Free Republic

A group of “progressives” representing a large proportion of delegates won by Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-CA) in California has signed a letter to presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden urging that he pick a running mate from a short list of candidates that does to include local Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA). Instead, they say, he should choose Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), or former Sanders campaign spokesperson Nina Turner, a former Ohio state legislator. The San Francisco Chronicle reports: California Sen. Kamala Harris is widely believed to be on Joe Biden’s short list for vice president,...

As sustained national protests to end police brutality enter their third week, East Bay Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) is pushing for legislation to unpack and address the deep-rooted history of systemic racism in the United States and sustain the Black Lives Matter movement into the future. Last week, Lee called for the creation of a “Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Commission.” The proposed commission would have a broad advisory goal, asking the United States to address a legacy of oppression beginning 400 years ago with slavery. It would then offer recommendations to catalyze progress in education, health care, employment, Social...

Abrams, who narrowly lost a Georgia gubernatorial bid in 2018, was the clear front-runner, with 63 percent picking her. She was followed by Harris, the California senator and former presidential candidate, who was chosen by 42 percent of respondents. Other top VP options included Reps. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Barbara Lee of California, who were both chosen by about 11 percent.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Wednesday condemned President Trump's decision to impose further economic sanctions on Iran, saying that the move was not a "measured response" in the wake of escalating tensions in the Middle East. During a public address from the White House, Trump announced that the U.S. would implement "punishing" sanctions on the Iranian regime as it evaluated a response to Tehran's overnight missile attack on Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops. The attack followed a U.S. airstrike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, one of the most powerful officials in Iran and the leader of its elite Quds...

Earlier this month, House Democrats sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, urging sanctions relief for Iran. Among other things, they criticized "the designation of Iran's Central Bank under terror authorities," arguing that "the efficacy of sanctions is questionable." An organization long described as a front group for the Iran regime sponsored the letter and has embedded staffers with many of the letter's supporters in Congress, including Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). “Is Iran’s regime quietly infiltrating Congress?” M. Hanif Jazayeri, news editor at Free Iran, asked on Twitter. He pointed out that...

The nation’s foremost leftist legislators are lending their voice to a new piece of legislation that is being heralded as the “first step” toward legalizing prostitution in America. The SAFE SEX Workers Study Act, introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), would toss taxpayer money into an in-depth study on the effects of two anti-sex trafficking bills that became law last year, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (SESTA/FOSTA). The bill is co-sponsored in the House by Rep. Barbara Lee of California and in...

The House of Representatives voted Tuesday by an overwhelming margin to pass a resolution condemning the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel and to endorse a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The non-binding resolution passed 398-17. Resolution sponsor Rep. Brad Schneider, a Democrat from Illinois, told JTA that the measure’s resounding success shows that support for Israel is a bipartisan phenomenon. While the resolution also made clear that Americans had the right to petition the government in support or opposition to a particular foreign policy, some Democrats argued that the resolution, which has no force in law,...

So, who are the 17 members of Congress who voted against House Resolution 246 which condemns the anti-Israel, terrorist-funded BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement? JULY 25, 2019 BY BARENAKEDISLAM The US House of Representatives voted 398 – 17 Tuesday to pass a non-binding resolution that opposes the BDS movement against Israel. 16 of the 17 “NO” votes were Democrats, including 3 of 4 members of the ‘Jihad Squad’ – Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Andre Carson (D-IN), a Muslim, also voted “NO.” The Dems that voted against HR 246 Rep Betty McCullom-Minnesota Rep Raul Grijalva-Arizona Rep Mark Pocan-Wisconsin Rep...

"I want to thank Minister Farrakhan for offering up a number of precepts that we ought to adhere to,” Rep. James Clyburn said, at an event featuring the anti-Semitic hate group leader. Eight years later, to the month, Clyburn, now the House Majority Whip, defended Rep. Omar’s anti-Semitism. “There are people who tell me, ‘Well, my parents are Holocaust survivors.’ ‘My parents did this.’ It’s more personal with her," he argued, dismissing the concerns of Jewish legislators. Rep. Clyburn is one of the most powerful figures in the House. He’s also one of Farrakhan’s allies in the House who had...

With the fallout over Rep. Ilhan Omar’s controversial comments paralyzing House Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi found herself on the floor Wednesday afternoon asking some of her closest allies what exactly she should do. For 20 minutes, Pelosi huddled with senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus — House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, and Karen Bass and Barbara Lee of California — to try to determine what kind of resolution the CBC would back that rejected Omar’s remarks about Israel without unfairly singling her out.

