Congressional Progressive Caucus
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| Congressional Progressive Caucus | |
| Bi-cameral | |
 | |
| Leadership: | Pramila Jayapal |
| Established | 1991 |
| Members | 96 |
| Website | Congressional Progressive Caucus |
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) was established in 1991. According to the CPC website, the caucus promotes "government of the people, by the people, and for the people," a concept "rooted in our core principles: (1) Advancing justice, dignity, and peace for all; (2) Tackling systems of oppression and dismantling structural racism and discrimination; (3) Taking on systems that privilege the wealthy and powerful to demand a government and economy that works for the people; and (4) A commitment to sweeping, transformative change."[1]
The core principles of the Progressive Promise are as follows:[1]
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History[edit]
The CPC was created in 1991 by six members of the U.S. House: Ron Dellums, Lane Evans, Thomas Andrews, Peter DeFazio, Maxine Waters, and Bernie Sanders. Sanders served as the first chairman of the CPC.[3]
Membership[edit]
117th Congress[edit]
During the 117th Congress, the membership of the Congressional Progressive Caucus was composed of Sen. Bernie Sanders and 95 representatives.[4]
The leaders of the caucus were:
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The remaining members were:
116th Congress[edit]
During the 116th Congress, the membership of the Congressional Progressive Caucus was composed of Sen. Bernie Sanders and 97 representatives.[5]
The leaders of the caucus were:
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The remaining members were:
115th Congress[edit]
During the 115th Congress, the membership of the Congressional Progressive Caucus was composed of Sen. Bernie Sanders and 78 representatives.[6]
The leaders of the caucus were:
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The remaining members were:
Issues[edit]
As of August 4, 2021, the CPC website listed the following issues:[7]
- Climate Justice
- Excerpt: "We are in the midst of an unprecedented and deadly climate emergency. The Progressive Caucus strongly supports a Green New Deal to take immediate, necessary steps to protect current and future generations from the deadly impact of climate change. The climate crisis was created by a broken political and economic system that prioritizes corporate profits over the health and safety of our communities. If we are to address the full scope and scale of our global climate emergency, we need a new approach — one that recognizes environmental justice and economic prosperity must go hand-in-hand."
- Progressive National Security
- Excerpt: "The Progressive Caucus is fighting to rein in bloated Pentagon spending, end America’s unauthorized forever wars, and rebalance our priorities abroad through robust investments in diplomacy, sustainable development, and humanitarian assistance."
- Immigrant Rights
- Excerpt: "For far too long, our laws have denied immigrant families basic dignity and human rights. Children have been separated from their families, parents have been deported after decades in this country, and Dreamers have spent years of their lives in limbo. The Progressive Caucus supports a full overhaul our inhumane immigration system — including passage of the Dream & Promise Act, a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., due process in our immigration system, and a permanent end to xenophobic travel bans."
- Education
- Excerpt: "At the Progressive Caucus, we recognize that funding education is one of the most critical investments that Congress can make. We support new, forward-looking and comprehensive investments in early learning opportunities, effective 21st century public schools and college free of debt. In addition, Congress must do more to support and fund teachers and education professionals, so they can work with dignity and enable student success. Lastly, we must ensure our commitments to students last through college — because any student who wants to go to college and get their diploma should be able to graduate without a lifetime of debt."
- Democracy Reform
- Excerpt: "At the Progressive Caucus, we are committed to serving as a voice for working people, putting people over profits, and expanding access to the ballot box. We’re working to end the revolving door for elected officials, implement stringent transparency standards for all presidential and vice presidential candidates, provide public financing for elections, grant D.C. long-overdue statehood, and stop the flow of money in politics. We must restore our democracy to the people, where it belongs."
- A Fair Trade Agenda
- Excerpt: "Working families can and should expect more from our trade deals. That’s why the Progressive Caucus released a first-of-its-kind progressive trade framework, which details a new trade paradigm with robust binding labor and environmental standards, an open and democratic process for renegotiating; an end to the secretive, investor-friendly tribunal system that gives big corporations special rights; an expansion of Buy American procurement provisions; support for communities of color disproportionately harmed by NAFTA; and an end to corporate handouts that promote monopoly power."
- A Fair Economy
- Excerpt: "In order to give everyday families the future they deserve, we must close the tax loopholes and demand that elected officials prioritize everyday families — not corporate lobbyists and wealthy donors. The path to economic prosperity for all requires:
- preserving guaranteed Social Security benefits for all Americans, protecting private pensions, and demanding corporate accountability.
- investing in America and creating new jobs in the U.S. by building more affordable housing, rebuilding America’s schools and physical infrastructure, cleaning up our environment, and improving homeland security.
- ending poverty wages by raising and indexing the minimum wage.
- rewriting our broken tax code so that billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share."
- Building Worker Power
- Excerpt: "At the Progressive Caucus, we’re fighting to expand labor protections to all workers — starting with passing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which ensures that workers are protected and empowered."
- Universal Health Care
- Excerpt: "Health care is a human right — and the failure of the United States to fulfill this basic need for millions is a stain on our country. At the Progressive Caucus, we’re fighting to pass the Medicare For All Act to guarantee health care to all people living in the United States. It’s past time to remove the profit motive from health care and ensure that every person has access to the treatment and care that they need."
- Justice for All
- Excerpt: "At the Progressive Caucus, we are committed to dismantling racist, misogynist, xenophobic, and ableist institutions and systems. We must confront injustice and bigotry head-on, by ensuring that all legislation passed through Congress is intersectional and explicitly anti-racist in its intent."
Recent news[edit]
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Congressional + Progressive + Caucus"
External links[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Congressional Progressive Caucus, "About the CPC," accessed August 4, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Wikipedia, "Congressional Progressive Caucus," accessed February 3, 2014
- ↑ Congressional Progressive Caucus, "Caucus Members," accessed August 4, 2021
- ↑ Congressional Progressive Caucus, "Caucus Members," accessed June 19, 2019
- ↑ Congressional Progressive Caucus, "Caucus Members," accessed February 23, 2018
- ↑ Congressional Progressive Caucus, "What We Stand For," accessed August 4, 2021
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