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[Washington, DC] -- Congressman Brad Sherman applauded Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for agreeing to return to its 2004 policy and applying Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to the protection of Jewish students from anti-Semitism on campuses.

“For two years, I have been pushing the U.S. Department of Education to adopt this policy, held numerous meetings with the Department’s officials, and conversations with Secretary Duncan.  The policy is now clear: colleges and universities will no longer be permitted to turn a blind eye when Jewish students face severe and persistent anti-Semitic hostility on their campuses.  The schools will now be compelled to respond.”

Congress passed Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect students from discriminatory harassment.  Title VI prohibits discrimination based on “race, color, or national origin.”  Unfortunately, the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education (OCR) had recently revised its policy and decided that Title VI does not apply to acts of discrimination against Jewish students, erroneously claiming that because Judaism is a religion that Jews do not constitute an ethnic group. 

Recently, there have been multiple, unsettling incidents involving anti-Semitic epithets, slurs, obscenities and even physical violence towards students at American schools.  These incidents include:

At the University of North Dakota, a student was harassed by fellow students with anti-Semitic slurs and was shot at with a pellet gun.

At the University of California at Irvine, a Holocaust memorial was destroyed; posters have depicted women in traditional Muslim garb saying “God bless Hitler;” swastikas have defaced campus property; and a Jewish student was told to “Go back to Russia where you came from.”

In response to these tragic events, Sherman began intense efforts to convince the Department of Education to return to its 2004 policy and protect Jewish students on campuses, including a letter of April 30, 2008 signed by 5 members of Congress.  This policy change has been supported by the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and Hillel, as well as the American Jewish Committee, B’nai B’rith, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the Anti-Defamation League and U.S. Senator Arlen Specter.

Sherman pledges to continue to work to protect Jewish students, and all Jews, from anti-Semitism.

The Department of Education also announced that it would use Title IX of the Civil Rights Act (which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex) to protect LGBT students, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act to protect students with disabilities from harassment on campus.  Sherman applauds this decision.

Click here to read the letter to Secretary Duncan’s predecessor at the Department of Education Secretary Spellings, concerning the protection of Jewish students.

[Washington, DC] – Congressman Brad Sherman led a bipartisan group of nine lawmakers in writing to the General Counsel of the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA), Alfred Pollard, in support of the FHFA’s draft regulation to restrict private transfer fee covenants. 

The lawmakers applauded the FHFA for restricting Government Sponsored Entities (GSEs) of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks from investing in mortgages with private transfer fee covenants.  They called the FHFA’s proposed guidance “an effective measure that protects consumers and the security of the GSEs from this predatory financial scheme.”

Typically, a private transfer fee occurs when a property’s developer quietly slips the fee into a covenant or deed restriction to the property.  The covenant requires the seller to pay one percent of the sales price to a Wall Street Investment Trust each time the home is sold, for the next 99 years.

“Private transfer fees provide no benefit to homeowners, the property or the public, but rather steal homeowners’ equity, cloud title to the real estate and depress home prices in the community,” Sherman and his colleagues wrote to Pollard.

As the letter states, private transfer fees take an already complicated real estate transaction and make it more difficult.  Homeowners usually do not become aware of the fee until they close on their home or, worse, when they try to sell their home years later.  Even real estate professionals have difficulty discovering whether a private transfer fee covenant has been placed on a property. And the security of the lender is impaired, as the fee must be paid even if there is a foreclosure.

Sherman’s letter was signed by (in alphabetical order) Representatives Joe Baca (D-CA), Judy Biggert (R-IL), Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), Donald Manzullo (R-IL), Brad Miller (D-NC), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Albio Sires (D-NJ), and Maxine Waters (D-CA), who chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity.

Click here to view the October 14, 2010 letter.

Washington, DC -- Over the last year and a half, Congressman Sherman worked successfully to pass legislation to:

• Provide $800 of tax relief for every working couple; $400 for singles.

