212-558-5371

msmith@nul.org

New York, NY, Nov. 9, 2001–Presidents from three leading civil rights organizations representing segments of the population hardest hit by the recent economic downturn–African Americans, Latinos and women–issued an open letter to President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus urging major revisions to the economic stimulus package currently under consideration by the Senate Finance Committee.

The letter, delivered yesterday to the White House, to Chairman Baucus and to Finance Committee members, is available online at www.nul.org/presbush.html, or by calling 212-558-5371.

Spurred by statistics that show unemployment rates for African Americans at nearly twice that of whites–9.7 percent vs. 5.4–and rates for women at 6.9 percent, and at 7.2 for Latinos, National Urban League president Hugh B. Price, National Organization for Women president Kim Gandy and National Council of LaRaza president Raul Yzaguirre wrote:

"As a matter of first principles, a stimulus package that ignores low wage earners and the hard-to-employ who must find a job is simply not a stimulus package. These Americans are an important part of who makes up the unemployed. Some will have had too little experience to qualify for unemployment insurance, no matter how the unemployment system is fixed. These are the people who play by the rules, but must play on a field they do not set. It is up to policy makers to put in place the economic plan to create the jobs. Failing that, it is the responsibility of those who shape our economy to give honest Americans who want to work a solution for how to survive when jobs are disappearing…

"…To fix the problem of an economy that is not consuming, an economic stimulus package must protect those who are about to be engulfed by the dust of the economic drought. These families will not be saved by the Federal Reserves’ attempts to lower interest rates, or by tax cuts to people with high incomes, or even unfortunately by our broken unemployment system.

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Here is what we must do:

• Relax the time limits on receiving TANF benefits, at least during the months of an official recession.
• …support Senator Kerry’s efforts to extend the contingency fund now, but also [to] add waiving charging states interest if they need to borrow to fill their contingency funds, especially in those states that are hardest hit by this economic downturn. This will avoid delays in processing new claims.

• …restore full access to the safety net for legal immigrants.

• Ease access to food stamps.

"We support many of the fine things that the Senate Finance Committee is considering today," the letter says in closing, "…But, we are counting on you gentlemen to do more. Let us use this time of national solidarity to show America that no one will be left behind, or forgotten. This is a time for shared sacrifices; it is not a time to offer up any American for sacrifice to ideology."

The National Organization for Women is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States. NOW has 500,000 contributing members and 550 chapters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Since its founding in 1966, NOW\'s goal has been "to take action" to bring about equality for all women. Both the actions NOW takes and its position on the issues are often unorthodox, uncompromising and ahead of their time.