2007-2012

Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                       CONTACT: FRANK E. WATKINS

MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012                                                                202.225.0773

 

NERO FIDDLED WHILE ROME BURNED

Republicans Are Fiddling While Americans Remain Unemployed

 

Washington, DC - Congressman Jesse L. Jackson said today, "I continue to believe that Republicans would rather see President Obama fail than see America succeed.  This week's legislative agenda is the latest example.  House Republicans are running out the clock on the economy at exactly the time we should be working around-the-clock to create jobs and strengthen the economy for all Americans.

"Two economic drones will hit construction workers and students on July 1 if Congress fails to act before June 30 on two critical issues.  We’ve got two weeks before the highway bill expires and student loan interest rates double. 

"Instead of acting legislatively on behalf of construction workers and students, this week’s House schedule reflects more of the same - GOP bills going nowhere.  We should be voting on the bi-partisan (74-to-22) Senate transportation bill that would create and/or save more than 2 million jobs to rebuild roads, bridges and highways across America - workers who have been hit hardest in recent jobs reports.  Instead, the House will be voting on the Conservation and Economic Growth Act, a package of 14 bills - packaged as a jobs bill, of course - it actually includes a provision that allows 'deadly force to protect salmon in the Columbia River from ‘aggressive California sea lions,’ and a provision that supports an increase in venues for recreational shooting.'  Apparently Republicans believe these are two concerns that will truly touch the heart of unemployed construction workers.  And the substantive parts of the bill are no better - deregulating domestic energy production, especially oil drilling on federal lands.

"And, unless Congress acts by June 30, the interest rate on federally subsidized student loans will rise from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1, raising the cost of college for millions of students.

"So everybody talking about jobs is not necessarily legislating for jobs.  It reminds me of the old Negro Spiritual:  'Everybody talkin' 'bout heaven ain't goin' there'," Jackson concluded.

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National Park Service Director Visits Pullman

 

 

For Immediate Release

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Contact: Rick Bryant

708.798.6000


 

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE DIRECTOR VISITS PULLMAN


National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis walked through the historic Pullman community today to learn more about the site being considered for National Park status.


Director Jarvis spent the morning with local residents and preservationists while visiting Pullman's many landmarks, including the Hotel Florence, the Greenstone Church, the market square, the factory and clock tower, and a museum dedicated to the Pullman Porters.


It was Jarvis' first visit to the South Side neighborhood founded by industrialist George Pullman in 1880 and which was world-famous for manufacturing the Pullman Palace Sleeper Car, the most luxurious railcar for nearly a century.


The Pullman community offers a wealth of unique American history -- and that history has caught the attention of the National Park Service (NPS). Among its many storylines Pullman is the birthplace of the world's first African-American union, the Brotherhood of Pullman Porters.  It's the site of the first major labor strike in the nation.  And, its remarkably preserved circa-1880s architecture has become a favorite for Hollywood movie sets.


A longtime promoter of the Pullman story, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. in January announced that he would seek to designate the historic neighborhood as a national park before the National Park Service's 100th anniversary in 2016.  It would be Illinois' second national park, joining Abraham Lincoln's homestead in Springfield.


Jackson's bill calling for the feasibility study was the subject of a congressional hearing last week, when the National Park Service and others testified in support of the measure.


As part of his push for a park, Jackson had invited NPS Director Jarvis to tour the site and meet with community, city, state and national leaders to appreciate the rich heritage that is the Pullman community.


"Pullman is part of the American story and it would make a fantastic national park.  The National Park Service wants to expand into urban areas and become more accessible to traditionally underserved Americans.  Pullman would be ideal for that," Jackson said. "I'm delighted to see so much enthusiasm building around the concept of a Pullman National Park."


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Jackson Applauds Crete Board for Deep-Sixing Prison

 

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Contact: Rick Bryant

(708) 798-6000

 


 

JACKSON APPLAUDS CRETE BOARD FOR DEEP-SIXING PRISON


Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. today applauded last night's decision by the Crete Village Board and Mayor Einhorn to withdraw village support for a proposed immigrant detention there.


"I want to commend everyone in Crete today. This is how democracy was designed to work.  The people spoke. And the government listened," Jackson said.


"It was clear to me, and it became increasingly clear to everybody, that a detention center and Crete were not a good fit."


"Crete is a wonderful small town with antique shops, small businesses and Balmoral racetrack. A prison would have changed that image forever," Jackson said. 


"In politics, you try new things.  It's never easy to admit when you may be wrong. But it's also very refreshing to see the people and their government working together, as we saw here."


Jackson has consistently opposed prisons in his congressional district, calling them examples of "de-development," which, when built, tend to scare away other types of future development.


Jackson first learned that village officials were negotiating with federal officials about building an immigrant detention center in Crete back in January.  The Congressman immediately wrote letters expressing his strong opposition to the proposed prison to President Obama, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).


Despite Jackson's opposition, the Village continued negotiating with ICE and a private for-profit prison developer to locate a detention center in Crete, stating it would create jobs and tax base.


Crete citizens quickly and loudly joined the fight against the detention center, however. Local residents collected some 1,500 petitions opposing the prison and actively pushed for a new state law to ban privatized prisons in Illinois.  While most local state lawmakers supported the ban, it ultimately failed in Springfield when the House failed to approve a Senate bill


Jackson had planned to host a town hall meeting in Crete with ICE officials July 16th to show ICE the widespread opposition to the plan. "That meeting is no longer necessary," Jackson said.

