DEFENDERS & DESERTERS of JOBLESS AMERICANS: We name the '50 Worst Deserters'

It was a tough job to pick the 50 Members of Congress who over the last two years have shown the most callous indifference to the suffering of unemployed American households, in terms of immigration policies.

As bad as Congress has been on immigration in the past, it seemed to just grow more fond of foreign labor the last two year as jobs prospects for unemployed Americans grew more and more dismal.

Consider the results of NumbersUSA calculating grades based on every vote and co-sponsorship of the last two years:

* 42% of the 535 Members earned a NumbersUSA grade of D+ or LOWER
* 25% earned an F or F-minus, with most of them getting a 0%.

During the last two years of a virtual jobs depression, these Worst 50 led Congress:

* in allowing the addition of another 75,000 permanent working-age immigrants every MONTH
* and in allowing about 7 million illegal foreign workers to keep their jobs in construction, service, manufacturing and transportation.

Recent government data show that 22 million U.S. workers who want a job can’t find one. But these 50 Members of Congress deserted those Americans in favor of increasing the number of foreign workers competing with them in the hiring line.

* received grades of F-minus and 0%, failing to take a single action to reduce competition for jobless Americans.
* are asking voters to re-elect them to Congress this November
* are in the Senate or in the House where they are leaders with special opportunity to influence policy toward jobless Americans because they either are congressional chairmen, leaders of their Party or on the Judiciary Committee with direct jurisdiction over immigration.

It isn't that these 50 don't have concerns for the unemployed. In fact, most of them have worked hard to provide unemployment benefits and other government assistance to help them while they are out of work.

But they seem to prefer providing unemployment assistance to providing them access to jobs.

When it comes to immigration, these 50 are willing to keep their unemployed constituents out of work.

For whatever variety of reasons, these 50 elected officials favor foreign workers and the employers that hire them over the desires of their own constituents to have a job and support themselves.

I'm sure all of these 50 will be campaigning this fall about their great concern for putting their constituents back to work. Citizens can no longer allow them to perpetuate their charade.

50 WORST DESERTERS of JOBLESS AMERICANS (In the Face of Unfair Foreign-Worker Competition)

* Bennet, Michael (CO)
* Feingold, Russell (WI)
* Gillibrand, Kirsten (NY)
* Inouye, Daniel (HI)
* Leahy, Patrick (VT)
* Mikulski, Barbara (MD)
* Reid, Harry (NV)

* Ackerman, Gary (NY 05th)
* Baldwin, Tammy (WI - 02nd)
* Becerra, Xavier (CA - 31st)
* Berman, Howard (CA - 28th)
* Chu, Judy (CA - 32nd)
* Clarke, Yvette (NY - 11th)
* Clyburn, James (SC - 06th)
* Conyers, John (MI - 14th)
* Cummings, Elijah (MD - 07th)
* Engel, Eliot (NY - 17th)
* Grijalva, Raul (AZ - 07th)
* Gutierrez, Luis (IL - 04th)
* Hastings, Alcee (FL - 23rd)
* Hoyer, Steny (MD - 05th)
* Jackson-Lee, Sheila (TX - 18th)
* Johnson, Hank (GA - 04th)
* Kucinich, Dennis (OH - 10th)
* Lewis, John (GA - 05th)
* Lofgren, Zoe (CA - 16th)
* Markey, Edward (MA - 07th)
* McDermott, Jim (WA 07th)
* Nadler, Jerrold (NY - 08th)
* Napolitano, Grace (CA - 38th)
* Olver, John (MA - 01st)
* Quigley, Mike (IL - 05th)
* Pelosi, Nancy (CA - 8th)
* Rahall, Nick (WV - 03rd)
* Rangel, Charles (NY - 15th)
* Rush, Bobby (IL - 01st)
* Sanchez, Linda (CA - 39th)
* Schakowsky, Janice (IL - 09th)
* Scott, Robert (VA - 03rd)
* Serrano, Jose (NY - 16th)
* Slaughter, Louise (NY - 28th)
* Stark, Pete (CA - 13th)
* Thompson, Bennie (MS - 02nd)
* Towns, Edolphus (NY - 10th)
* Velazquez, Nidia (NY - 12th)
* Tsongas, Niki (MA - 05th)
* Wasserman-Schultz, Debbie (FL - 20th)
* Watt, Melvin (NC - 12th)
* Waxman, Henry (CA - 30th)
* Woolsey, Lynn (CA - 06th)

NumbersUSA is aggressively non-partisan. We do not cherry-pick actions to grade in order to skew the results. Instead, we rate every action in committee or the floor and all co-sponsorships that would change the numerical level of immigration. Our grades reflect the cumulative effect of each Members' actions in terms of increasing or reducing the number of foreign workers (legal and illegal) in the country.

