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Hate Columbus, Hate AmericaWhat's today really about?I refuse to defend the personal virtue of Christopher Columbus. I reject outright the premise of the discussion, which is that if Columbus had behaved better, there would not be people tearing down his statues. There is no level of moral rectitude that would convince those people to stop, and so there is no historical crime they could dig out of the woodwork that would convince me to join them. The rightness or wrongness of this or that act on Columbus’s part is not the point for anybody involved in this debate. Discussion on...

Progressive push to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day continues Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., slammed Christopher Columbus as a "genocidal maniac" on his holiday Monday as progressives continue their push for the federal holiday to be officially replaced with Indigenous Peoples Day. "Today should just be #IndigenousPeopleDay," Velázquez tweeted. "And yet this day is still shared with a genocidal maniac. "We need to take this time to reflect on the brutal history of violence against Indigenous peoples in America and recognize that there is still a lot of work to repair this harm." ...

Puerto Rico Democratic Party Chair Charles Rodríguez on Friday called on congressional Democrats to oppose a bill proposed by New York Democratic Reps. Nydia Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to decide the territory's status through a convention. "The proposed legislation allows a group of delegates to decide and impose an option. In a democracy, we should trust the people to make their own decisions rather than rely on a selected few to decide for the people," wrote Rodríguez. The Velázquez/Ocasio-Cortez bill has pulled Congress into the island's core political debate, which defines party affiliation at a local level. In his letter,...

Democrat legislators have drafted a bill to import at least 50,000 “climate refugees” per year despite the damaging impact on Americans’ wages and rents. “America will continue to stand tall as a safe haven for immigrants,” declared Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), who was born in Puerto Rico and chairs the House Committee on Small Business. She said: Despite this Administration’s efforts to strip the world’s most vulnerable populations of refuge … this legislation will not only reaffirm our nation’s longstanding role as a home to those fleeing conflict and disasters, but it will also update it to reflect changes to...

The New York federal judge who ruled on Wednesday that the Trump administration must comply with two subpoenas from the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees has donated in the past to a slew of big-name Democrats -- including two who currently sit on those committees, according to federal election filings. After an hour of oral arguments, Barack Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos ruled the subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and Capital One have "a legitimate legislative purpose," and that Trump was unlikely to prevail in a lawsuit to quash the requests. Judges have the option to recuse themselves if...

A New York Democrat in Congress has filed a bill that would forbid immigration officers from wearing clothing that says “POLICE.” Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) urge that it “may be a matter of life-or-death” for them to do so. 2 ICE agents and officers may initially identify themselves as “police” in an encounter because it is the universally known term for law enforcement, they say.

Democrats in House of Reps. joined J Street in supporting Obama administration's attempt to force Israel into making painful concessions Seventy-four Democrats in the House of Representatives have joined the dovish J Street organization in supporting the Obama administration's attempt to force Israel into making painful concessions to the Palestinian Authority. “In our view, support for a two-state resolution is inseparable from such support for Israel, its special relationship with the United States, and its very survival as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people,” the letter said. Seven Jewish members signed the letter, including Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), John...

New York Democratic Rep. Nydia Velazquez admitted she did not know what Operation Fast and Furious was at a Congressional Hispanic Caucus event on Tuesday. When The Daily Caller asked Velazquez if she thinks Fast and Furious was a scandal that rises to the level of a call for Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation, she shrugged at first. Then, TheDC asked if she even knew what Fast and Furious was. “No, no,” Velazquez replied.

Dems vigilant on Puerto Rico bill Two of the most prominent Hispanic Democrats in Congress are continuing their all-out offensive to kill a bill that would mandate a vote on Puerto Rico’s political status. And they’re taking direct aim at their leadership. Democratic Reps. Nydia Velazquez (N.Y.) and Luis Gutierrez (Ill.) sent out an e-mail to members of Congress Thursday morning urging them to vote no on the Puerto Rican Democracy Act, which would allow the island’s residents to vote yes or no on whether they want to continue their political status. If that vote garnered a majority who didn’t...

Obama pick faces questions over bombers' clemencyBy PETE YOST Associated Press Writer Originally published Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 2:05 PM WASHINGTON — New York police detective Anthony S. Senft's life changed forever when a bomb set by Puerto Rican separatists exploded, blowing him 15 feet in the air and blinding him in one eye. Now, he's angry that Eric Holder, who played a key role in awarding clemency to the bombers, is in line to be attorney general. Holder, as President Bill Clinton's deputy attorney general, worked closely with the Justice Department's pardon attorney to raise the possibility of...

Most notable among the petitions for clemency granted during Holder’s tenure is the request from 16 members of a Puerto Rican Marxist terrorist group, the Armed Forces of National Liberation, known by its Spanish acronym FALN, which engaged in a robbery and terror campaign in both the U.S. and Puerto Rico during the 1970s and 1980s. The clemency petition, which was supported by Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-N.Y.), Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.) and Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), became the subject of fiery controversy after it was revealed that none of the convicted terrorists had renounced violence and that their victims had not been...

My fellow Freepers: I need your help! As many of you already know, I ran for Congress in New York’s 12th CD in 2004. As part of the experience, I became one of the principal subjects of a documentary being filmed on the Republican National Convention being held in the city that year. As a result, I had a camera follow me around during my campaigning in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, to the convention at Madison Square Garden, to various meetings and events of our NY Young Republican Club, to my uncle’s house in Staten Island, and even to my...

My representative in the House is Jan Schakowsky of Evanston, IL, pictured below. Earlier today, Jan was probably at the Democratic Party of Evanston's slatemaking session. But rather pondering just who is the most qualified to gain the local party's endorsement for Cook County Water Reclamation District Commissioner, this Robert Novak column in Sunday's Chicago Sun-Times probably dominated her thoughts. From that column: House Republicans, wounded by lobbyist scandals, have called on the House Ethics Committee to investigate more than 10 Democratic members headed by Jan Schakowsky of Illinois and Nydia Velazquez of New York. Schakowsky's husband, consumer advocate Robert...

PAUL RODRIGUEZ CHALLENGES REP. NYDIA VELAZQUEZ FOR A SPOT IN THE GOP-LED CONGRESS Republican Paul Rodriguez says if New Yorkers want to be heard in a GOP-led Congress, they need to elect Republicans. That’s one reason the president of the New York City Young Republican Club is running against the incumbent Democrat, Rep. Nydia Velazquez, in Brooklyn’s 12th district this fall. “As long as Democrats are the only ones representing New York City, New Yorkers are not going to have a voice in Congress,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “New Yorkers need someone in the majority to get a better chance to...