J. Jill, Ann Taylor, Liz Claiborne: Made By Slaves, Backed by Congress
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Over the past decade, 29 bills in Congress have sought to apply a minimum wage standard and/or immigration law to the Mariana Islands or to deny use of "Made in USA" to items produced there. Every one of these bills has failed. Some have won support in the Senate but been blocked by the House Resources Committee. Others have won the support of a majority of House Members but still been killed in that same committee.
Guess who earned $11 million in fees from the Marianas government and garment manufacturers? A fellow by the name of Jack Abramoff. The Ms. Magazine article details his extensive lobbying of the Republican leadership in the House, and in particular of Tom Delay.
But DeLay has gone down, and there is hope that Congress, such as it is, might finally manage to act (that is, go on record as legislating reforms that Bush and Cheney will ignore). There are three bills in the House and Senate right now that would apply the U.S. minimum wage to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Ms. recommends contacting the chair and ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Education and Workforce and the Senate Committee on Finance. They are:
Rep. McKeon www.house.gov/writerep
Rep. Miller george.miller@mail.house.gov
Sen. Grassley http://grassley.senate.gov/webform.htm
Sen. Baucus http://baucus.senate.gov/contact/emailForm.cfm?subj=issue
Congressman Miller has asked the chair of the House Resources Committee, Rep. Richard Pombo (himself the subject of a report on ethics violations released yesterday http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/politics/14507254.htm ) to investigate Abramoff's lobbying on behalf of the Ann Slave Taylor Islands, the Ralph Lauren Petri Dish for Plutocratic Plundering and Prostitution.
If every American who has purchased an item of clothing made by what is essentially American slave labor were to ask Pombo to hold hearings by writing to him at rpombo@mail.house.gov and by sending a letter to the editor of the Stockton Record at editor@recordnet.com it might provide some hope to the women whose stories Ms. Magazine tells.
Over the past decade, 29 bills in Congress have sought to apply a minimum wage standard and/or immigration law to the Mariana Islands or to deny use of "Made in USA" to items produced there. Every one of these bills has failed. Some have won support in the Senate but been blocked by the House Resources Committee. Others have won the support of a majority of House Members but still been killed in that same committee.
Guess who earned $11 million in fees from the Marianas government and garment manufacturers? A fellow by the name of Jack Abramoff. The Ms. Magazine article details his extensive lobbying of the Republican leadership in the House, and in particular of Tom Delay.
But DeLay has gone down, and there is hope that Congress, such as it is, might finally manage to act (that is, go on record as legislating reforms that Bush and Cheney will ignore). There are three bills in the House and Senate right now that would apply the U.S. minimum wage to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Ms. recommends contacting the chair and ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Education and Workforce and the Senate Committee on Finance. They are:
Rep. McKeon www.house.gov/writerep
Rep. Miller george.miller@mail.house.gov
Sen. Grassley http://grassley.senate.gov/webform.htm
Sen. Baucus http://baucus.senate.gov/contact/emailForm.cfm?subj=issue
Congressman Miller has asked the chair of the House Resources Committee, Rep. Richard Pombo (himself the subject of a report on ethics violations released yesterday http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/politics/14507254.htm ) to investigate Abramoff's lobbying on behalf of the Ann Slave Taylor Islands, the Ralph Lauren Petri Dish for Plutocratic Plundering and Prostitution.
If every American who has purchased an item of clothing made by what is essentially American slave labor were to ask Pombo to hold hearings by writing to him at rpombo@mail.house.gov and by sending a letter to the editor of the Stockton Record at editor@recordnet.com it might provide some hope to the women whose stories Ms. Magazine tells.
posted by TheFuriousGourmet | 9:33 PM
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