All actions and the computerized grading calculations are displayed in our www.CongressGrades.org section of our website.

Those in Congress who do the most to protect American workers in terms of immigration policies receive an A+, while those doing the least receive an F-minus.

NumbersUSA has more than one million activist members. It was formed in 1996 in part to carry out the recommendations of the bi-partisan U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform (chaired by the late Barbara Jordan) which opposed immigration policies that depress wages and job prospects for the most vulnerable Americans.

NumbersUSA's blogs are copyrighted and may be republished or reposted only if they are copied in their entirety, including this paragraph, and provide proper credit to NumbersUSA. NumbersUSA bears no responsibility for where our blogs may be republished or reposted.

Views and opinions expressed in blogs on this website are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect official policies of NumbersUSA.


Wonder How many are Progressives?

Congressional Progressive Caucus Member List (8-15-10)

Wednesday June 02, 2010

Co-Chairs
Hon. Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07)
Hon. Lynn Woolsey (CA-06)

Vice Chairs
Hon. Diane Watson (CA-33)
Hon. Keith Ellison (MN-05)
Hon. Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX-18)
Hon. Mazie Hirono (HI-02)
Hon. Dennis Kucinich (OH-10)
Hon. Donna F. Edwards (MD-04)
Hon. Alan Grayson (FL-08)

Senate Members
Hon. Roland Burris (IL)
Hon. Bernie Sanders (VT)
Hon. Tom Udall (NM)

House Members
Hon. Tammy Baldwin (WI-02)
Hon. Xavier Becerra (CA-31)
Hon. Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Hon. Robert Brady (PA-01)
Hon. Corrine Brown (FL-03)
Hon. Michael Capuano (MA-08)
Hon. André Carson (IN-07)
Hon. Donna Christensen (VI-AL)
Hon. Judy Chu (CA-32)
Hon. Yvette Clarke (NY-11)
Hon. William (Lacy) Clay (MO-01)
Hon. Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05)
Hon. Steve Cohen (TN-09)
Hon. John Conyers (MI-14)
Hon. Elijah Cummings (MD-07)
Hon. Danny Davis (IL-07)
Hon. Peter DeFazio (OR-04)
Hon. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03)
Hon. Sam Farr (CA-17)
Hon. Chaka Fattah (PA-02)
Hon. Bob Filner (CA-51)
Hon. Barney Frank (MA-04)
Hon. Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11)
Hon. Luis Gutierrez (IL-04)
Hon. John Hall (NY-19)
Hon. Phil Hare (IL-17)
Hon. Alcee Hastings (FL-23)
Hon. Maurice Hinchey (NY-22)
Hon. Michael Honda (CA-15)
Hon. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-02)
Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30)
Hon. Hank Johnson (GA-04)
Hon. Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)
Hon. Carolyn Kilpatrick (MI-13)
Hon. Barbara Lee (CA-09)
Hon. John Lewis (GA-05)
Hon. David Loebsack (IA-02)
Hon. Ben R. Lujan (NM-3)
Hon. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14)
Hon. Ed Markey (MA-07)
Hon. Jim McDermott (WA-07)
Hon. James McGovern (MA-03)
Hon. George Miller (CA-07)
Hon. Gwen Moore (WI-04)
Hon. Jim Moran (VA-08)
Hon. Jerrold Nadler (NY-08)
Hon. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (DC-AL)
Hon. John Olver (MA-01)
Hon. Frank Pallone (NJ-06)
Hon. Ed Pastor (AZ-04)
Hon. Donald Payne (NJ-10)
Hon. Chellie Pingree (ME-01)
Hon. Jared Polis (CO-02)
Hon. Charles Rangel (NY-15)
Hon. Laura Richardson (CA-37)
Hon. Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34)
Hon. Bobby Rush (IL-01)
Hon. Linda Sanchez (CA-39)
Hon. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)
Hon. Jose Serrano (NY-16)
Hon. Louise Slaughter (NY-28)
Hon. Pete Stark (CA-13)
Hon. Bennie Thompson (MS-02)
Hon. John Tierney (MA-06)
Hon. Nydia Velazquez (NY-12)
Hon. Maxine Waters (CA-35)
Hon. Mel Watt (NC-12)
Hon. Henry Waxman (CA-30)
Hon. Peter Welch (VT-AL)

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