• Reduce the interest rate on student loans without cost to the government.

• Provide relief from the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax).

• Adopt the Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights.

• End the TARP program (the Wall Street Bailout) and return $225 billion to the Treasury. (In 2008, Sherman led the fight against adopting TARP in the first place.)

• Audit the Federal Reserve. Congressman Sherman has cosponsored additional legislation to make such audits more frequent and effective.

• Stop predatory mortgage lending.
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• Increase the “conforming loan limit” for areas where homes cost more than the national average, like the San Fernando Valley. This prevented a major increase in interest rates for those buying, selling, or refinancing a home in the Valley.

• Accelerate construction of the new northbound lane on the 405 Freeway, which will open in early 2013.

• Accelerate construction of both a new southbound and northbound lane on the Valley portion of the 5 Freeway, which will open in 2012.

• Improve the Sepulveda Basin and protect the Santa Monica Mountains. Sherman has consistently earned a 100% rating from the Sierra Club in its evaluation of his voting record.

• Break up banks that are “too big to fail.” Reform Wall Street by cracking down on those who created the financial crisis, increasing capital requirements, ending conflicts of interest at bond rating agencies, and controlling the shadowy world of derivatives. 

• Provide extended unemployment insurance benefits to those who diligently search for a job, but cannot find work during the recession.

• Fight wasteful government spending.

• Impose sanctions on Iran for as long as Iran continues to develop nuclear weapons.

• Very substantially increase funding for veterans health care, including a new MRI machine and other equipment for the Sepulveda VA facility in North Hills.

Washington, DC -- Secretary of Education Arne Duncan reported to Congressman Brad Sherman about the progress that the Department of Education is making on the issue of whether Title VI of the Civil Rights Act protects Jewish students from anti-Semitism on campus.

“I’m extremely encouraged as a result of my conversation with Secretary Duncan,” reported Sherman. “I’m more than cautiously optimistic that the Department of Education will return to the policy it had adopted in 2004. Under that policy the U.S. Department of Education required all schools receiving federal aid to protect Jewish students from anti-Semitic attacks.”

“Unfortunately in 2007, the Department of Education reversed its policy,” Sherman continued. “It concluded that Title VI which protects students from bigotry occasioned by “race, color, national origin” didn’t apply to Jews. Since then there have been numerous reports of anti-Semitic attacks and intimidation on campuses including Yale University, the University of California at Irvine, the University of North Dakota, and San Francisco State University, to name a few.”

In April 2008, Congressman Sherman began intense efforts to convince the Department of Education to return to its 2004 policy and protect Jewish students on college campuses, including a letter of April 30, 2008 signed by 5 members of Congress. Sherman’s efforts have included numerous telephone calls, meetings, letters and an occasional veiled threat, or at least language that could have been so interpreted. Sherman’s efforts have been supported by the Zionist Organization of America and Hillel, as well as the American Jewish Committee, B’nai B’rith, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the Anti-Defamation League and U.S. Senator Arlen Specter.

Morton A. Klein, President of the Zionist Organization of America, praised this potentially historic breakthrough from the Department of Education, due in significant part to Congressman Sherman’s efforts:  “The ZOA is proud to have spent many years working side by side with Congressman Sherman to finally ensure that Jewish students are afforded the same protection from harassment, intimidation and discrimination that other ethnic and racial groups have enjoyed since 1964 under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.  Colleges and universities will no longer be permitted to turn a blind eye when Jewish students face severe and persistent anti-Semitic hostility on their campuses.  They will now be compelled to respond.” 

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Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Brad Sherman announced the introduction of dramatic legislation, H.R. 6384, that would eliminate so-called “right-to-work” laws, which was applauded by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. Sherman has a strong record of supporting working men and women and earned a 100% rating from the AFL-CIO.

