A Chance at the Middle Class: President's Budget Restores Hope for Millions of Working Families

/PRNewswire/ -- With the nation in the midst of a deep economic recession, advocates working to safeguard the economic security and mobility of working Americans applaud the Administration's decision to renew funding for the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG). CSBG funds a nationwide network of community-based organizations. Their sole purpose is to stimulate a better focusing of all available local, state, private, and federal resources with the goal of enabling families and communities to achieve economic mobility.

Described by many as one of the nation's best strategies to create economic security and mobility for families and communities, the CSBG network has long been an incubator to implement and replicate innovative programs aimed at ensuring economic stability for all hard-working Americans. Both Head Start and the Weatherization Assistance Program are products of the CSBG network. In addition, the network is a major provider of the Low Income Energy Assistance Program. These programs not only support working families, they also contribute to broader economic growth through various proven outcomes such as job creation, energy savings, and long-term academic achievement.

As American as apple pie, CSBG represents democracy in action. CSBG has successfully devolved decision-making to the local level, creating an effective example of how the federal government, in partnership with states, can best attack poverty and promote economic security. All CSBG eligible entities, primarily Community Action Agencies (CAAs), are governed by community-based boards. These boards assure CAAs assess and respond to the unique causes and consequences of economic insecurity in their communities.

By renewing funding for CSBG, the President provided 7 million working families an opportunity to realize the American dream. "The Community Services Block Grant is vital to our nation's efforts to create opportunities for economic security on behalf of America's families and communities," said Vaughn Clark, Director of the Office of Community Development for the State of Oklahoma and chair of the National Association for State Community Services Programs (NASCSP). Clark praised the Administration's renewed funding of CSBG, emphasizing that it "gives America's most vulnerable citizens a ladder to the middle class."

NASCSP is a professional association whose members are state administrators of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and the U.S. Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). NASCSP builds capacity in states to respond to poverty issues.

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U.S. Senators Introduce Veterinary Services Legislation

/PRNewswire/ -- The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) today applauded U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and John Thune (R-SD) for introducing a Senate bill, the Veterinary Services Investment Act (VSIA), which will confront critical veterinary service shortages.

VSIA would establish a new grant program to assist states in addressing their unique veterinary workforce needs. Grants awarded under the program could be used for activities such as recruiting veterinarians to work in underserved areas, bolstering food safety and conducting surveillance of animal disease.

Broad, bipartisan support for VSIA has grown substantially since a companion bill, H.R. 3519, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in July. Since its introduction, 28 representatives have signed on as co-sponsors for the bill.

Support for the legislation among stakeholder groups also remains extraordinarily high. At present, 89 veterinary and agricultural groups have joined the AVMA's letter endorsing the VSIA.

In the Senate today, 18 senators committed to co-sponsoring the bill as introduced by Stabenow and Thune. Senators Max Baucus (D-MT), John Barasso (R-WY), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Bernard Sanders (I-VT) and John Tester (D-MT) have all signed on to support VSIA.

"Senators Stabenow and Thune and their colleagues are voicing support for maintaining public health, food safety and animal health by bolstering the veterinary workforce," said Dr. Ron DeHaven, AVMA Chief Executive Officer. "The Veterinary Services Investment Act will significantly help bring much needed veterinarian services to areas of our country in need."

"Too many rural communities lack adequate veterinary services that are important to our agricultural industry in Michigan," said Stabenow. "This legislation will address this shortage in veterinarian care, create good-paying jobs, and invest in food safety."

"Many people in rural states like South Dakota depend on healthy animals for their livelihood," said Thune. "This legislation will help draw and retain veterinarians in rural areas, increase the availability of veterinary education, and help veterinarians use technology to expand the reach of their practices."

Under the VSIA, veterinary clinics in rural areas and state, national, allied or regional veterinary organizations, specialty boards or veterinary medical association would be eligible to apply for grants. Veterinary colleges, university research and veterinary medical foundations, departments of veterinary science and comparative medicine, state agricultural experiment stations, and state, local and tribal government agencies would also be eligible to apply for grants.

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Judicial Watch Files Lawsuit against HUD to Obtain ACORN Documents Seeks Records Related to HUD's Taxpayer Support

Judicial Watch Files Lawsuit against HUD to Obtain ACORN Documents
Seeks Records Related to HUD's Taxpayer Support of Controversial Community Organization


/Standard Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to obtain records related to federal grants provided to the controversial "community organization" Association for Community Reform Now (ACORN).

Judicial Watch filed its original Freedom of Information Act request on July 17. HUD acknowledged receipt of the request by letter on August 4th and granted itself additional time to process the request. However, HUD has not abided by its own extended deadline and has failed to provide Judicial Watch with a specific date by which it would respond, even after Judicial Watch agreed to limit the scope of the request to just seven states. (These states are California, Texas, Washington, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and Louisiana.) By law, HUD had 20 days to respond to Judicial Watch's request. Judicial Watch filed its lawsuit on September 23, 2009.

Judicial Watch seeks the following records:

1. Any and all documents concerning money given to the ACORN and/or any of its affiliates (since January, 2000).

2. Any and all documents concerning any actions and/or disbarments against ACORN, for reasons including but not limited to abuse of grant money, misconduct, etc. (since January, 2000).

Over the last two weeks, the U.S. Senate has voted to deny ACORN access to housing funds, while the House of Representatives voted to deny ACORN all federal funds. The U.S. Census Bureau, meanwhile, has severed its partnership with the organization for the 2010 U.S. Census. The IRS also just severed a program relationship with ACORN. These actions were taken after videos surfaced depicting ACORN workers attempting to advise undercover reporters on how to evade tax, immigration and child prostitution laws. Most relevant to the lawsuit against HUD, are the videos depicting ACORN workers providing advice on purchasing a house to run as a brothel for underage, illegal alien girls.

"The Obama administration needs to come clean to the American people about its relationship with this disgraced organization, especially in light of President Obama's personal connections to ACORN," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "Given ACORN's scandalous record, the federal government has no business supporting the organization with taxpayer dollars. It is troubling, given President Obama's promises of transparency, we have had to sue to try to gain access to the ACORN documents."

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