and they asked me why funds for HeadStart are being reduced under this program. They asked me why No Child Left Behind is not fully funded. They asked me why $1 billion is being cut from Medicaid.

One lady asked me a very simple question today, “Mr. Davis, what are the Congress’ priorities, if not these?” I will tell my colleagues what I said to her, “The priorities are $1 trillion worth of tax cuts that amount to nothing for most Americans.”

We are asking so many people to sacrifice in this country. We are asking our servicemen and women to sacrifice. We are asking the people who receive these programs and who rest on these programs for their comfort to sacrifice. Why can we not be big enough to make a sacrifice apply to the wealthiest and most powerful among us? This is not populism. That is not demagoguery. That is a sense of the value system that makes us Americans. So we ought to understand that choice today.

Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have a theology and a theory of tax cuts that will favor the wealthiest among us, whereas this will always be the side of the aisle that believe in our values as Americans, and we will never just ask sacrifice from the weakest among us.

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/al07_davis/budget2004032404.html

As we prepare to begin the work of the second half of the 108th Congress, I thought this would be a good time to reflect on the lessons of my first year in Washington and the challenges we face as we approach the new year.

Since arriving in Washington one year ago as the representative for Alabama's 7th District, I have gained a greater appreciation for the ways our government works. I often say that you can't take the politics out of politics, but the challenge we have as elected officials and leaders of this country is to maintain a sense of responsibility regarding the people we represent.

It is possible to get things done in Washington, but it requires creativity and hard work. I passed legislation restoring funds unfairly cut from historically black colleges and universities. We successfully advocated that the Commerce Department enforce rules protecting our catfish farmers from unfair foreign competition. We helped secure federal funds to build a Youth Development Center in Selma, to begin construction of a Community Center in Uniontown, and to provide for sewage disposal in Choctaw County. These are real successes that will improve the conditions of many of my constituents.

To be sure there have been numerous disappointments. The Republican-led House refused to even permit a vote on a bill that I sponsored to increase the Child Tax Credit for working class families. My efforts to create a new federal agency for the Black Belt have to date been unsuccessful because some question the wisdom of spending $100 million a year in the poorest region of our country while they advocate a $15 billion commitment for a return to the moon.

At every turn, the Republican-led House has favored policy that will only widen the gap between the haves and have-nots, further removing us from the ideal of a fair playing field for the American worker. The tax cut passed last year drains our budget while providing no real relief for the overwhelming majority of taxpayers living in my district: the average person reading this article received a tax cut of less than $40 per month.

Congress has failed to take adequate steps to help uninsured Americans obtain health insurance and the recently enacted prescription drug plan provided only spotty coverage at best for seniors while taking unwise steps toward privatizing the Medicare system.

Here in Alabama, our neighbors with the least ability to defend themselves are being threatened by state budget cuts that will erode the state’s capacity to deliver vital services and will further compromise our ability to expand opportunity in this state.

Alabama has frozen enrollment for the state’s children’s health insurance program. Our Medicaid commitment is under attack because of our increasingly limited ability to provide the resources to match the federal contribution to the program. As the Legislature prepares to go back into session, our teachers are threatened with reduced health insurance benefits and diminished retirement options.

My vision is one of an America in which our wage earners have a fair chance to compete and to rise to middle class, where the quality of healthcare is not a function of the accident of geography, where our workers are not unfairly sacrificed to global competition, and where all of our communities offer a public education system that will prepare our children for the 21st century.

The primary lesson of my first year in Congress is this: more than ever, our children and our most vulnerable need aggressive, effective representation and that is what I will continue to provide to the 615,000 constituents in my district.

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/al07_davis/year_one.html

Since being sworn into office in January, Davis has championed the need for development in Alabama’s distressed counties. Davis’ first legislative proposal in the House called for expanding the scope and funding level of the Delta Regional Authority. The pending legislation, known as the Southern Economic Empowerment Development (SEED) Act, proposes expanding the DRA to help direct hundreds of millions of dollars to 552 counties across 14 states. At present, the DRA provides infrastructural and development support in distressed communities across eight states.

