The Washington bureau will be covering the following:
-ABC’s “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and WJLA-TV host a rally to raise awareness and reduce the number of accidents from mobile phone use behind the wheel.
-Families USA holds a conference call to discuss the new health insurance market reforms, as a part of a series of teleconferences with members of Congress to explore key aspects of the new health reform law.
-The Center for American Progress (CAP) and the Hamilton Project hold a discussion on “The Future of American Jobs” and an analysis of long-term trends in employment, earnings and job opportunities.
-Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus delivers an address at a National Press Club Newsmaker Luncheon.

President Barack Obama praised the vibrant life and long career of late civil rights icon Dorothy Height during a eulogy Thursday at the former National Council of Negro Women president’s memorial service.
“She wasn’t interested in credit,” Obama said. “What she cared about was the cause; The cause of justice, the cause of equality, the cause of opportunity; Freedom’s cause.”
Speaking before a crowd sprinkled with lawmakers and other civil rights figures at the National Cathedral, the President described the 98 year-old woman’s tenacious spirit in her final months, including her determination to brave February’s massive blizzard to attend a White House meeting on health care reform. Obama quipped that it was not until the car could literally not reach her drive way that Height backed down.
Obama extended his remarks to include the civil rights movement as a whole, and noted his presidency was due to the success of the generation’s activists.
The President was joined at the service by members of his administration, including Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) were in attendance as well.
Dr. Dorothy Height served as president of the National Council of Negro Women from 1957 until 1997. She was a key force in desegregation efforts and stood just steps away from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream Speech.”
Height died on April 20th at Howard University Hosptial in Washington, D.C.

Legislation to reform the nation’s financial industry made considerable headway Wednesday as Republican Senators dropped their opposition to opening the bill up for formal debate.
The GOP’s decision came after Senate Democrats held three votes to sidestep objections from the minority party. The previous attempts failed to garner 60 votes, the number needed to override a filibuster and invoke cloture.
Attempts to move forward with the bill Wednesday evening met with unanimous consent, thus eliminating the need to hold a fourth vote.
Democrats applauded the Republicans’ move.
“I am delighted that after three votes and three full days of pressuring those on the other side of the aisle … it finally appears that they are willing to listen,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wa.) said on the Senate floor Wednesday evening.
While significant progress has been made, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) stressed that serious work remains.
“We never sought to send this bill from the Committee room to the president’s desk,” said Reid.

By Sofia Sanchez University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service
Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) outlined Wednesday the details of a letter recently sent to President Barack Obama calling for the deployment of National Guard Troops along the U.S.-Mexico border to assist both local law enforcement and border patrol agents.
“Our local border patrol agents and local Sheriffs on the border are out manned, out-gunned and out-financed by the drug cartels who wish to come into the United States,” Poe said during a morning press conference.
According to Poe, the letter was prompted by the murder of Arizona rancher Robert Krentz, which was believed to have been carried out by illegal immigrants. The murder was also a key factor in the rise of Arizona’s controversial new immigration law, which allows law enforcement official to ask individuals suspected of immigrating illegally for proof of citizenship.
The request for the National Guard’s presence at the border was first proposed by governors of many southwestern states.
Poe added that attacks on the border patrol in the Tucson sector have increased by 200 percent in the first two months of this year and that the jails in southern Texas are packed with immigrants.
“37 percent of [prisoners] in southern Texas are foreign nationals both in the United States legally and illegally… they are not charged with immigration violations, they are charged with crimes,” said Poe.
Poe claimed that this issue is not an immigration issue, but a border safety issue.
“This country protects the borders of other nations better then it protects our own border,” said Poe.

By Monique Cala
University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that the Department of Justice has three months to review whether or not a controversial anti-immigration bill signed into law by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer last week violates parts of the U.S. Constitution.
“It actually does not take effect until 90 days after the close of Arizona Legislation session. So, it is not, in fact, in effect in Arizona,” said Napolitano, a former Governor of that state.
From DHS’s stand point, Napolitano said, there are concerns over the law because it will “detract from and siphon resources that we need to focus on those in the country illegally, those who are committing the most serious crimes in addition to violating our nation’s immigration laws.”
Napolitano said she was pleased with Congress’s actions regarding bolstering the budget of the U.S. Border Patrol, which she said is “better staffed than at any time in its 85-year history, having doubled the number of agents from around 10,000 in 2004 to 20,000 in 2009.”
“We have quintupled the number of liaison officers assigned to the Southwest boarder,” said Napolitano. “We have deployed more proven and effective technology there than ever before.”
In a statement released prior to her testimony, Napolitano emphasized the partnership between Mexico and the U.S on curbing illegal immigration.
“Continually enhancing border security is not only critical for border communities, but is a necessary part of any comprehensive attempt to fix our nation’s broken immigration system to make it work for the 21st Century — a high priority for this administration.”