Right-to-work laws require unions to represent non dues-paying employees, thereby undermining the basic premise and promise of union membership and creating free riders – people who are exempt from paying their fair share. Right-to-work laws create different standards for union membership in different states. This results not only in confusion over the regulation of union membership, but also places a higher cost on worker representation in labor rights states. Right-to-work laws have come to be known as right-to-work-for-less laws, because employees in states with these laws average about $5,333 a year less than workers in labor rights states.

Even a conservative American Enterprise Institute scholar argues that right-to-work laws would violate international labor standards that have been accepted by most of the world for decades.  Similarly, in testimony at Congressman Sherman’s March 10, 2010 hearing entitled “International Worker Rights, U.S. Foreign Policy and the International Economy”, the U.S. Department of State expressed concerns about efforts to undermine the right to organize throughout the world.

“I do not believe that there should be a right to be treated unfairly or to endure unnecessary restrictions. Right-to-work laws strip unions of their legitimate ability to collect dues, even when the worker is covered by a union-negotiated collective bargaining agreement. This forces unions to use their time and members’ dues to provide benefits to free riders who are exempt from paying their fair share,” said Congressman Brad Sherman. “These laws are harmful to states like California, which allows labor unions to organize, because now we have to compete with the race to the bottom as our companies have to compete with those where the workers would like better wages, working conditions and benefits but are unable to organize to get them.”

"With the introduction of legislation banning so-called right-to-work, Congressman Sherman has once again demonstrated his strong commitment to working families," said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO. "Right-to-work laws undermine the economy and weaken workers' ability to bargain for better working conditions, which translates into lower pay and fewer benefits for everyone."

In 1947, Section 14(b) of the Taft Hartley Act stripped the Federal government of its role in protecting the American workers’ right to freedom of association by allowing states to pass legislation that eliminates the ability of unions to collect dues from their members. The result is a confusing web of labor laws that encourages a race to the bottom.

Washington, DC – Congressman Brad Sherman, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, announced the introduction of the Stop Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program Act, H.R. 6296, to increase economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran and its remaining business partners.

On July 1, President Obama signed into law significant economic sanctions against Iran. In the wake of the new American statute and a new round of U.N. sanctions, the European Union, Japan and other U.S. allies enacted tough trade sanctions against Iran, effectively barring their firms from developing Iran’s energy sector and reducing Iran’s access to the international financial system.

“Existing Iran Sanctions have had a significant impact on Iran’s economy, but have not achieved the ultimate goal of ending Iran’s nuclear weapons program. We must continue to enact tougher sanctions to isolate Iran economically and diplomatically, and we must act now,” said Congressman Brad Sherman. “With the enactment of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Accountability and Divestment Act in July, Congress provided firm authorization for U.S. states to enact their own measures to divest from firms that do business in Iran. My legislation would provide similar authorization for states to refuse to contract for goods and services from such firms.” 

Among other provisions, the Stop Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program Act would definitively end the practice of American corporations conducting business with Iran through their foreign subsidiaries, sanction entities that provide loans to the government of Iran, sanction firms that prepay for future Iranian oil and gas deliveries, and reduce U.S. contributions to international institutions that provide loans or other assistance to Iran. 

A longer summary of the Stop Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program Act is below.

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Subsidiaries of U.S. Firms Conducting Business in Iran. Currently, the Iran sanctions regulations allow the foreign subsidiaries of American firms to conduct business in Iran that would be prohibited if conducted by the American firm, so long as no U.S. person and no one working at the American firm is involved. A number of U.S firms, most notably the Halliburton Corporation, have conducted business in Iran through their overseas subsidiaries. This provision would punish the U.S. parent entity for the activities of a foreign subsidiary that would violate current U.S. sanctions if they were conducted by a U.S. person – it would effectively end the Halliburton loophole.

