Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
(As prepared for delivery)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Zanesville, Ohio

You know, faith based groups like East Side Community Ministry carry a particular meaning for me. Because in a way, they're what led me into public service. It was a Catholic group called The Campaign for Human Development that helped fund the work I did many years ago in Chicago to help lift up neighborhoods that were devastated by the closure of a local steel plant.

As average gas prices again increased overnight to a record high, Kay Hagan’s U.S. Senate Campaign released the following statement.

from the Associated Press

Gov. Mike Easley said Thursday that he's disappointed in the state Labor Department's response to reports of mistreatment of immigrants who work in the poultry industry.

"I think the Department of Labor has to be more aggressive," said Easley, a Democrat. " I didn't see the level of concern that needs to be there."

In a 40-minute interview with The Charlotte Observer, Easley discussed the newspaper's series in February that said a North Carolina poultry company disguised the number of injuries that its workers suffered on the job. He said he didn't speak out right away in order to give state agencies time to fashion their own response to workplace safety issues.

Jennifer Loven, Associated Press

President Bush vetoed legislation Wednesday that would have expanded government-provided health insurance for children, his second slap-down of a bipartisan effort in Congress to dramatically increase funding for the popular program.

It was Bush's seventh veto in seven years - all but one coming since Democrats took control of Congress in January. Wednesday was the deadline for Bush to act or let the bill become law. The president also vetoed an earlier, similar bill expanding the health insurance program.

Bush vetoed the bill in private.

In a statement notifying Congress of his decision, Bush said the bill was unacceptable because - like the first one - it allows adults into the program, would cover people in families with incomes above the U.S. median and raises taxes.

(Washington, DC)- The House Judiciary Committee will consider a substitute version of the Miller-Sánchez "Emergency Homeownership and Mortgage Equity Protection Act of 2007" during a markup TOMORROW, December 12, at 10:15 a.m. in room 2141 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The substitute reflects a compromise made with Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) that will help hundreds of thousands of homeowners save their homes from foreclosure while seeking bankruptcy to reorganize their debts.

"This is a major step toward providing substantive relief to combat the mortgage crisis that is occurring in communities across our nation," Conyers said. "This bipartisan compromise assists a broad category of homeowners who would not otherwise benefit from the Administration's proposal, namely those homeowners who most need assistance and are facing foreclosure."

Elizabeth Dole's inaction on a key housing bill is worsening skyrocketing homelessness problem.

Today, victims of Hurricane Katrina and local advocates held a press conference at Sen. Elizabeth Dole's office in Raleigh calling on the Senator to take action to save homes in the still-devastated Gulf Coast region.

Homelessness in New Orleans has doubled since Katrina struck in August 2005, according to recent reports, and thousands of families still live in temporary FEMA housing. Yet despite a housing shortage, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has authorized the demolition of more than 4,000 units of public housing in New Orleans – most of it barely damaged by Katrina. The homes are slated to be razed this week, without provisions for replacing them with affordable units.

Speaker Joe Hackney of the North Carolina House of Representatives will lead a delegation of Democratic state lawmakers visiting the nation's capital Wednesday to meet with Congressional leaders.

The group is scheduled to meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, both Democrats. They are expected to discuss the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP; the severe ongoing drought in parts of the nation, including North Carolina; transportation and other federal budget matters.

"State and federal leaders must work together and have good cooperation if we are to overcome the challenges we face in this nation and in our states," said Hackney, president-elect of the National Conference of State Legislatures. "Meetings such as these allow for important exchanges of ideas and help all of us do better jobs for our constituents."