CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS

The 'Congressional Progressive Caucus' (CPC) is the single largest partisan caucus in the United States House of Representatives, and works together to advance progressive issues and causes.
The CPC was founded in 1991 by the independent then Congressman Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who remains a member of the United States Senate. It represents about a third of the House Democratic Caucus (with 72 members as of March 2007). Of the twenty standing committees of the House, eleven are chaired by members of the CPC.

Contents

Ideology

Supporting organizations

Officers

Directors

Current members

Senate member

Former members

See also

References

External links

Ideology

According to their website, the CPC advocates "universal access to affordable, high quality healthcare," fair trade agreements, living wage laws, the right of all workers to organize into labor unions and engage in strike actions and collective bargaining, the abolition of significant portions of the USA PATRIOT Act, the legalization of gay marriage, strict campaign finance reform laws, a complete pullout from the war in Iraq, a crackdown on free trade and what they see as corporate welfare, an increase in income tax on the wealthy, tax cuts for the poor, and an increase in welfare spending by the federal government.

Supporting organizations

An array of national progressive organizations will work to support the efforts of the caucus, including the Institute for Policy Studies, The Nation Magazine, Moveon.org, National Priorities Project, Jobs with Justice Campaign, Peace Action, Americans for Democratic Action, and Progressive Democrats of America. Also co-sponsoring the kickoff event were the NAACP, ACLU, Progressive Majority, League of United Latin American Citizens, Rainbow/Push Coalition, National Council of La Raza, Hip Hop Caucus, Human Rights Campaign, Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs, and the National Hip Hop Political Convention. The CPC has long maintained cordial ties with the Democratic Socialists of America, which hosted its website during the 1990s.

Officers

★ Barbara Lee (California), Co-Chair

★ Lynn Woolsey (California), Co-Chair

Directors

★ Bill Goold, Executive Director

Current members

★ Neil Abercrombie (Hawaii)

★ Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin)

★ Xavier Becerra (California)

★ Madeleine Bordallo (Guam)

★ Bob Brady (Pennsylvania)

★ Corrine Brown (Florida)

★ Mike Capuano (Massachusetts)

★ Julia Carson (Indiana)

★ Donna Christian-Christensen (Virgin Islands)

★ Yvette Clarke (New York)

★ William Lacy Clay, Jr. (Missouri)

★ Emanuel Cleaver (Missouri)

★ Steve Cohen (Tennessee)

★ John Conyers (Michigan) - chairman, House Judiciary Committee

★ Elijah Cummings (Maryland)

★ Danny Davis (Illinois)

★ Peter DeFazio (Oregon)

★ Rosa DeLauro (Connecticut)

★ Keith Ellison (Minnesota)

★ Eni Faleomavaega (American Samoa)

★ Sam Farr (California)

★ Chaka Fattah (Pennsylvania)

★ Bob Filner (California) - chairman, House Veterans Affairs Committee

★ Barney Frank (Massachusetts) - chairman, House Financial Services Committee

★ Raul Grijalva (Arizona)

★ Luis Gutierrez (Illinois)

★ John Hall (New York)

★ Phil Hare (Illinois)

★ Maurice Hinchey (New York)

★ Mazie Hirono (Hawaii)

★ Jesse Jackson, Jr. (Illinois)

★ Sheila Jackson-Lee (Texas)

★ Eddie Bernice Johnson (Texas)

★ Hank Johnson (Georgia)

★ Stephanie Tubbs Jones (Ohio) - chairwoman, House Ethics Committee

★ Marcy Kaptur (Ohio)

★ Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (Michigan)

★ Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) - candidate for President of the United States

★ Tom Lantos (California) - chairman, House Foreign Affairs Committee

★ Barbara Lee (California) - Co-Chair

★ John Lewis (Georgia)

★ Dave Loebsack (Iowa)

★ Carolyn Maloney (New York)

★ Ed Markey (Massachusetts)

★ Jim McDermott (Washington)

★ Jim McGovern (Massachusetts)

★ George Miller (California) - chairman, House Education and Labor Committee

★ Gwen Moore (Wisconsin)

★ Jerry Nadler (New York)

★ Eleanor Holmes Norton (District of Columbia)

★ John Olver (Massachusetts)

★ Ed Pastor (Arizona)

★ Donald M. Payne (New Jersey)

★ Charles Rangel (New York) - chairman, House Ways and Means Committee

★ Bobby Rush (Illinois)

★ Jan Schakowsky (Illinois)

★ Jose Serrano (New York)

★ Louise Slaughter (New York)

★ Hilda Solis (California)

★ Pete Stark (California)

★ Bennie Thompson (Mississippi) - chairman, House Homeland Security Committee

★ John Tierney (Massachusetts)

★ Tom Udall (New Mexico)

★ Nydia Velazquez (New York) - chairwoman, House Small Business Committee

★ Maxine Waters (California)

★ Diane Watson (California)

★ Mel Watt (North Carolina)

★ Henry Waxman (California) - chairman, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee

★ Peter Welch (Vermont)

★ Lynn Woolsey (California) - Co-Chair

Senate member

★ Bernie Sanders (Vermont)

Former members

★ Sherrod Brown (Ohio) - elected to Senate

★ Lane Evans (Illinois) - retired from Congress

★ Cynthia McKinney (Georgia) - lost Congressional seat

★ Major Owens (New York) - retired from Congress

★ Nancy Pelosi (California) - left caucus when elected House Minority Leader

See also

★ Blue Dog Coalition

★ New Democrat Coalition

References

External links

★ Official Website

★ Sweet Victory: Congressional Progressive Caucus Gets in Gear

★ Current Roster of Congressional Progressive Caucus With Addresses

★ Liberal legislative caucus envisions post-Bush era (''San Francisco Chronicle'')

★ Progressive Caucus Rising (''In These Times'')