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One Step Closer to Chicago's First National Park: Subcommittee Reviews Rep. Jackson's Pullman National Park Legislation

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                            CONTACT: FRANK E. WATKINS

FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012                                                         202.225.0773

One Step Closer to Chicago's First National Park:

Subcommittee Reviews Rep. Jackson's Pullman National Park Legislation

Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. today testified before the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands in support of H.R. 3894 -- the Pullman Historic Site National Park Service Study Act. The legislation authorizes the National Park Service to determine the significance, suitability, and feasibility of the Pullman community becoming Chicago's first National Park.

Due to Pullman's historical, cultural and architectural significance, the site has been designated as a registered National Historic Landmark District, an Illinois State Landmark and a City of Chicago Landmark District. Elevating Pullman to National Park status would provide important preservation and conservation opportunities, connect currently underserved, urban Americans to the National Parks, and create opportunities for tourism, development, and job creation in Chicago's economically depressed South Side.

In his testimony, Congressman Jackson thanked the committed community-based organizations, individuals and elected officials that have worked for decades, to preserve and protect the unique American neighborhood, in particular Mr. Arthur Pearson, representing the Pullman Civic Organization, for flying to Washington to testify in support of H.R. 3894.

Text of Congressman Jackson's testimony can be viewed at http://1.usa.gov/Mowlu1 and video at http://bit.ly/KhcgaX   

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Rep. Jackson Remarks to Natural Resources Subcommittee regarding Pullman Legislation

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Testimony of

Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.

before the

United States House of Representatives

Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands

 

Chairman Bishop, Ranking Member Grijalva and Members of the Subcommittee, good morning and thank you for inviting me to provide testimony regarding H.R. 3894, the Pullman Historic Site National Park Service Study Act.

The Pullman Historic Site, located on the far Southeast Side of Chicago, is a national treasure -- rich in historical, cultural and architectural significance. It's already designated as a registered National Historic Landmark District, an Illinois State Landmark and a City of Chicago Landmark District.  This resolution would authorize the National Park Service to determine the significance, suitability, and feasibility of the Pullman community becoming Chicago's first National Park.

Built by common laborers with a common cause, Pullman was conceived and founded by pioneering transportation industrialist, George Pullman. Unlike many of the industrial towns of its time, Pullman provided a model community with suitable living conditions for workers and their families. Manufacturing the Pullman Palace Sleeper Car, the dedicated factory workers produced "the finest sleeper car" of its time for more than a century. 

Pullman is known nationally as the focal point of the early labor movement, and the struggle of the working class to achieve fair labor practices and safe working conditions.  In a move that served as the catalyst for the first industry-wide strike in the United States, the Pullman factory strikers crippled the rail industry nationally, and demonstrated the ability of a small, committed group of Americans to change labor standards in favor of more just and humane practices and compensation.

The Pullman community also played an important role in African American and early Civil Rights history through the legacy of the Pullman Porters as well as the development of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first black union. The Porters became a cornerstone of development for a black middle-class passing along information, ideas and encouraging commerce through their travels. Moreover, the struggles against discrimination led by union founder A. Philip Randolph and his workers laid the groundwork for the early Civil Rights Movement. 

The site's stunning, unique and surprisingly well preserved architecture has served as a popular movie set over the years, playing host to Paul Newman and Tom Hanks for the filming of the "Road to Perdition," Robert DeNiro and Kevin Costner for scenes from "The Untouchables," and Harrison Ford in "The Fugitive," to name a few.  Examples of the vintage, iconic structures within the factory-town stand today as they have for more than 100 years, including the Factory and Clocktower, the Market Square, the Fire Station, the Hotel Florence, the Green Stone Church as well as the mansions and row houses.

As proposed, Pullman would become just the second National Park in Illinois, joining the Abraham Lincoln homestead in Springfield.  And as it turns out, there's a connection between the two.  When George Pullman died in 1897, it was Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln, who took over as president of the railcar company.

I can go on and on, but you don't have to take my word for it. In a 1998 Department of Interior Study of the Calumet Region, which I am happy to provide to the Subcommittee, the document states that the cultural resources which included Pullman "are considered significant in that they represent the full scope of the workers’ lives, ranging from plants where they worked, to company housing, labor sites, and large scale commercial districts." The study continues that "the fact that these resources and sites are still relatively intact within surrounding urban environment is a factor that is not represented in other National Park Service units related to industry.”

I applaud the National Park Service for its commitment to better represent the cultural and ethnic richness of this great nation and its people leading up to its 2016 Centennial.  I believe elevating Pullman to a National Park status will provide important preservation and conservation opportunities that will not only enhance the Park Service's inventory but will allow access to an important and often untold story in our goal of creating "a more perfect union." As the agency that binds together the stories and the special places that are uniquely American through a shared and diverse heritage, a Pullman National Park will also help connect currently underserved, urban Americans to the National Parks, and create opportunities for tourism, development, and job creation in Chicago's economically depressed South Side.

Finally, I must mention the numerous committed community-based organizations, individuals and elected officials -- including federal, state and local -- who have worked cooperatively and vigorously, for decades, to preserve this unique American neighborhood -- all of whom support this legislation and stand ready to serve as willing partners to continue the legacy of Pullman. Mr. Chairman, I also ask unanimous consent that several letters of support written by various organizations from my district and throughout the State of Illinois be included in the record.

Thank you for your consideration of my testimony and for including this legislation in today's proceedings. 

I hope you will agree that the Pullman site is a unique American treasure that shares a uniquely American story and grant this bill the full Committee and floor debate it warrants.

Thank you.

 
 
   

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