Confirmation of Hilda Solis: Courage Campaign Calls on Republicans to Stop Blocking Nomination
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 9, 2009
CONTACT: Aidan Crawford, Rick Jacobs – (323) 969-0160
Courage Campaign Calls on Senate Republicans to Stop Blocking Progress and Confirm Congresswoman Solis as Secretary of Labor
LOS ANGELES – Saying it’s time for progressives to take a stand, the Courage Campaign — a California-based online organizing group with over 400,000 members — today called on Republicans in the U.S. Senate to stop blocking change and confirm Congresswoman Hilda Solis as Labor Secretary. The group also asked its members to support Senator Ted Kennedy, chair of the Senate Labor Committee, in his fight against the conservative effort to deny Americans the change they voted for in November.
“Hilda Solis has consistently stood up for Californians,” said Rick Jacobs in a message to more than 400,000 Courage Campaign members in California. “When Arnold Schwarzenegger threatened to cut the salaries of state employees to the minimum wage, she stood with us and forced the Governor to back down. But now, Hilda Solis needs our help. It’s time for progressives to rally together to stop the right-wing campaign to deny her appointment.”
“Hilda Solis is the embodiment of the Obama movement. She has working class roots, understands the need for labor policies that make America work and cares deeply about progressive values,” said Jacobs. “We expect the Obama Administration to do everything it can to support her confirmation as Secretary of Labor.”
Secretary-designate Solis has a proven expertise with labor issues. She recently won passage of the Green Jobs Act of 2007 [Title X of P.L. 110-140] that will provide $125 million for work force training programs and play a critical role in jumpstarting our economy while moving us toward energy independence.
Jacobs said Solis is unquestionably qualified and Senate Republicans are only interested in opposing her because they know she’ll stand up for workers — just as they are opposing an emergency economic recovery package to create jobs.
Californians can join the Courage Campaign in asking Senator Kennedy once again to lead progressives and fight for Hilda Solis by visiting this site:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/StandforSolis
“It’s an insult to every working Californian to hold up, postpone or otherwise delay her confirmation,” continued Jacobs. “We urge the Senate to quickly confirm Secretary-designate Solis so she can use her expertise to help working Americans through these tough economic times.”
The letter to Senator Kennedy is appended below.
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Dear Senator Kennedy:
As one of the greatest champions for progress in America, we once again need your leadership as the right-wing seeks to make an example of another champion, Labor Secretary-designate Hilda Solis.
They want to destroy her chances of confirmation as President Obama’s Secretary of Labor because they do not like his policies. These are policies Hilda Solis shares — democracy, justice, prosperity. They are the same policies that you have spent your life promoting.
Congresswoman Solis has always stood for the people and for progress. Her efforts on behalf of the rights of women, the working class, the poor, and of environmental justice show that Congresswoman Solis is a leader America needs in these tough times. She will bring these values to the Department of Labor, where after eight years of George W. Bush’s misrule, those values are desperately needed.
We know Hilda Solis because we are her neighbors and friends and constituents here in California. By nominating Hilda Solis, President Obama chose a person dedicated to crafting bipartisan solutions to rebuild our middle class and ensure workers’ rights are protected. Hers is the kind of smart, innovative leadership we need as we face the highest jobless rate in more than 16 years and record job losses of 3.6 million since the start of the recession in December 2007.
The Republicans who are stalling Solis’ confirmation are the very same group who spent the last eight years putting the needs of big corporations over the needs of working Americans. It’s an insult to every Californian for the Republicans to hold up, postpone or otherwise delay her confirmation. We urge the Senate to quickly confirm Secretary-designate Solis so she can use her expertise to help us through these tough economic times.
Senator Kennedy, please lead the confirmation of Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor.
The Courage Campaign is an online organizing network that empowers over 400,000 grassroots and netroots activists to push for progressive change in California.
Whether it’s helping kill the GOP’s electoral college initiative “dirty trick,” count the infamous “double bubble” votes in Los Angeles after Super Tuesday, or push for the ultimate closure of the “yacht tax loophole,” the Courage Campaign has waged many successful campaigns.
Rick Jacobs is the founder and chair of the Courage Campaign. He chaired Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in California. He is also the co-founder of Brave New Films and a featured contributor to Arianna Huffington’s Huffingtonpost.com. Rick has an extensive background as an international investor and senior executive.