"SCHOOL-TO-WORK" REINTRODUCED . . .The CAREERS Act, which promoted "school-to-work", was defeated during the 104th Congress by pro-family groups. Rep. McKeon (R-CA) has introduced "The Employment Training and Literacy Empowerment Act of 1997", H.R. 1385, in an effort to resurrect the failed CAREERS Act of last year. H.R. 1385 was unanimously approved by the House Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education, Training and Lifelong Learning and was passed, by a voice vote on 4/30/97, by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. H.R. 1385 will now be sent to the full House, where it will be debated and voted on sometime in the near future. According to The American Policy Center, if H.R. 1385 passes, it will: 1) take job training choices away from individuals, parents, and local communities 2) further blur the distinction between education and work 3) expand the power of the Departments of Education and Labor (giving the Secretary of Labor and Education exclusive rule over America's job training programs) 4) mandate parental training on how to be the primary teacher for their children 5) hand out "support services" including "transportation, child care, dependent care, and needs-based payments ..." 6) create a new child development bureaucracy, implemented under the guise of "family literacy services"; and 7) give taxpayer money to labor union bosses for "worker training". [Action Alert, The American Policy Center, Tom Deweese, 4/29/97] Action To Take: Contact your U.S. Representative with your concerns about school-to-work legislation. Call (202) 224-3121; (800) 962-3524; or call their district offices. ADVERTISERS ON APRIL 30TH ELLEN . . .The following companies promoted the April 30th "coming out" episode of ABC/Disney's sitcom ELLEN by advertising their products during the hour-long program.BAYER CORPORATION: Pres. Helge H. Wehneier, 500 Grant St., Pittsburgh, PA 15219, 800/353-3343. BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY WAREHOUSE CORP.: Chrm. Monroe G. Milstein, 1830 Route 130 North, Burlington, NJ 08016, 609/387-7800. NEWS AMERICA PUBLISHING, INC.: Chrm. K. Rupert Murdoch, 1211 Ave of Americas, New York, NY 10036, 212/852-7000. SLIMFAST FOODS COMPANY: Chrm. S. Daniel Abraham, 777 S. Flagler Dr., Ste 1400, West Palm Beach, FL 3340l, 407/833-9920. SONY CORP. OF AMERICA: Pres. Carl Yankowski, One Sony Dr., Park Ridge, NJ 07656, 201/930-1000. TIME WARNER, INC.: Chrm Gerald Levin, 75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10019, 212/484-8000. UNILEVER UNITED STATES, INC.: Pres. Richard A. Goldstein, 390 Park Ave., New York, NY 10022, 800/598-1223. VIACOM INTERNATIONAL, INC.: Chrm. Sumner M. Redstone, 1515 Broadway, New York, NY 10036, 212/258-6000. VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA: Pres. Clive Warrilow, P.O. Box 3951, Troy, MI 48007, 800/822-8987. WARNER-LAMBERT CO.: Chrm. Melvin R. Goodes, 201 Tabor Road, Morris Plains, NJ 07950, 800/223-0182. OFFENSIVE NEA GRANT . . .For the third time this year, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) has reprimanded the National Endowment for the Arts about its funding of controversial art. He challenges the NEA's recent $25,000 grant to Fiction Collective 2 (FC2), an Illinois-based publisher of sexually explicit books, "most of which are an offense to the senses ... to the taxpayers that have unwittingly been forced to pay for it." In January and February, the NEA was criticized for its funding of lesbian-themed films. In 1994, Congress voted to phase out funding for the NEA. Many congressmen voted for funding in fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997, with the express stipulation that the subsides would end, and no money would be appropriated for 1998. [Robert Knight, FRC, testimony before House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, 1997] However, the 105th Congress does not seem to be committed to ending NEA funding. In fact, Congress is now debating a 1998 budget request for the NEA of $136 million, up from the current year's appropriation of $99 million. [The Kansas CHRISTIAN, April 2, 1997] According to Gary Bauer, President of FRC, "This is an outrage for taxpayers to send their hard earned dollars for pornographic "art" when Congress is purportedly concerned with balancing the federal budget."Action To Take: Contact your U.S. Representative with your concerns about NEA funding. SEN. ASHCROFT NEEDS YOUR INPUT . . .The Family Friendly Workplace Act, introduced by Sen. Ashcroft (R-MO), will allow employees to exchange compensatory time for over-time, thus providing the private-sector with the same flexible scheduling available to federal employees. Sen. Ashcroft's office is looking for specific examples of how flexible scheduling could help you, as a working parent, be more involved with your family.Send to: Senator John Ashcroft, 600 Broadway, KCMO 64105, Attn: Will. THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT IS BACK . . .Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) have introduced parallel measures in the Senate (Senate Joint Resolution 24) and in the House (House Joint Resolution 66), proposing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, requiring "equal rights for men and women." [Intercessors for America, 4/97] The original ERA resolution in 1972, contained a 7-year deadline for ratification, which expired in 1979, with ratification by 35 state legislatures. To become part of the U.S. Constitution, an amendment must receive a two-thirds vote in both Houses, followed by ratification by three-quarters (38) of the state legislatures. |