Five members of the Congressional Black Caucus took a $60,000 trip to see Beyoncé and other stars perform in concert in South Africa late last year, according to congressional disclosure records. The lawmakers were U.S. Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York, Barbara Lee of California, Bobby Rush of Illinois, Terri Sewell of Alabama and Hank Johnson of Georgia, according to the data. They attended the “Global Citizen Mandela 100” concert from Dec. 1-3 to celebrate the centenary birth of the late Nelson Mandela and raise awareness of global poverty. In addition to Beyoncé, other musical acts included...(snip) The National Legal...

Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) hasn’t taken office yet, but she’s already looking to take out fellow Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), according to a report Tuesday. Ocasio-Cortez, who shocked the political world when she defeated veteran Queens Rep. Joseph Crowley, said last month she’d support challenges to Democrats who are not as left-leaning as their constituents. Politico reported that she’s recruited an African-American woman to challenge Jeffries in 2020. A source told the news website that running a primary rival to Jeffries, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, was the “highest priority” for Ocasio-Cortez. Jeffries was recently elected the...

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism. Like a preacher tiptoeing out of a brothel, the Democrat Party quietly dropped its sponsorship of the Women’s March. Like most of the other lefty establishment groups slowly backing away from its pro-Farrakhan leadership, the DNC offered a non-denial and no condemnation of the group’s anti-Semitism. Instead of condemning the March’s anti-Semitism, the Southern Poverty Law Center explained that it wasn’t going to sponsor it because “other projects were a priority.” Even though HRC and...

Washington Post fashion critic Robin Givhan was brought in after the House swearing-in to write about fashion -- well, not really. As usual, she used fashion as a subtext for her liberal politics. The new ultraliberal women in the House were all fabulous in their diversity of dress: At the start of the 116th Congress, fashion was not merely a footnote, it was a rallying cry, a defiant gesture, a point of cultural pride — a glorious, theatrical declaration of self. It was white suits and pink dresses, Native American artistry, a Palestinian thobe, a kente cloth stole, a hijab...

The Republican Jewish Coalition is calling for the resignation of seven Democratic members of Congress whom it claims are "connected" to controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. The group describes him as a "known anti-Semite." The lobbying group on Tuesday called for the following lawmakers to step down: Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.; Barbara Lee, D-Calif.; Maxine Waters, D-Calif.; Danny Davis, D-Ill.; Andre Carson, D-Ind.; Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y.; and Al Green, D-Texas.

There’s a simple rule in running for Congress in Miami: Don’t campaign with someone who praised Fidel Castro and fought sanctions against Venezuela’s dictatorial regime. But Donna Shalala didn’t figure it out until it was too late. In a district filled with Castro-hating Cuban-Americans and Venezuelan exiles, Shalala’s campaign committed an egregious gaffe — and set off a round of Democratic finger-pointing — by posting an announcement that she would hold a campaign event Wednesday with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Californian, Rep. Barbara Lee.

Rep. Barbara Lee, California Democrat, accused the Trump administration Sunday of “criminalizing” illegal immigrants. Ms. Lee, who joined a congressional delegation that visited intake and detention facilities Saturday near the border in Texas, described the conditions as “tragic.” “I mean, these people are being criminalized,” said Ms. Lee on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We went into the processing center, where there are cages, certainly. People think there aren’t, there are, we saw these cages.” At the detention center, she said, “we talked to maybe 10 or 15 mothers. These are jails. These are prisons. These are people who are...

A group of House Democrats will take another run this week at stopping President Trump and the Pentagon from developing low-yield nuclear weapons. The new warhead program would be defunded by $65 million in the coming year under an amendment to a Department of Energy appropriations bill proposed by Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., John Garamendi, D-Calif., and Dan Kildee, D-Mich. The spending bill could hit the House floor late this week following Rules Committee meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday to decide if their amendment will get a vote. The proposal is the latest effort by Democrats on...

The Republican Jewish Coalition is calling for the resignation of seven Democratic members of Congress whom it claims are "connected" to controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. The group describes him as a "known anti-Semite." Farrakhan has routinely spoke disparagingly about Jews over the years, as well as white people, in general. He was thrust into the mainstream spotlight again this week after excerpts from a speech he gave last week on the Nation of Islam's Saviour's Day surfaced online. During the speech, he once again described Jewish people -- who he says "are my enemy" -- in a...

A London-based businessman who was investigated last year by the opposition research firm behind the so-called Trump dossier will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week, The Daily Caller has learned.Bill Browder says that he will “definitely” be testifying about a complaint he filed with the Justice Department last year in which he accused Fusion GPS, the firm behind the dossier, and a former Soviet intelligence officer named Rinat Akhmetshin of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a law requiring agents of foreign governments to disclose their lobbying and consulting work.Founded by former Wall Street Journal reporter Glenn...