Leadership Conference Congressional Testimony

Witness
Category

The DTV Transition
Mark Lloyd - July 18, 2008
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement

"Millions rely on broadcasting for emergency information, school closings and the news and public affairs programming so necessary for local democratic engagement. We are concerned that the disproportionate impact of this transition will result in a greater divide between those who have access to vital information and those who do not."

Status of the DTV Transition: 252 Days and Counting
Mark Lloyd - June 10, 2008
House Committee On Energy And Commerce; Subcommittee On Telecommunications And The Internet

"Despite the valiant volunteer work of our members and the DTV transition coalition, the nation is not prepared for the shut-off of full-power analog television broadcasting. There is, in brief, too little funding for research, education and outreach to ensure that when February 17, 2009 arrives all Americans will continue to receive over-the-air broadcasting service. "

Strengthening Our Economy: Foreclosure Prevention and Neighborhood Preservation
Wade Henderson - January 31, 2008
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs

"While the use of responsible subprime lending could have created meaningful homeownership opportunities for people who might otherwise be left out of the market, many homeowners were deceptively steered into expensive subprime mortgages even though they qualified for prime loans, with unreasonable terms and hidden fees that made it impossible for homeowners to stay current, much less get ahead."

The Growing Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis: Identifying Solutions and Dispelling Myths
Wade Henderson - January 29, 2008
House Judiciary Committee; Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law

"The consequences are still unfolding, but one thing is certain: they will be staggering. Home foreclosure rates are rapidly increasing throughout the nation and as many as 2.4 million borrowers – just in the subprime market alone – are likely to lose their homes."

Public Hearing on Media Localism
Wade Henderson - October 31, 2007
Federal Communications Commission

"We in the civil rights community care about media ownership because the way the public looks at issues – indeed, whether the public is even aware of issues like fair housing or voter discrimination, is directly related to the way these issues are covered by the media."

Status of the Digital Television Transition - Part 2
Nancy Zirkin - October 17, 2007
House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet

"At stake in the transition to digital television is the ability of the nation’s most vulnerable populations to maintain uninterrupted access to their key source of news and information and emergency warnings: free, over-the-air television. It would be a great tragedy if the millions of Americans who rely on free TV wake up after February 17, 2009 and find that their TVs simply don’t work."

Miller-McKeon Discussion Draft of the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
Nancy Zirkin - September 10, 2007
House Committee on Education and Labor

"Missing this opportunity to reauthorize the law would have terrible consequences in the field where improvements are desperately needed and in Washington, where the political climate for the law is likely to deteriorate further."

The 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and its Continuing Importance
Wade Henderson - September 5, 2007
Senate Judiciary Committee

"In order for the Division to once again play a significant role in the struggle to achieve equal opportunity for all Americans, it must rid itself of the missteps of the recent past, but also work to forge a new path. It must respond to contemporary problems of race and inequality with contemporary solutions."

Preparing Consumers for the Digital Television Transition
Nancy Zirkin - July 26, 2007
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

"A successful digital television transition will require well-informed consumers who can access what, for many, will be brand new technology. This cannot occur without a comprehensive, coordinated national consumer education effort."

The Impact of Ledbetter v. Goodyear on the Effective Enforcement of Civil Rights Laws
Wade Henderson - June 28, 2007
House Judiciary Committee

"In the fiscal year 2006, individuals filed over 800 charges of unlawful, sex-based pay discrimination with the EEOC. Unfortunately, under the Ledbetter rationale, many meritorious claims will never be adjudicated."

Ending Mortgage Abuse: Safeguarding Homebuyers
Wade Henderson - June 26, 2007
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development

"It has long been clear to our groups that America has a separate and unequal lending system and that African-American, Latino and other minority consumers disproportionately secure credit from an unscrupulous and unregulated lending market."

Oversight of the Civil Rights Division
Wade Henderson - June 21, 2007
Senate Judiciary Committee

"The Division's record on every score has undermined effective enforcement of our nation's civil rights laws, but it is the personnel changes to career staff that are, in many ways, most disturbing. For it is the staff that builds trust with communities, develops the cases, and negotiates effective remedies."

Justice Denied? The Implications of the Supreme Court’s Ledbetter Employment Discrimination Decision
Wade Henderson - June 12, 2007
House Education and Labor Committee

"The reality is that every time an employee receives a paycheck that is lessened by discrimination, it is an act of discrimination by the employer. The harm is ongoing; the remedy should be too."

Equal Representation in Congress: Providing Voting Rights to the District of Columbia
Wade Henderson - May 15, 2007
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

"Until D.C. residents have a vote in Congress, they will not be much better off than African Americans in the South were prior to August 6,1965, when President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law – and the efforts of the civil rights movement will remain incomplete."

Census Bureau Funding for FY '08
Karen K. Narasaki - April 24, 2007
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives

"In 1990, the US Census Bureau conducted its decennial count of individuals residing in the United States. The count disproportionately missed ethnic minorities, children, and immigrants."

Oversight of the Civil Rights Division
Wade Henderson - March 22, 2007
House Judiciary Committee

"Members of the Committee, today you begin a process that is long overdue. A process that will help us to understand the extent of the damage that has been done to the Civil Rights Division, and – hopefully – a roadmap for our way back to vigorous enforcement, integrity, and justice."

Elementary and Secondary Education Act Reauthorization: Improving NCLB to Close the Achievement Gap
Wade Henderson - March 13, 2007
Joint Hearing of the House and Senate Education Committees

"Access to a high quality public education is still a fundamental right upon which all others depend; and yet 50 years later, the promise of Brown remains unfulfilled. Inequality is rampant by almost every measure."

The Discriminatory Impact of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing on Minorities
Wade Henderson - March 3, 2006
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

"Mandatory sentencing laws enacted in the 1980's have led to racial injustice. These laws deprive judges of the discretion to tailor a sentence based on the culpability of the defendant and the gravity of the crime."

On the Nomination of Judge John G. Roberts, Jr., to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Wade Henderson - September 15, 2005
Senate Judiciary Committee

"In the last several days of testimony, Judge Roberts has failed to demonstrate an adequate commitment to protecting the civil and human rights that are so important to all Americans. In fact, all evidence suggests that Judge Roberts would use his undeniably impressive legal skills to bring us back to a country most of us would not recognize."

Political Committee Status
Wade Henderson - July 14, 2004
Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

"We strongly believe that the proposed rule threatens First Amendment rights of free speech and association for all of us. The need for these protections cannot be overstated. Without the constitutional guarantees of the First Amendment, there would not have been a civil rights movement. Is it really the intent of the FEC to strike broadly at the values that we all hold dear?"