| Black
Democrats on Meeting with Bush:
‘The Ball is in His Court’
Date:
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
By: Michael H. Cottman, BlackAmericaWeb.com
Black
congressional leaders emerged from a White House meeting
Wednesday with President George W. Bush saying they
used the one-hour session to present Bush with a nine-point
domestic agenda that outlines critical social and economic
disparities between blacks and whites.
Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC), chairman of the Congressional
Black Caucus, said the purpose of the meeting was to
offer Bush the agenda in hopes that the president will
incorporate the plan into his domestic policies and
allocate more funds to close disparities in education,
employment, health-care, criminal justice, retirement
security and foreign policy.
“We described dramatic disparities that continue
to exist between African Americans and the majority
community,” Watt told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “He
has an opportunity during the State of the Union address
to say whether he endorses our agenda, and he has another
opportunity when he presents his budget to put some
money behind initiatives to close the gap in disparities.”
“Will he use his bully pulpit to talk about disparities,
and will he recommend that the government use its resources
to close the gap in disparities?” Watt asked.
“That’s where the rubber will hit the road.”
The meeting Wednesday marked only the second time since
Bush took office in 2000 that the president has met
with the 43-member Congressional Black Caucus. Black
congressional leaders have been critical of Bush’s
social and economic policies and the relationship between
black congressional members and the president has been
strained.
But since Bush was re-elected to office in November,
he has signaled that he is more receptive to meeting
with mainstream black leadership. On Tuesday, he met
with black ministers and business leaders who supported
his reelection, and last month, the president met with
former NAACP CEO Kweisi Mfume.
Black Republicans have recently put more effort into
reaching out to black voters, maintaining that there
was unprecedented minority outreach in the 2004 presidential
election. In last year’s election, Bush won 11
percent of the black vote. He received nine percent
of the black vote in 2000.
During a press conference Wednesday, in response to
a question about meeting with black leaders twice this
week and his views on race in America, Bush said he
wants to preside over a nation that embraces all people.
“Civil
rights is a good education. Civil rights is opportunity.
Civil rights is home ownership. Civil rights is owning
your own business,” Bush said. “Civil rights
is making sure all aspects of our society are open for
everybody.”
“We've got to shed ourselves of bigotry if we
expect to lead by example,” Bush said. “And
I'll do the very best I can as the President to make
sure that the promise -- and I believe in the promise
of America -- is available for everybody.”
Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI), who attended
the Wednesday meeting, described the session as “cordial,”
but said the caucus is looking to Bush for immediate
action. Nationally, Kilpatrick said, unemployment rates
for blacks are consistently double the rates of whites,
and home ownership for blacks is at 48 percent, compared
to 72 percent for whites, she said.
“We don’t want more meetings, we want him
to act,” said Kilpatrick, who is also a member
of the House Appropriations Committee. “What we’re
proposing is for a stronger America. The ball is in
his court.”
Black congressional leaders have also been vocal about
their opposition to the war in Iraq and say that a new
Bush administration request for $80 billion to pay for
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could further jeopardize
critical social-service initiatives that millions of
blacks rely on for basic needs.
Bush’s funding request, expected on Feb. 7, comes
at a time when financially-troubled public hospitals
in black communities are facing closure and the future
of Social Security is being debated. Rep. Sheila Jackson
Lee (D-TX) said she expects Bush to return to Congress
again sometime during his tenure to request even more
funding for military operations in Iraq.
At the press conference Wednesday, Bush told reporters
that he stands behind his decision to go to war in Iraq
and his request to Congress for $80 billion for military
operations in Iraq.
“I made the commitment to our troops; we'll fund
them,” Bush said. “And that's exactly what
we're doing. We've got people in harm's way. I look
forward to working with Congress to fund what is necessary
to help those troops complete their mission.”
“I'd
say the world is better off without Saddam Hussein in
power,” Bush added. “A world with Saddam
Hussein in power would have been a more dangerous world
today.”
At
Tuesday’s meeting with black religious hierarchy,
according to those in attendance, Bush talked about
his plans for Social Security, health care, home ownership
and funding for Africa.
Renee Amoore, deputy chair of the Pennsylvania Republican
State Committee, who was among those attending the 90-minute
meeting, said 20 prominent blacks – both Democrats
and Republicans -- listened to Bush talk about his commitment
to social service initiatives at home and overseas.
Amoore said Bush was also commended for nominating Condoleezza
Rice as the next Secretary of State. Rice received Senate
confirmation Wednesday. The final vote of the full Senate
was 85-13 in favor of the nomination. Rice, 50, is the
first black woman, second black and second woman to
become secretary of state.
“Say what you want,” Amoore said in an interview
Wednesday, “but no president has ever appointed
a black woman to this position.”
Amoore said she believes the president will continue
to meet with blacks during his second term, adding that
it’s not out of character for Bush to meet with
people of color. She also said that many blacks have
resisted meeting with Bush because he’s Republican.
“This is not a change of posture,” Amoore
said of Bush’s recent meetings with black leaders.
“He’s always met with African-Americans,
even when he was governor," she said. "Whoever
is in this office, we need help for our community. We
need to get out of attack mode and find a way to work
together. The president is willing to listen.”
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