BrooklynRider
November 4th, 2007, 12:19 AM
The woman beloe would be the same Yvette Clarke who lied about her college education, failed to understand, let alone answer questions on existing policy. She helped turn her election into a debate over whether "white" people had a right to run in the district. She won and we got a friggin' ninny doing squat. Another Brooklynite from this district now collecting a federal welfare check.
November 3, 2007 (http://www.brooklynpaper.com/sections/30/43/)
In Congress, Clarke last among firsts
By Dana Rubinstein
The Brooklyn Paper
Brooklyn’s newest congresswoman has gotten off to a slow start.
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D–Park Slope) has written fewer bills than all but three members of her 54-person freshman class — and she didn’t even roll out her first piece of legislation until earlier this month, after getting wind that an influential political magazine was about to publicly skewer her for failing to draft a bill.
As a result, she was the last member of the freshman class to submit a piece of legislation, which she did on Oct. 15 — more than nine months into office and four months after the second-tardiest freshman.
Moreover, Congress.org, an organization that monitors the legislature, gave Clarke a power ranking of 366th in Congress, and 36th in the freshman class.
The numbers have left even Clarke’s supporters scratching their heads.
“She has had an incredible opportunity to become a leading freshman,” said Arthur Piccolo, a Democratic insider who vigorously campaigned for Clarke in the heated four-way race to succeed retiring Rep. Major Owens in 2006.
“She has not taken advantage of that at all. It mystifies me. [Her lack of legislation is] a symbolic example of that.”
Clarke has drafted two bills since hearing the complaints from the wonks and the chattering class. Her first bill sought to improve the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service, where backlogs can force immigrants and naturalized residents to wait years for their documentation.
Eight days later, on Oct. 23, Clarke introduced a second bill that would increase government relief to military families.
Clarke’s spokeswoman, Chic Smith, insisted that quality of legislation was more important than quantity.
“Would it be better for her to introduce a bill that required everybody carry Kleenex, or everybody carry Purell?” said Smith. “There is no deadline for members of Congress [to introduce legislation].
“I don’t understand the emphasis on the amount,” added Smith. “There’s always going to be a first, someone in the middle, someone in the last [place].”
Until recently, that someone was Clarke, who declined to speak with The Brooklyn Paper about her bill-writing shortcomings. But she told Politico, an influential online magazine, that she had “not really concentrated that much on crafting legislation.”
“Part of it was getting my bearings,” added Clarke. “I do have interest. I just haven’t made that my ultimate focus.”
Clarke did not use her mid-year medical leave as an excuse. In July, Clarke had surgery to relieve painful uterine fibroids, and took a six-week leave of absence.
Beyond that, Craig Holman, the campaign finance lobbyist for Public Citizen, a congressional watchdog group, said Clarke’s inaction was not that significant.
“Freshman congressmen traditionally are not the sponsors of much legislation, given their lack of familiarity and networking within Congress,” said Holman. “And the legislation they do sponsor tends to be pretty meaningless.”
Even so, other freshmen representatives have managed to get their focus more quickly. Gus Bilirakis (R–Florida), has already introduced 18 bills, one of which of was passed by the Democratic house just this month.
If Clarke is writing few bills, she may merely be following the example set by her predecessor, Owens. In the last 10 of his 24 years in Congress — presumably when his seniority gave him far more clout than a humble freshman — wrote 102 bills, or about 10 bills per year on average, according to GovTrack.us, an independent legislation-tracking Web site.
Not a single one passed.
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/43/30_43yvetteclarke.html
November 3, 2007 (http://www.brooklynpaper.com/sections/30/43/)
In Congress, Clarke last among firsts
By Dana Rubinstein
The Brooklyn Paper
Brooklyn’s newest congresswoman has gotten off to a slow start.
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D–Park Slope) has written fewer bills than all but three members of her 54-person freshman class — and she didn’t even roll out her first piece of legislation until earlier this month, after getting wind that an influential political magazine was about to publicly skewer her for failing to draft a bill.
As a result, she was the last member of the freshman class to submit a piece of legislation, which she did on Oct. 15 — more than nine months into office and four months after the second-tardiest freshman.
Moreover, Congress.org, an organization that monitors the legislature, gave Clarke a power ranking of 366th in Congress, and 36th in the freshman class.
The numbers have left even Clarke’s supporters scratching their heads.
“She has had an incredible opportunity to become a leading freshman,” said Arthur Piccolo, a Democratic insider who vigorously campaigned for Clarke in the heated four-way race to succeed retiring Rep. Major Owens in 2006.
“She has not taken advantage of that at all. It mystifies me. [Her lack of legislation is] a symbolic example of that.”
Clarke has drafted two bills since hearing the complaints from the wonks and the chattering class. Her first bill sought to improve the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service, where backlogs can force immigrants and naturalized residents to wait years for their documentation.
Eight days later, on Oct. 23, Clarke introduced a second bill that would increase government relief to military families.
Clarke’s spokeswoman, Chic Smith, insisted that quality of legislation was more important than quantity.
“Would it be better for her to introduce a bill that required everybody carry Kleenex, or everybody carry Purell?” said Smith. “There is no deadline for members of Congress [to introduce legislation].
“I don’t understand the emphasis on the amount,” added Smith. “There’s always going to be a first, someone in the middle, someone in the last [place].”
Until recently, that someone was Clarke, who declined to speak with The Brooklyn Paper about her bill-writing shortcomings. But she told Politico, an influential online magazine, that she had “not really concentrated that much on crafting legislation.”
“Part of it was getting my bearings,” added Clarke. “I do have interest. I just haven’t made that my ultimate focus.”
Clarke did not use her mid-year medical leave as an excuse. In July, Clarke had surgery to relieve painful uterine fibroids, and took a six-week leave of absence.
Beyond that, Craig Holman, the campaign finance lobbyist for Public Citizen, a congressional watchdog group, said Clarke’s inaction was not that significant.
“Freshman congressmen traditionally are not the sponsors of much legislation, given their lack of familiarity and networking within Congress,” said Holman. “And the legislation they do sponsor tends to be pretty meaningless.”
Even so, other freshmen representatives have managed to get their focus more quickly. Gus Bilirakis (R–Florida), has already introduced 18 bills, one of which of was passed by the Democratic house just this month.
If Clarke is writing few bills, she may merely be following the example set by her predecessor, Owens. In the last 10 of his 24 years in Congress — presumably when his seniority gave him far more clout than a humble freshman — wrote 102 bills, or about 10 bills per year on average, according to GovTrack.us, an independent legislation-tracking Web site.
Not a single one passed.
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/43/30_43yvetteclarke.html