Schumer, Gillibrand Clarke Announce Passage of Bill Naming Post Office In Honor Of Major Owens
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke (D-Crown Heights, Flatbush, Lefferts Gardens, East Flatbush, Brownsville, Midwood, Sheepshead Bay) announced yesterday that legislation to rename a Brooklyn post office after former U.S. Representative Major Owens was signed into law last week.
The post office is located at 1234 Saint Johns Place in Brooklyn, New York. Schumer and Gillibrand introduced legislation in the Senate to rename this post office after Representative Owens back in March, after which Clarke introduced the legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives with the full support of the New York delegation.
Owens served New Yorkers in public office for 32 years, first serving in the New York State Assembly from 1975 to 1982, and then succeeding Shirley Chisholm as the Representative for New York’s 11th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his time in Congress, Owens was a fierce advocate for education, gun control, and equal rights until his retirement in 2007. Prior to his decades in public office, Owens was actively involved in serving the Brooklyn community in various roles as a community leader.
“Brooklynites, like myself, will never forget Rep. Major Owens’s tireless leadership, ability to deliver for his district, good-hearted nature and commitment to the all-American value of equality. As a trained librarian, Rep. Owens was a leading advocate for the public library system as a whole and did everything in his power to make sure children and families had equal access to important educational resources. Rep. Owens also helped lead the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to passage,” said Schumer.
“From the very beginning of his career at the Brooklyn Public Library, following him all the way to his time in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Major Owens was a fighter for the Brooklyn community. He spent years advocating for issues that would help improve the lives of New Yorkers and people throughout this country, championing causes such as such as equal rights and education. I’m pleased that my bill to designate the post office at Saint Johns Place after him has passed into law,” said Gillibrand.
“Congressman Owens, a dedicated and life-long public servant, helped to improve the lives of New Yorkers and Americans across the Nation by fiercely advocating for education, gun control, and equal rights. I’m thrilled that my bill to designate the post office on Saint John Place in the Ninth Congressional District has passed into law. This is just one way we can pay tribute to Owens’ life and living legacy,” said Clarke.
Ortiz Responds To Trump SNAP Changes
Assistant Speaker Félix W. Ortiz (D-Sunset Park, Red Hook) denounced President Donald Trump’s proposed changes to SNAP yesterday, after signing the 2018 Farm Bill that aims to increase work requirements for the government assistance program.
Late Thursday, Trump signed legislation that proposes changes to the SNAP work requirements through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The proposed rule aims to restrict the ability of states to exempt work-eligible adults from having to obtain steady employment to receive food stamps, according to Forbes.
Currently, able-bodied adults ages 18-49 without children are required to work 20 hours a week to maintain their SNAP benefits. State waivers, currently available in seven states, and partial waivers, currently available in 29 states, can allow them to receive benefits without working in times of bad economic conditions.
The House bill would have raised the age of recipients subject to work requirements from 49 to 59 and required parents with children older than 6 to work or participate in job training. The House measure also sought to limit circumstances under which families that qualify for other poverty programs can automatically be eligible for SNAP.
“The Trump Administration’s proposed changes to the SNAP rules will take food away from unemployed and underemployed people. They will hurt our neighbors and our neighborhoods and increase hunger and hardship. Now that the Trump Administration is trying to go around Congress to make these changes on its own, we must speak out again. We will have the opportunity to do so when the 60 day comment period starts. I’ll be ready to comment and urge you to join me in fighting this cruel proposal,” said Ortiz.
CM Williams Responds To Mayoral Support For Marijuana Legalization
City Council Member Jumaane D. Williams (D-Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood), Deputy Leader, responded this week to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announced support for legalizing marijuana.
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday for the first time said he backs the legalization of recreational marijuana — but insisted he won’t allow it to be dominated by corporate interests, according to the New York Post. The announcement comes just days after Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his support to legalize the drug in New York in 2019.
Additionally, the Mayor released a report with recommendations for how weed should be legalized by the state issued by a task force that he convened in July which include expunging past convictions for marijuana-related offenses, setting the minimum age at 21 and prohibiting smoking pot in public.
“The majority of the recommendations laid out by the task force are a powerful statement on the opportunity and the necessity of ending the destructive criminalization of marijuana and creating a legal industry for the advancement of the very communities impacted by this prohibition. It seems that now that the politics of this issue have become safer, New York is finally catching up- but better late than never,” said Williams.
“As I and other advocates have long said, the first priority should the state finally legalize cannabis needs to be restoration and reinvestment in the lives ruined by the senseless and hysterical ban on marijuana, through expungement and advancement. I am glad that the administration, and the city, stand ready to act once the state enacts legalization, and look forward to advancing the implementation of many of these positive policies, including legislation which I sponsor and for which I have long advocated,” added Williams.
