Emanuel Cleaver

From KeyWiki

Emanuel Cleaver, II is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 5th district of Missouri.

Clever was born in Waxahachie, Texas, grew up in public housing and graduated high school in Wichita Falls, Texas. He earned a B.S. in Sociology from Prairie View A & M University.

Cleaver first went to Kansas City with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which charged him with founding a Kansas City chapter of the civil rights organization.

In 1979 Cleaver was elected to the City Council of Kansas City and three terms later he was elected Mayor. He held a two-term position as President of the National Conference of Black Mayors.

Congressman Cleaver and his wife, Dianne, have been married for more than thirty years. They have four children and three grandchildren.^[1]

Committees

• Committee on Financial Services

• Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
• Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity

• Committee on Homeland Security

• Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection
• Subcommittee on Emergency Communications, Preparedness, and Response

• Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming^[2]

Congressional Progressive Caucus

As of February 20 2009 Emanuel Cleaver was listed as a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.^[3]

Cuba trip

In early April 2009, Rep. Barbara Lee led a congressional delegation to Havana for a 4-1/2 hour meeting with Raul Castro, telling reporters, "All of us are convinced that President Castro would like normal relations and would see normalization, ending the embargo, as beneficial to both countries." Reuters reported that Lee's delegation "avoided specifics" with Castro "but were struck by his humor, impressed by his involvement in Third World causes and firm in their belief that he wants to end U.S.-Cuba enmity."

The meeting between Castro, Lee, and five other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, took place in secret without the customary presence of a US State Department official. No reporters attended, and according to the New York Times, Cuban television, which covered the visit, offered no details of what was said.

Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH), Laura Richardson (D-CA), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Melvin Luther Watt (D-CA), and Barbara Lee. "Also particapating were Patrice Willougby, executive assistant to the Congressional Black Caucus, and Eulada Watt, wife of Congressman Mel Watt".

Bobby Rush said he found Raul Castro "to be just the opposite of how he's being portrayed in the media." AP quotes Rush as saying, "I think what really surprised me, but also endeared to him was his keen sense of humor, his sense of history and his basic human qualities." At times, Rush said, the lawmakers and Castro chatted "like old family members."

Lee says she wanted to influence President Barack Obama prior to the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Trinadad and Tobago.

Prior to the trip, Lee told her hometown Oakland Tribune newspaper that the US had to open up to Cuba, but did not demand that the Cuban government open up; she blasted US policy as "based on antiquated Cold War-era thinking." She could have used those words to describe her own views.^[4]

Michael Honda, from California, also accompanied the delegation, as did Patrice Willoughby, executive assistant of the Congressional Black Caucus, plus four military personnel from the Congressional Liaison Office under the orders of Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Wolf.^[5]

Congressional Black Caucus

The current chair of the Congressional Black Caucus for the 112^th Congress is Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.^[6] The Caucus was established in 1971 during the 92nd Congress (1971-1973).^[7] It is an organization representing the black members of the United States Congress. Membership is exclusive to blacks.

CBC "For the People" Tour

Over 5,000 jobseekers showed up at the Wayne County Community College in Detroit for a jobs fair and town hall meeting yesterday. More than 7,000 attended last week's event in Cleveland, the second stop on the Congressional Black Caucus's "For the People" tour.

Over 1,000 positions were offered at the fair.

The event was hosted by Democratic U.S. Reps. John Conyers and Hansen Clarke. Also present from the caucus were Maxine Waters of California, Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri and Gregory Meeks from New York.

Rep. Maxine Waters, noting the great love and admiration for President Obama in the African American community, called on the audience to "unleash us" to address the president on the jobs issue. "When you tell us it's alright and you unleash us and you tell us you're ready for us to have this conversation, we're ready to have the conversation. The Congressional Black Caucus loves the president too. We're supportive of the president but we're getting tired ya'll..." she said.

Rep. John Conyers called for a demonstration in front of the White House, "We should be in front, three to five, six thousand people the day before we open our 40th conference on Tuesday, September the 20th, in front of the White House, demanding jobs," Conyers said.^[8]

Blue Green Alliance

Emanuel Cleaver spoke alongside Leo Gerard, Hilda Solis, Nancy Pelosi and others at the Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference held on 4-6, 2010 at, hosted by the Blue Green Alliance.^[9]

Barack Obama's former "Green Jobs Czar", leader of the prominent Bay Area communist organization Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement, and founder of Green for All was a featured speaker at the Alliance's 2009 conference.^[10]

The Alliance is made up of a number of leftist member organizations including United Steelworkers, the Sierra Club, CWA, SEIU, AFT and UAW.^[11]

Endorsements

• 21st Century Democrats endorsed Emanuel Cleaver in his 2004 run for U.S. Congress.^[12]

Staff

The following have worked as staff members for Emanuel Cleaver:^[13]

External links

• Cleaver's website with the House of Representatives

References