Fighting the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corp. Provisions in the recently enacted Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Accountability and Divestment Act (CISADA) target the IRGC and other designated entities through a financial sanction – any financial institution that conducts business with them will have their business in the United States severely curtailed. This provision does not target commercial transactions with the IRGC and its affiliates; also, Treasury has designated only about 40 IRGC related entities, while we know that the IRGC operates its business and procurement operations through hundreds of fronts. The bill contains a provision that would require an expedited campaign at the Treasury Department to designate the hundreds of front companies and agents that operate on behalf of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corp, and provides for secondary sanctions against any firms that continue to do business with them or the main IRGC. Treasury would only need to determine that there is credible evidence that an entity is a front, alias, affiliate or agent of the IRGC in order to designate it. Also, if a foreign company assists or conducts any transactions with an IRGC entity it would face harsh sanctions, including loss of access to the U.S. market. These provisions are based on the Iran Revolutionary Guard Designation Implementation Act (HR 2375).

Sanction Entities that Subscribe to Iranian Sovereign Debt. There are indications that Iran may seek to float bonds sometime within the near future. The bill includes a provision that would make buying or facilitating the issuance of Iranian sovereign debt, including government bonds, an activity sanctionable under the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA).  

Sanction Entities that Pay in Advance for Oil Deliveries or Sign Long-Term Contracts to Purchase Oil and Gas from Iran. In 2003, Japan reportedly paid several billions in cash for future oil deliveries over the course of several years. The Swiss firm EGL reportedly signed a contract worth nearly $20 billion for future purchases of Iranian gas. When the world buys Iranian oil and gas, they should do so on a cash basis without long term commitment, lest they provide the Iranian government with, in effect, a bailout.

The bill will make these agreements and transactions sanctionable under the ISA.  

Mining and Milling Equipment. Current law provides for sanctions against a firm if it provides nuclear or other WMD technology or advanced conventional arms to Iran, North Korea or Syria. Known as the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act, or INKSNA, this statute is a key weapon in our nonproliferation arsenal. Iran’s supply of uranium is limited, and Iran has sought to obtain uranium from a number of foreign sources and through domestic mining. Supplying mining and milling equipment to Iran for its uranium mines is not currently sanctionable. The legislation will incorporate the operative provisions of HR 2290, which would add such activity to the list of activities sanctionable under the INKSNA.

Deny Tax Benefits to Companies that Violate the Iran Sanctions Act. This provision would deny favorable amortization rules for exploration expenditures for any corporate family of companies that has violated the Iran Sanctions Act’s prohibition on investment in the energy sector of Iran. 

Prevent Aircraft Parts and Services Transfers. Current law provides for special licensing of aircraft repair and servicing of U.S. origin aircraft owned by Iran. In July, Iran Air was denied access to EU airspace because its old Boeing and some Airbus aircraft are unsafe for air travel. Those planes should remain grounded until the nuclear crisis is resolved.

Comprehensive Denial of U.S. Government Benefits to those Who Conduct Sanctionable Activity in Iran. The bill will include provisions that bar companies who conduct activities sanctionable under the Iran Sanctions Act from receiving any taxpayer funds or other governmental assistance through OPIC, Ex-Im, TDA, foreign aid and other programs. The bill will also require that the TSP divest of firms that run afoul of the Iran Sanctions Act.

Authorize States to Adopt Similar Restrictive Procurement Policies. The bill will include a provision authorizing states to prohibit procurement from firms that conduct activities sanctionable under the Iran Sanctions Act.

Provide for Sanctions Against Firms that Enter into Joint Ventures or Other Investment Arrangements with National Iranian Oil Company or Other Iranian Firms. Currently, Iran’s national oil company has invested in a number of joint ventures to develop oil and natural gas projects outside of Iran, including one with BP off the coast of Scotland. This provides Iran’s state oil firm with access to technology and capital. Entering into these types of arrangements should be sanctionable to the same extent as an energy investment in Iran would be under the Iran Sanctions Act.