By Sofia Sanchez
University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday that a controversial immigration bill signed into law last week by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer was an attempt by that state and its residents to tell Congress that they are tired of waiting for federal action.
With the public wondering how Democrats are going to balance pleasing their Hispanic base, which desires federal immigration reform, with courting voters who support the Arizona bill this upcoming election season, Hoyer acknowledged that doing nothing is not an option for his party.
“We need to keep the border secure, we cannot have porous borders…we can’t have people coming into the United States of America when they are not authorized to do so,” said Hoyer.
The Leader said he would prefer a similar bill to the one that was debated in the Senate in 2007.
“In the last administration, President Bush clearly indicated he thought some sort of comprehensive immigration reform was necessary,” said Hoyer.” I shared that view then and I share it today.”

A procedural vote for Wall Street reform legislation failed to gain traction in the Senate Monday after Republicans and Democrat Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) voted against moving the bill to overhaul the regulation of the nation’s financial industry towards its next stage.
Although necessary to open the bill up to formal debate, the vote, which came in at 57-41, was largely considered a test. Negotiations between the two parties will continue.
Republicans cited concerns in the lead up to Monday’s vote that the legislation fails to provide strict enough language against government funded bailouts and that a fund supplied by large financial institutions to ultimately aid failing banks would not do enough to deter risky behavior.
Democrats are likely to capitalize on the Republicans’ opposition to the bill by casting the GOP as being too cozy with the financial industry.
“A vote against even opening debate on holding Wall Street accountable is a vote to protect Wall Street,” a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) charged in a statement Monday morning.
Nelson also sparred with his party amid the health care debate, wherein the Nebraska Democrat withheld support for reform legislation until stronger measures preventing publicly funded abortions were provided.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) ultimately changed his vote Monday to oppose bringing the regulatory reform bill to debate, a procedural move that would allow the legislation to be brought to the Senate floor again.
In December, the House of Representatives passed their version of financial regulatory reform legislation. It passed with no Republican support. In order to move forward, the Senate will need to find 60 supporters for the bill.

By Justine Rellosa
Talk Radio News Service
With top executives from investment bank Goldman Sachs set to testify Tuesday in front of a Senate Government and Homeland Security subcommittee, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) today showcased approximately 500 pages of documents that illustrate how the scandal-riddled investment bank “repeatedly put its own interests and profits ahead of the interest of its clients.”
“For large fees, Goldman helped run the conveyor belt that dumped hundreds of billions of dollars of toxic mortgages into the financial system,” said Levin, who chairs the subcommittee that will host Tuesday’s hearing.
The documents the Senator previewed included internal reports and emails that, according to Levin, show Goldman Sachs betting against the mortgage market throughout 2007, despite the fact that the company has denied such accusations.
“Its own documents show that it engaged in what one top executive described as ‘the big short,’” said Levin. “Not hedging, but betting heavily against the market.”
“We cannot have this kind of a gambling house…making bets,” Levin added. “We cannot allow this to continue.”
The Senator announced that the committee will decide after the hearing on Tuesday whether they will refer this matter to the SEC and to the Justice Department for further consideration.

White House correspondent Victoria Jones will be covering the White House press briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.
The Washington bureau will also be covering
-The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations holds a press briefing prior to its April 27 hearing on “Wall Street and the Financial Crisis”
-The Role of Investment Banks.”Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano delivers remarks on the Homeland Security Department’s ongoing efforts to bolster international aviation security.

By Monique Cala
University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
According to Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.), malevolent lenders are to blame in part for the nation’s economic collapse by turning to “high risk lending strategies to earn quick profits, dumping hundreds of billions of dollars in toxic mortgages into the financial system.”
During a hearing before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on Friday, Levin pointed out that by 2006 and 2007, the “toxic mortgages flooding the financial markets began going bad in record numbers.”
“By September 2008, major global financial institutions like Lehman Brothers, AIG, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley were bankrupt, bailed out, or struggling,” said Levin.
The Senator said that if he had to choose one pivotal event that caused the 2008 financial crisis he would have to say that it was “when the credit rating agencies realized their AAA rating wouldn’t hold.”
“We even saw instances of bankers pushing to remove analysts who were not playing ball,” said Levin. “At times, analysts who resisted banker demands or challenged ratings were restricted from deals.”
After an 18 month investigation, the subcommittee concluded that there was a conflict of interest for the rating agencies.
“The credit rating agencies were operating with an inherent conflict of interest, because the revenues they pocketed came from the companies whose securities they rated,” said Levin. “It’s like one of the parties in court paying the judge’s salary.”
As for a motive for the rating agencies, Levin pointed to profit with evidence that three firms tripled their revenue between 2002 to 2007.