Monday, April 22, 2013
The Fifth District Congressman is one of 24 members of the House and Senate concerned about the health and environmental effects of mining in Appalachia.
On Earth Day, April 22, Rep. Keith Ellison was listed in a story in The Nation about co-sponsors of a bill "to protect Appalachian families and communities from mountaintop removal." Ellison is one of 24 House and Senate members who support the Appalachian Community Health Emergency Act. According to a thenation.com story, "Preliminary laboratory tests, using air samples from areas where people are living in Appalachia, show mountaintop removal mining dust kills heart cells and impairs vascular function." *** On Sunday, Ellison tweeted: 1978–2011, CEO pay grew more than 725%, more than stock market & more than annual pay of private-sector worker, which grew 5.7% What do you think about the Appalachian Community Health Emergency Act and …
Monday, February 25, 2013
The Minnesota congressman was on a humanitarian trip to discuss the status of Somali refugees and U.S. remittances with the new Somali government.
U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison (DFL-MN) recently returned from a humanitarian trip to eastern Africa. The 5th District representative visited Mogadishu, Somalia and Nairobi, Kenya last week to discuss the status of Somali refugees in the region as well as U.S. remittances. Ellison was the first member of Congress to visit Somalia in nearly three years, on the heels of the U.S. government recognizing the Somali government earlier this year. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, leaders of the new Somali government, the Mayor of Mogadishu, the Somali Chamber of Commerce, the director of the American Refugee Committee and several Somali-Americans from Minneapolis met with Ellison in Mogadishu. From there, Ellison traveled to Kenya to visit …
Monday, November 19, 2012
The campaign was launched in 2008 as a protest against the passage of Proposition 8 in California, which amended the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.
On Nov. 14, Congressman Keith Ellison used Facebook to announce that he's in support of the NOH8 campaign, a protest created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska and his partner, Jeff Parshley, after Proposition 8 was passed in California. California voters passed Proposition 8 in 2008 which amended the state's Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. According to the NOH8 website, Bouska and Parshley have taken photos of more than 30,000 people wearing tape across their lips which symbolizes "their voices being silenced by Prop 8." On Facebook, Ellison wrote: Proud to join the NO H8 Campaign to stand for liberty and justice for ALL Americans. Ellison joined other celebrities, children and military officers who have also publically …
Monday, July 2, 2012
Rep. Keith Ellison and challenger Chris Fields react to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to uphold President Obama's health care reform.
Rep. Keith Ellison and his opponent in the upcoming election, Chris Fields, have differing views on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act. The plan, which has been dubbed “Obamacare," calls for just about every American to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty. Last week’s decision has sparked much debate among politicians. Here’s a look at what Ellison and Fields had to say about the decision: Congressman Keith Ellison: “This ruling is a significant victory for the American people. After a two-year legal battle, the Supreme Court confirmed today that the Affordable Care Act will continue to provide millions of Americans with health coverage. The health care reform act provides that children will not be …
Monday, May 14, 2012
Challenger Chris Fields talks to area nonprofits and says Ellison 'isn't as well liked as people may think.'
Rep. Keith Ellison and a U.S. senator last week introduced a bill to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies. On Thursday, he and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said the legislation would "do away with tax breaks, financial assistance, royalty relief, direct federal research and development and many loopholes that benefit the fossil fuel industry," according to Ellison's U.S. House website. “Big oil companies alone make more than $300 million every day but the oil, gas, and coal industries still have their hands in the taxpayer’s pocket,” Ellison said. “We need to get off the fossil fuel bandwagon that keeps us dependent on oil and contributes to climate change. The $113 billion in taxpayer handouts that oil, gas, and coal companies receive …
Monday, April 16, 2012
U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison likened colleague Allen West's recent comments to McCarthyism.
After being categorized as "communist" last week alongside the rest of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison released a statement calling Florida Republican Allen West's comments "reminiscent of the days when Joe McCarthy divided Americans." Rep. West had been responding to a constituent question over what percentage of the American Legislature were "card-carrying Marxists," saying he believed as many as 80 Democrats "are members of the Communist Party." "It's called the Congressional Progressive Caucus," West said. A spokesperson for West talked with Politico following the Florida town hall, saying West "stands by his words." "The words the media needs to pay attention to are the words of the members of the …
Monday, March 26, 2012
The Minnesota Congressman and his fellow members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus released their 'Budget for all.'
Last week, Rep. Keith Ellison was ranked on several top 10 lists of members of Congress on Twitter. He was listed as the fifth most engaged, the eighth most influential and the eighth most trusted. However, on the list of the most trusted, he is listed as a Republican instead of a Democrat. The lists were in a study called "Yeas and Nays of the Congressional Twitterverse," published by public relations firm Edelman. The lists were created using TweetLevel, which uses an algorithm to track tweeters and score them using 40 different metrics. On the same day the Twitter study was released, Ellison and other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus released their "Budget for all" in response to the Republicans' "The Path to Prosperity…
Nancy E Gertner
12:56 pm on Thursday, May 2, 2013
Your article fails to tie together the tweet on CEO pay with the Appalachian health issue. Those of us that have studied a little geography know that Appalachia is not in MN5, but I have driven through West Virginia, and gotten off the interstate highway to look at a "restored" mountain top. I have also seen the documentary on "The Last Mountain," which gave me an appreciation of what miners and … more ›