Sen. Al Franken backs EFCA
By John Amato Thursday Jul 09, 2009 8:45am
Senator Al Franken is quickly taking a stand with working families across America and signed on to sponsor his first bill and guess what it is. Yep, The Employee Free Choice Act.
Hours after he was seated, Sen. Al Franken, D-MN, let it be known that he would be sign on as a co-sponsor to the Employee Free Choice Act, the labor-backed provision that would allow unions to more easily organize, as his first legislative activity.
"I just became a cosponsor of my first bill in the Senate, the Employee Free Choice Act," the Minnesota Democrat declared at a gathering at the AFL-CIO on Tuesday evening.
Despite taking a backseat in terms of media attention, EFCA remains very much a hotly-debated measure within the halls of Congress. And while Franken's vote will likely boost Democratic efforts on health care and judicial nominations (he is poised to sit on the HELP and Judiciary Committees) it could be on labor matters where his voice is most felt. Certainly the union community, which is pushing for a vote on EFCA sometime this year, feels relieved that it is one senator closer to preventing a Republican filibuster on the measure.
Franken, who was officially sworn into office on Tuesday after an eight-month recount, told the AFL-CIO crowd that he shared common interests with them. According to Eddie Vale, a spokesman for the union group, Franken described the long tradition that exist in Minnesota of "having two Senators who are very pro workers and working families." "He said it was an honor to be sworn in today and walk through the aisles with Mondale and to be sworn in on Paul Wellstone's Bible," Vale recounted. "He stressed that both men were champions of the labor movement."
Paul Wellstone would be proud.
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ASS Al!
Once again Harry Reid sucks the energy and life out of something that should be something to celebrate.
I nodded off around the 1:20 mark.
I listened to Al's radio show every day, and even back then, he was inviting the President of the AFL/CIO and SEIU on his show for an interview.
"Paul Wellstone would be proud."
That's the first thing that occurred to me.
Nice to see a few Liberals in the mix.
While at Air America, Franken constantly discussed how Wellstone's memory was one of the reasons he wanted to run.
has officially begun!
Not a bad start for "the comedian". Much better than many of the other "serious" clowns in the senate, one of them standing right next to Franken.
be a comedian than a clown (like Inhofe).
Franken has brought more dignity and integrity to the senate in 1 day than Inhofe has for his entire sorry tenure.
In other news, half of FOX Noise rushed to local hospitals with plague!
When they are not hacking into people's cell phones
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/08/murd...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM4xweHetCQ
Please show Harry what a full sack looks like while you're with him. Thanks!
We need more people like him in the Senate. Reid, Barcus, Conrad, Nelson, Landrieu, Feinstein - all of them must be replaced.
The Reslugs have been foaming at the mouth, wetting their lacey pink panties and drinking their favorite laced Kool-aid ever since Franken took office. Franken could give all the party of "NO" ideas a few lessons on how to get the people's work done.
The Steak out will be tommrow? Hey reid,your eating steak where the rest of us ie eating hambuger helper. reid, you , have been nothing more than a bush pal for the last 8 years. can't wait for you to go and get a real den in there.
When they want an exciting time in the Senate
Do they watch Win Ben Stein's Money?
Step up to the mike, take a stand, and do so with conviction.
If you can't lead, get the frack out of the way.
That would make Bill's head explode for sure... at some point in the future Al Franken is made the Senate Majority Leader.
... more hits on YouTube than his famous Inside Edition meltdown.
Unfortunately, because Franken is a 'junior' senator, the system will keep him at arm's length until he can be compromised or otherwised neutered, de-clawed, and rendered harmless.
By Democrats like Pelosi and Reid, to boot.
Let's hope this is a sign of things to come. We need more Senators ready to serve for the common people.
Of SINGLE PAYER, another help for the working stiffs of the USA.
If you sit around waiting for a politician to lead you to a better life, you will sit around forever.
Franken's been a Senator for five minutes and he already has more guts, more presence and more statemanship than Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham *and* Harry Reid all rolled up into one gooey, slimy pile.
Al Franken for Senate Majority Leader!
Atta boy Al,CEO,citizens,eyes open
I bet the neos think he's real funny now, ah hahahah
will be a pleasant surprise -- not only for us, but also for the wacked out Republicons who have been dissing him.
I hope he kicks their asses with intelligent humor -- along the lines of Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert.
than honey!
and so am I.
In celebration of Franken's victory, I bought the audiobook of Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them - A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right on iTunes. It is a riot, and really lays out what the left is up against, and, why they hate Franken.
Go, Al!!!
Just what we need, another socialist in congress. I met this guy in Iraq and did not like what he stands for. Why is the rest of the country punished by senators and reps like him. The other guy that lost to him was bad too. Wake up people, we need to elect people that put the country first, not party.
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