The National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP) released its ranking of close to half of
Senate and Congress members with an "F" grade during a press
conference on legislative reform at its national convention.
In a report of legislative results, NAACP officials cited 203 of the
435 or 46%, of House of Representatives received a "C" grade
or higher, leaving 232, or 53% of the congressmen failing. Half of
the Senate members, 50 legislators, also received an "F" grade,
with a remaining 47% of senators receiving a "C" grade or
higher. Senate and house votes were cast on principal issues,
including education, election reform, health care, hate crimes,
welfare reform, predatory lending and racial profiling.
NAACP President/CEO Kweisi Mfume said, "Of the 33 votes
cast so far in the Senate and 18 in the House, some passed
or failed by very narrow margins; others were overwhelming.
But these 30 members represent states and districts across
the country, and they are to be congratulated for their
tenacity and their willingness to support positions that, while
not always in the majority, are demonstrative of their
concerns for all Americans, regardless of their race, ethnicity,
gender or economic status."
"We salute and applaud these 30 members who supported
the NAACP position 100% of the time. Unfortunately, this
report card also shows that almost 52% of the members of
the US House and Senate received failing grades from us.
And in this day and age when we are consistently being
asked to come together for our country and stand as one, it
is difficult, if not impossible to understand how more than half
the Congress can consistently ignore the needs and concerns
of people of color in this country."
Grading between house and senate members was itemized in
a report released during the press conference. Grades of
100% were assigned to 10 senators and 20 house members;
33 senators and 79 house members were graded "A"; 12
senators and 83 congressmen were graded "B"; while only
two senators and 34 congressmen were graded "C". All
remaining legislators received grades of "D" or lower.
The NAACP Federal Legislative Report Card is designed to
provide NAACP members with insight into the "bread and
butter" civil rights voting patterns of their congressional
representatives and state delegations over the course of the
107th Congress. The results were based on votes taken
during January 2001 and June 2002 of the 107th Congress,
which adjourns this fall.
"Yet to those members of the House and Senate who have
done poorly on our report card, we hope that this serves as
a wake up call and we welcome the opportunity to work with
them so that they begin to vote more responsively, and are
more sensitive to the needs and demands of the people who
elected them."
The report card is updated and distributed to NAACP
members twice each year, once at the NAACP annual
convention (usually held in July,) and once immediately
following the end of the Congressional session (usually
between October and December). The selected voted in the
report card have been considered by the full U.S. House of
Representative and Senate. The NAACP has been issuing
legislative report cards since 1914.
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