Reduce Contributions to the World Bank or other International Financial Institutions that Provide Loans or Other Assistance to Iran.  From 2000-2005, as the United States sought to stop Iran’s nuclear program, the World Bank approved some $1.4 billion in loans to Iran. Likewise, last year the IMF approved a distribution of so-called “Special Drawing Rights” – SDRs – worth $250 billion to IMF member states to increase liquidity during the financial crisis. Iran benefited by receiving in its IMF account more than $1 billion in SDRs tradable for hard currency. We must stop these respected financial institutions from approving any further assistance to Iran and work to prevent the distribution of the benefits already approved. The legislation will include provisions that would require the Administration to work at the World Bank, IMF and other institutions to stop disbursements to Iran and to prevent approval of further assistance. It would also provide for the reduction or elimination of U.S. contributions to an institution if it approves new assistance to Iran. 

Divestment Tax Benefits. The bill will contain a series of provisions that allow taxpayers to defer the recognition of capital gains on the sale of companies conducting sensitive business in Iran or Sudan, so long as the taxpayer purchases replacement investments without such connections to Sudan or Iran. The taxpayer would pay taxes on the gain when they sold the replacement property, of course. American investors are beginning to seek investments without ties to terrorism or the genocidal war in Sudan. This measure could provide modest encouragement for such beneficial financial decisions. These provisions are based on H.R.3516. 

Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter and U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman announced the introduction of legislation to protect students from religious discrimination. 

Recently, there have been multiple incidents involving anti-Se­mitic, anti-Muslim, and anti-Sikh epithets, slurs and obscenities, and even physical vi­olence towards students at American schools.

 “All students should be protected from discrimination and harassment on the basis of their religion as well as their race, color, and national origin,” said Senator Specter. “We need to close the loop-hole that allows students to be harassed and threatened because of their religion.  The law specifically forbids discrimination on the basis of religion in virtually every other area, including employment and housing, and it’s about time it protects our students as well.  This legislation will give the Department of Education clear jurisdiction over all incidents involving harassment on the basis of religion and will assure all of our students are equally protected.”

“We need to act to protect students of all faiths against invidious discrimination and harassment, which is why I am joining with Senator Specter to amend the Civil Rights Act,” said Congressman Brad Sherman. “No student should be subjected to discrimination on the ground of their religious beliefs. Currently, the Department of Education has the authority under existing law to protect Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh students and, frankly, I’m flabbergasted that they have not already acted to protect these students.”

Congress passed Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect students from discriminatory harassment. Title VI prohibits discrimination based on “race, color, or national origin.”  Unfortunately, the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education (OCR) recently revised its policy and decided that it does not apply to acts of discrimination against Jewish students (and by implication students of groups with both religious and ethnic characteristics). 

The Department of Education (DOE) has the authority under Title VI to act independently now to protect students from Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh discrimination.  In fact, surprisingly, the current position of the Department of Education (DOE) is a reversal of an earlier interpretation which served to protect these students as the Specter-Sherman legislation would require.

A number of recent and unfortunate incidents that highlight the need for a new interpretation include the following:

 ·At the University of North Dakota, a student was harassed by fellow students with anti-Semitic slurs and was shot at with a pellet gun.

 ·At the University of California at Irvine, a Holocaust memorial was destroyed; posters have depicted women in traditional Muslim garb saying “God bless Hitler;” swastikas have defaced campus property; and a Jewish student was told to “Go back to Russia where you came from.”

·At the University of Illinois a Hindu college student was assaulted and called a “terrorist.”

· A Sikh seventh-grader in New Jersey faced serious and repeated harassment, including taunts of “Osama” and a physical assault on school grounds that resulted in head injuries and contusions.

·A Muslim college student in Illinois was beaten with a handgun in a restroom where her attacker scrawled on the mirror, “Kill the Muslims” and the same student had a swastika and “Die Muslims” drawn on her locker.

The Specter-Sherman bill has provisions to ensure that it does not affect the operation of parochial schools and other types of non-secular education institutions.  It also will not require any schools to accommodate the religious obligations of students beyond the requirements of current law. 

