Mission “Not” Accomplished for our Troops, President Bush

(Apr. 30, 2004) Read Schakowsky’s floor statement on the one year anniversary of President Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln delivered on May 1, 2003.

►Read President Bush's Speech on the Deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln (May 1, 2003)

(Apr. 29, 2004)

BUSH ADMINISTRATION MISSTATEMENT OF THE DAY – WOMEN’S ISSUES

(Click for Misstatement)

(Apr. 28, 2004) Update: GAO Report - Contract Management

SCHAKOWSKY INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO SAVE TAXPAYERS
HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS
OF DOLLARS A YEAR

WASHINGTON, D.C. – (Apr. 27, 2004) U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today introduced legislation that would save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year. U.S. Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee and a leader on government accountability, is an original cosponsor of the bill.
 

Schakowsky introduced the bill after a General Accounting Office (GAO) report she had requested found that the federal government is overpaying vendors by hundreds of millions of dollars because agencies have failed to use their bargaining power to obtain discounts.

(Click for Full Statement)

►View Schakowsky's Bill (.pdf)

►Article: 4/28/2004
Wine, Cigars, Deer Head - Charge it to Uncle Sam
Reuters News

SCHAKOWSKY: BUSH ADMINISTRATION MISSTATEMENT OF THE DAY –
CONSUMER PROTECTION

(Apr. 28, 2004) Referring to Yo-Yo balls, a popular toy that poses a strangulation risk to children, a Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) spokesman said: 

“We recognize that this is a very scary experience for the child and the parent.” But the bottom line is, we just don't see it as a sufficiently big enough risk to take regulatory action.”

However, the Chicago Daily Herald reported that the CSPC has received “300 injury reports related to cords wrapping around children's necks.”  The story also states that “Toys "R" Us and Walgreens have stopped selling the toys, and consumer agencies in New York and Massachusetts have issued warnings about them. Several countries, including Australia and Great Britain, have issued bans.” (Click for Full Misstatement)

►Article: 4/27/2004
Why Some Parents Want to Ban Yo-Yo Water Ball Toys
The Daily Herald

►Article: 12/19/2003
Congresswoman Blasts Response To Yo-Yo Balls
NBC 5 - Chicago

(Nov. 25, 2003) Press Release: SCHAKOWSKY TO CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CHAIRMAN:
Before Holiday Shopping Season Begins, Warn Parents About Risk of Strangulation by Yo-Yo Balls & Call on Retailers to Voluntarily Stop Selling the Dangerous Toy

SCHAKOWSKY REACTS TO REPORT SUGGESTING THAT THE DEATH OF
“ONE IN FOUR” SOLDIERS IN IRAQ
COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED

CHICAGO, IL – (Apr. 26, 2004) U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Chief Deputy Whip, today issued the following statement after Newsweek reported “…that perhaps one in four of those killed in combat in Iraq might be alive if they had had stronger armor around them… Thousands more who were unprotected have suffered grievous wounds, such as the loss of limbs.”  (Newsweek, 5/3/04)

“A tragic mistake in planning may have led to hundreds of US soldiers dying in Iraq, a mistake the President might have cited as he struggled for an example in his prime time news conference two weeks ago. Now that it appears that this war was a long time in the planning, it is all the more shocking that the troops were unnecessarily put at extreme risk..."

(Click for Full Statement)

SCHAKOWSKY JOINS ASIAN COMMUNITY LEADERS TO WARN AGAINST GROWING CRISIS

CHICAGO, IL – (Apr. 23, 2004) U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today joined leaders in the Asian community to warn against a growing crisis where elderly and disabled Vietnamese, Cambodian and Chinese refugees have lost or are about to lose their Supplemental Security Income (SSI)...

(Click for Full Statement)

HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE
 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – (Apr. 22, 2004) 

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 6 million Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust. Today in the nation’s Capitol, we gather to pay our respects with our Days of Remembrance ceremony.  My district, the 9th Congressional District of Illinois, is home to a large number of survivors of the Nazi death camps, and this day holds deep meaning for those individuals and the entire Jewish community...

(Click for Full Statement) 

SCHAKOWSKY: RESERVISTS FORCED
TO INVADE SAVINGS TO SUBSIDIZE
WAR IN IRAQ

WASHINGTON, D.C. – (Apr. 22, 2004) Following a vote on H.R. 1779, a bill that allows reservists to make penalty-free withdrawals from their Individual Retirement Accounts, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today chastised the Republican leadership for failing to schedule votes on legislation that would bring real financial relief to soldiers and their families.
 

Schakowsky, who voted for the bill, said that while it might provide some temporary relief, “it is pathetic” that the best that Republicans could do was pass this bill instead of legislation to increase military pay and provide health care for reservists and veterans...

(Click for Full Misstatement)

SCHAKOWSKY, ILLINOIS DEMOCRATS LEAD FIGHT ON BEHALF OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS UNABLE TO FIND JOBS IN BUSH ECONOMY

CALL ON PRESIDENT BUSH/SPEAKER HASTERT TO EXTEND FEDERAL EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT

BENEFITS TO THOUSANDS OF JOBLESS WORKERS IN ILLINOIS

CHICAGO, IL – (Apr. 19, 2004) U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today joined members of the Illinois Congressional delegation and Senator Dick Durbin (R-IL) in leading the fight on behalf of unemployed workers unable to find jobs in the Bush economy.
 

At a news conference with unemployed workers in Chicago, where the jobless rate is 6.8%, Schakowsky and her colleagues called on President Bush, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) to immediately support the passage of 13-week extension of federal unemployment benefits to aid laid off workers. Unemployed workers are eligible for 26 weeks of state benefits; however, federal assistance expired on December 31, 2003.
(Click for Full Statement)

►Article: 4/20/2004
Extend Jobless Benefits, Illinois Democrats Urge

Chicago Tribune

►Article: 4/19/2004
Illinois Dems Blast Bush on Unemployment Benefits

WBBM Radio