In 1941, Franklin Roosevelt addressed the nation to bring us together in support of a strong American presence in the world. Defeating the Axis forces in concert with our allies was essential to ensure that people all over the world could enjoy four freedoms: freedom of speech and of religion,…
Archives: Voices
How to respond to President Trump’s State of the Union
Tonight President Trump will deliver the State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress. We will be listening – both to the things he says and for the things he doesn’t say. To help you respond to the President’s speech, we are sharing with you some tools…
The President’s cynical immigration plan is anti-family and anti-community
Editor’s note: CHN Executive Director Deborah Weinstein issued the following statement Friday in response to President Trump’s immigration proposal: “President Trump’s reported plan in response to his own denial of legal status for the Dreamers is cynical, holding them hostage to extreme restrictions in immigration that must be rejected. “The…
Another blow to the Census
A dress rehearsal of the 2020 Census – officially known as the End-to-End Census Test — is scheduled to take place this spring in Providence County, Rhode Island. But in another blow to the count, a change from the 2010 Census that was recommended to increase the accuracy of the…
Missing.
Imagine you live in a rural county. Imagine your neighbors – and perhaps you, even – voted for a candidate for public office who ran on a platform of deporting those suspected of being in your county illegally. Imagine that candidate was elected. Imagine, further, that after that candidate was…
Please continue to contact your senators
UPDATE: The recent government shutdown ended with an agreement that the Senate will take up legislation to protect the Dreamers – people who have been in our country since they were children and know no other. But getting decent protections to the finish line is highly uncertain. To get there,…
Payday lending: A cycle of debt and desperation
During the past year, payday lenders and those who issue car-title loans have taken more than $8 billion in fees and interest from families in the U.S. who took out loans that operate as debt traps, according to a coalition of consumer groups and others that has formed to put…
Resources from around the Coalition: DACA, CHIP and disaster relief
Today’s the day – Congress will either come to an agreement on another short-term stopgap spending measure (known as a Continuing Resolution, or CR), or we’ll face a government shutdown. The House voted for a one-month bill on Thursday night; Senate action is still uncertain. Along with keeping the proverbial…
Trump’s Medicaid Work Requirements: Meet Real Life
“There’s a stereotype that disability recipients don’t want to work. The reality is very different.” On Jan. 10, the Washington Post published a piece highlighting five Americans who receive federal disability benefits; the quote above is from that piece. Many of the people highlighted in the story talk about how…
Human Needs Report: What Congress Did – and Didn’t Do – at the End of 2017, and What’s on Tap for Early 2018
A lot happened on Capitol Hill right before the holiday break, while many other issues were kicked down the road and remain on the Congressional agenda for early 2018. Where do things stand? CHN just released our latest edition of the Human Needs Report, with a brief rundown on Congress’s…
An affront to democracy
During the last week of December, with the halls of the U.S. Capitol nearly empty and millions of Americans paying attention to anything but the news, word emerged that a Department of Justice official formally has asked the Census Bureau to add a question to the 2020 Census about respondents’…
Immoral and un-American: Immigrant communities deserve the opportunity to grow, thrive, invent and contribute
Editor’s note: CHN Executive Director Deborah Weinstein issued the following statement Tuesday, Jan. 9 in response to the Trump administration’s announcement that it would end work authorization and legal protection for nearly 200,000 El Salvadorans living in the U.S.: “On Monday the Trump administration announced the latest step in its…