When Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II is sworn in as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus on Wednesday, he will be facing one of the most difficult tasks he has faced in Congress during his tenure there.
He will lead a small delegation of African-American Democrats into battle, facing a very large number of white Republicans who want to undo the policies that President Barack Obama and the Democrats put into place over the past two years. He will do this at a time when some Democrats, both black and white, are distancing themselves from the president as he moves closer to the center.
Rep. Cleaver sat down this week and shared his strategy in addressing issues with the president that adversely affect the African-American community.
“One of the main jobs of the Caucus for the 112th Congress is to protect the changes we were able to realize, such as health care and financial reform,” Rep. Cleaver told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “There is little question that with Darryl Issa as chair of government reform and what they labeled as ‘Obamacare,’ which it really wasn’t, health care is going to be on the chopping block. Issa and Rep. John Boehner have declared clearly and publicly that they will stop those two pieces of legislation. They can do it by de-funding certain components. I believe that is what they are going to do.”
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article courtesy of BlackAmericaWeb.com