Upon the tour’s conclusion, DRA Chairman Pete Johnson, a native of Mississippi, said, “This is not my first time in the Black Belt. Yet, I am truly impressed with what I see.” Johnson applauded the efforts of Congressman Davis and the local community partners observing, “This kind of leadership and community strategy is what it takes to make sure help is provided where help is needed.”

During a site visit at a technology center in downtown Greensboro, Davis explained, “It does not always take a big amount of money to make big changes in the daily lives of our community. When we make real investments in good communities, the opportunities that can be leveraged are often unlimited.”

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/al07_davis/BlackBeltpositive093003.html

[BamaLefty]

1. Helllllp!

MOMMY, DELETE ME!

[BamaLefty]

2. Help Me, Mom!

DELETE ME SHARI!!!

[BamaLefty]

3. He's Great

I can't wait until he runs for US Senate. He spoke to us at Boys State... very articulate man.

[Syrinx]

6. lol

I think DU had a little hiccup there.

[Syrinx]

7. I actually see him as a potential presidential candidate in the future

And he's got plenty of time. He's a pretty young guy. I'm not sure of his age, but I think he's younger than I am.

EDIT:

Yes, he's a little younger than me. He was born the same year as Amy Carter, Vin Diesel, Anderson Cooper, Lisa Bonet, Billy Corgan, and someone named Ed Balls. :)

Here's what wikipedia has on him -- not a lot.

Artur Davis (born October 9, 1967), American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 2003, representing the 7th District of Alabama. He won office in 2002 after ousting 10-year incumbent Earl Hilliard in the Democratic primary.

Davis was born in Montgomery, Alabama, was educated at Harvard University, and was a lawyer and Assistant United States Attorney before entering the House. He is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and resides in Birmingham, Alabama. He announced in May 2005 that he would like to run for a seat in the United States Senate in 2008, or for governor of Alabama in 2010.

[BamaLefty]

8. I Want Him In The Senate

But he doesn't need to run against Sessions or Shelby. Those clowns have too much money and too much name recognition for even a star like Davis.

JMO

[benddem]

4. great guy!

hope he continues to run and win!

[Syrinx]

5. he's talking about a run for Senate or governor

I think he would be great at either one.

I hope he makes it!

[shayes51]

9. I just returned from a town meeting with him in Tuscaloosa.

He is a credit to our state and country.

[Syrinx]

10. heck, I'm in Tuscaloosa

And I had no idea he was having a town meeting. I probably would have attended.

[shayes51]

11. I teach part-time at Shelton and saw a flyer. By the way,

do you know about our language task force group that is meeting twice a month? We are part of the Tusc. Democratic Women, but our language meetings are not limited to females. Next meeting is Sat., July 16. If interested, reply here and I will give you more information.

[Syrinx]

12. what's that?

Does it have to do with that stuff that George Lakoff (I think that's his name) talks about? Framing political debate through effective use of language? Maybe I'm way off. ;)

[shayes51]

15. Yes, that certainly is part of what we're about.

[Syrinx]

16. sorry if I sounded dismissive

I just realized that I may have ("what's that?"). But I didn't intend to at all.

I would be interested in hearing more about the group and the meetings! :thumbsup:

[shayes51]

18. We have a meeting this Sat. at 1. Let me know...

... if you are interested in the location. I would just go ahead and post it, but the meeting is at a private residence. Email me if you want it. We would love for you to join us. [e-mail]

[quaoar]

13. If Davis runs against Sessions in 08

it will be interesting to see who takes his seat in the House.

I predict Larry Langford.

[BamaLefty]

14. I hope he leaves Sessions Alone

He is too powerful and has too much $$$.

Let him run when the seat opens up.

[Syrinx]

17. I hadn't thought of that, but sounds like a good guess

I'm not sure what I think of Langford. I remember him all the way back when I was a kid and he was a reporter for channel 6. I guess I'd give him an A- on the vision thing, but a D- on pragmatism. But I don't really know that much about him. Just my thumbnail observation... your mileage may vary. ;)