Congressman Eliot Engel is an original cosponsor of Congressman Sherman’s legislation.

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) recently sent a letter urging Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator (USAID) Rajiv Shah to ensure that U.S. relief and recovery assistance for the 2010 Pakistan floods reaches all those in need. 

Pakistan is currently experiencing the most catastrophic flooding in over 80 years, impacting the lives of as many as 20 million people.  On August 15th, the U.N. reported that the Sindh’s situation is becoming critical with 35% of the Sindh under water and over 2 million affected by the flooding.  As of August 26th, the U.S. was providing $200 million in aid.  

          “The widespread devastation wrought by this disaster cannot be overstated,” Congressman Sherman wrote in the letter.  Sherman further expressed his concern that a lack of oversight may prevent U.S. assistance from reaching the people most severely impacted by the flooding.  He states, “I remain concerned that U.S. assistance will not reach those who need it most.  Reports of corruption arose in the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir.  Many survivors continued to await internationally-funded Pakistani assistance to rebuild their homes more than one year after the earthquake.”

SHERMAN OAKS, CA – Congressman Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) announced that the California Transportation Commission (CTC) voted to allocate funding for a project to help alleviate congestion at the 101/405 interchange.  Congressman Sherman wrote to the CTC in support of the project to construct one additional lane for southbound and northbound off ramps at Van Nuys Boulevard on the 101 Freeway. 

“Over the next three years, construction will be underway on two important projects to ease the daily commute for thousands of motorists traveling on the 101 and 405 Freeways,” said Congressman Sherman.  “This project will help reduce backup in both directions on the 101 Freeway for motorists exiting onto busy Van Nuys Boulevard and traveling to Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys.”

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will begin construction by spring 2011 and complete the widening project within two years.  The California Transportation Commission voted to allocate $8 million for the shovel-ready project at the Commission’s meeting on August 12^th after adopting a plan earlier this year to advance the project by two years.

Congressman Sherman secured $500,000 in federal appropriations funding to initiate project studies at the 101/405 interchange, including improvements to the northbound and southbound Van Nuys Boulevard off ramps.  Sherman has worked closely with various transportation agencies, including the CTC to accelerate construction of this important transportation improvement project.  He has also advocated successfully for federal and state funding to accelerate construction of a carpool lane on the 405 Freeway between the 101 and 10 Freeways.

Washington, DC -- Congressman Sherman issued the following statement about Republican demands that Congress not reconvene in November and December:

“Republican leaders now demand that Congress agree not to reconvene for a so-called ‘lame duck’ session after the November 2^nd election. However, in November 2006, Republican Speaker Hastert called Congress back into session for a ‘lame duck’ session. Had Congress not acted in the 2006 lame duck session, the entire Federal Government, save only the Department of Defense and Homeland Security, would have shut down. Thank God the Republicans did not believe then, what they claim to believe now.

“Although the Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives in the 2006 election, they called us back into a lame duck session to deal with critically important legislation. If speaker Dennis Hastert had not done so, then for two months the Federal Government would have been closed.

“The post-election defeat, ‘lame duck’ Congress of 2006 also extended tax benefits for research and development and education, provided for trade relations with Vietnam, and authorized President Bush to negotiate a nuclear cooperation agreement with India.

“The Republican-called ‘lame duck’ session of 2006 also confirmed Robert Gates.

“If the Republicans of 2006 had followed their own manifestly ridiculous proposal of 2010, then the Department of Defense would have been rudderless in late 2006, in the midst of two wars.

“Thank God the Republicans didn’t do in the past what they now claim to be fair, proper and necessary.

“Republicans also called ‘lame duck’ sessions in 2004, 2002 and 2000. Had they failed to do so, most of the federal government would have shut down for the last two months of each of those years, and the U.S. would have defaulted on its public debt in 2004.”