Joseph Kennedy

From KeyWiki

Joseph Kennedy

Contents 1 Voted against support for "Contras" 2 "Congressional Pink Caucus" 3 DSA forum 4 Chavez relationship 5 References

Voted against support for "Contras"

The Congressional Record of February 3, 1988 shows that the following leading Democratic Party Congressmen voted against aid to the Nicaraguan Freedom Fighters - the "Contras"- then fighting against the Marxist-Leninist Sandinista government of Nicaragua:

"Congressional Pink Caucus"

In October 1989 the Nicaraguan Sandinista Government announced that they would no longer comply with the 19 month-old cease-fire agreement with the Contras. This had been considered a prime step forward for the "peace process" that was progressing slowly as part of the Arias Peace Plan.

A resolution was introduced in Congress deploring the Sandinistas' action. The Senate voted unanimously in favor, but in the House the vote was 379-29. All the 29 Congressmen voting against the resolution were Democrats.

The Council for Inter-American Security dubbed these 29 people the "Congressional Pink Caucus":

DSA forum

In 1993 the Boston Democratic Socialists of America and the Campaign for Affordable Health Care sponsored a forum on health care reform on June 1. Speakers included U.S. Representative Joseph Kennedy and several members of the state legislature ^[1]

Chavez relationship

In March, 2013, Former U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy II offered his prayers to the family of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, saying he cared deeply about the poor and helped nearly two million Americans through the former lawmaker's heating assistance charity.

Kennedy, who heads Citizens Energy, said Chavez cared about the poor at a time when "some of the wealthiest people on our planet have more money than they can ever reasonably expect to spend."

A spokesman for Kennedy said Chavez and the people of Venezuela have donated about 200 million gallons of heating oil over an eight-year collaboration with Citizens Energy. The charity distributes heating oil to lower income families in 25 states and Washington, D.C., offering 100 gallons per family.

Kennedy, a son of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, founded Citizens Energy in 1979 with the goal of reducing home heating oil costs for the poor and elderly after the energy crisis of the 1970s.

The former Massachusetts Democratic congressman drew fire from U.S. critics of Chavez when he began the fuel assistance collaboration with Venezuela's state oil subsidiary in 2005. The critics said Chavez was using the heating oil program as propaganda against the Republican administration of President George W. Bush.^[2]

References