Organizing for America Volunteers, Sen. Cardin Rep. Van Hollen and Peter Franchot Will Celebrate & Participate in Maryland’s “Birth-day of Action”
Volunteers will be hosting birthday party-themed phone banks to engage their communities around the November elections
Organizing for America will be celebrating President Obama’s 49th birthday by holding phone banks, canvasses and “birthday parties” across Maryland to engage their community TODAY – Wednesday, August 4, 2010. The events will highlight the continuing efforts by OFA volunteers to mobilize their communities to participate in the 2010 midterm elections. Volunteers in all fifty states will mark the President’s 49th birthday by making forty-nine calls to help engage their communities and make their voices heard this November. Organizing for America will also open a new Montgomery County campaign office with Sen. Cardin, Rep. Chris Van Hollen and Comptroller Peter Franchot addressing the volunteers.
Sen. Cardin, Rep. Van Hollen and Franchot will join volunteers like Patrick Thelwell of Silver Spring, a Jamaican-born U.S. citizen who is working to encourage his neighbors and friends to vote and Jonathan Prutow, a Rockville “phone bank captain” who leads a local team of phone bankers in Montgomery County.
The phone banks are a continuation of the nation-wide VOTE 2010 campaign to energize 2008 first-time voters around the historic accomplishments of Congressional Democrats and President Obama. Since taking office, President Obama has worked with Congressional Democrats to bring our economy back from the brink of disaster, reform the health insurance industry to grant greater access to quality, affordable health care to more Americans, and historic Wall Street reform that empowers consumers and protects taxpayers from having to bail out big banks.
Events for the August 4th “Birth-Day of Action” include, but are not limited to:
Montgomery County OFA Office Opening with Sen. Cardin, Rep. Van Hollen & Comptroller Peter Franchot
When: Wednesday, August 4th from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Where: OFA State Headquarters
3750 University Blvd. West in Kensington, MD
Baltimore Birthday Celebration and Phone Bank
When: Wednesday, August 4th from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Where: Mother’s Federal Hill
1113 South Charles St. in Baltimore, MD
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) praised Solicitor General Elena Kagan today, as he and a majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in support of her nomination to be the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
“I want to congratulate Chairman Leahy and Senator Sessions for the positive and fair manner in which they conducted these confirmation hearings. I think it served the United States Senate well and served the American people well. I think most of us can agree that Solicitor General Elena Kagan has the experience, the temperament, the intelligence and the integrity that you would want in a Supreme Court Justice. We saw all of this firsthand during the confirmation hearing.
“The real test for me is whether Elena Kagan, as an Associate Justice, will follow legal precedent, give due deference to Congress as the legislative body and follow in the best traditions of the Supreme Court in protecting American citizens against the abuses of power. I think that’s how most of us would define judicial restraint.
“Solicitor General Kagan’s confirmation hearing highlighted how we are all impacted by the decisions made by these nine justices. Recently, we’ve seen a trend in which by the very narrowest of margins, usually by 5-4 decisions, the so-called conservative justices being in the majority have legislated from the bench, ignoring precedent and ruling on the side of powerful corporate interests rather than protecting everyday citizens. Solicitor General Kagan, said in her opening statement that she wants to give a fair shake to the American people and I am convinced that she will protect everyday Americans from corporate special interests. I am proud to cast my vote for Solicitor General Elena Kagan to be the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.”
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Bill Lifts $75 million Cap on Liability
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, chairman of the Water and Wildlife Subcommittee of the Environment and Public Works Committee, today praised committee passage of the S. 3305, the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Liability Act. The bill eliminates the $75 million cap on liability for oil spills that was passed in the wake of the Exxon Valdez spill in 1990.
“We must ensure that BP, and any other responsible parties, bear the full financial costs of the economic and environmental disaster that continues to unfold in the Gulf,” said Senator Cardin, a co-sponsor of the measure. “S. 3305 lifts the cap on liability for an offshore oil spill and ensures that the polluters will fully compensate businesses and individuals for their losses.”
In 1990, Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act, which capped the liability of companies at $75 million for all damages claimed by parities injured by an oil spill, including individuals, businesses, and government agencies. In the first quarter of this year, BP reported $5.6 billion in profits. The Deepwater Horizon spill is now the worst in our nation’s history, with claims for damages that have far exceeded $75 million.
“We have a responsibility to the residents of the Gulf Coast and to all Americans to make sure the polluter pay for all economic and environmental damages they cause. This bill makes that a reality,” said Senator Cardin.
