Media
Hill Offices Seek Progress in Diversity
By: Emily Yehle
Posted: Mar 1, 2010, 12:00 a.m. [ET] (Roll Call Staff)
Nkenge Harmon found out about her first job on Capitol Hill the way most staffers do: She knew someone.
But Harmon is in some ways an exception to the networking rule. She’s the only African-American communications director in a Senate that is predominantly white. And she works in the office of Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), which reflects far more diversity than most Member offices. READ MORE
Faltan hispanosen el Congreso
By: Antonieta Cádiz
Posted: Feb 26, 2010 (La Opinion)
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Sólo 54 hispanos en posiciones de alto nivel en las oficinas de los legisladores, es la cuenta actual que arroja el Congreso. Sin duda, una crisis de diversidad en el Capitolio, que se ha perpetuado por varios años. READ MORE
Federal Diary: Report finds few Latinos in Hill staff jobs
By: Joe Davidson
Posted: Feb 26, 2010 (Washington Post)
As any good cook knows, each ingredient in a fine meal enhances its taste. Don't include one element, and the meal loses its flavor.
The same is true in making laws. If certain components aren't included in the congressional process, then legislation won't adequately reflect the American people.
READ MORE
Aumentan los hispanos en el Congreso, pero la representación de la comunidad sigue en "crisis"
Posted: Feb 25, 2010 (Agencia EFE, S.A.)
Washington, 25 feb (EFE).- Un 37 por ciento más de miembros del Congreso emplearon a hispanos en sus oficinas en 2009 respecto al año anterior, pero la representación de la comunidad latina en el hogar de la democracia de EEUU sigue en crisis, según un informe.
La Red de Líderes Latinos (LLN, en sus siglas en inglés) reconoció hoy a 156 miembros del Congreso por su aportación a la diversidad de sus empleados, ya que contrataron al menos a un latino en su oficina en Washington. READ MORE
Hill Lags in Hiring Hispanics
By: Erika Lovley
Feb. 24, 2010 05:02 AM [ET] (Capitol News Company, LLC)
Hispanics make up nearly one-sixth of the U.S. population, but a new study shows that they’re almost nonexistent in high-level staff positions on Capitol Hill.
Out of 100 Senate chiefs of staff, only one is Hispanic: Amanda Renteria, who works for Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow. There are no Hispanic legislative directors or deputy chiefs of staff in the Senate, the study shows, and only one Hispanic staff director. READ MORE
Members Give Cool Reception to Obama’s New Lobbying Proposals
By: Matthew Murray
Jan. 28, 2010 08:14 AM [ET] (Roll Call Staff)
Democratic lawmakers said they were uncertain they could muster broad Congressional support for new lobbying rules President Barack Obama proposed Wednesday night in his State of the Union address.
“I want to see the details,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said following Obama’s speech. “A lot of lobbyists are very helpful in fighting for their folks and a lot of lobbyists work very, very hard.”
READ MORE
Obama Considers Further Limitations on Lobbyists
By: Keith Koffler
Sept. 21, 2009 09:02 PM [ET] (Roll Call Staff)
In what would be a dramatic next step in its drive to insulate itself from K Street, the White House is strongly considering limiting the ability of lobbyists to serve on federal advisory panels designed to bring the voices of outside interests into the halls of the administration READ MORE
White House eases stimulus lobbyist restrictions
By: Roxana Tiron
July 25, 2009 01:25 PM [ET] (The Hill)
In a significant change, the Obama administration will now allow lobbyists to meet and have telephonic discussions with government officials regarding economic recovery projects.
The lifting of the ban comes after K Street has cried foul for months and has challenged the White House on its restrictions.
Political Consulting in Black and White
By: Shane D'Aprile
June 30, 2009 (Politics Magazine)
When President Barack Obama introduced Sonia Sotomayor as his first Supreme Court nominee in late May, observers were caught up in the historic nature of the moment. The nation’s first black president had nominated a woman who could be the high court’s first Hispanic justice. “This is the new face of America,” proclaimed CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
Beneath the diversity at the highest levels of the new administration, however, some in the political consulting business—particularly a swath of African-American Democratic consultants—say their industry hasn’t done enough to focus attention on the lack of diversity that still exists in its own ranks. To listen to some tell it, the upper echelon of Washington power may be growing more diverse, particularly in the Democratic Party, but the ranks of those who get them elected isn’t. The political consulting industry still looks a lot like the old face of power in America—one that is overwhelmingly male and almost exclusively white.
U.S. Capitol is too white, say critics
By: Reid Wilson
June 25, 2009 08:26 PM EST
The staff on Capitol Hill is too white.
That’s what a group of frustrated members, lobbyists and aides are claiming as they press congressional leaders to adopt a version of the so-called Rooney rule.
The rule, named after Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, has been credited with significantly increasing the number of African-American coaches in the National Football League.