RD
incumben hinder GOP for Ho
control.
"I don't think th co ttai are going to be
there," B llenger aid in reference to
President Geor Bush' low pproval ratin ,
which he id won't help Republican
elections efforts.
"I think for that re on the Democra
have a much better chance," Ballenger
continue. "In fact, the odd re th t
(Democratic presidential candidate) Bill
Clinton is going to carry Michigan. If he
doe , that' going to help the Democrat."
yean
All 110 0 e up for reelection
d ith the recent reapportionment of tate
di trict pp rentl y f voring the
Republi -P rty confidence i high r than
in recent years.
"I think (Republic ns) tand a good
c ce " Rep. John Gemaat, R-McBain, aid
ofreve ing what tands a 60-50 Democrat
m [ority.
One political ob erver i n't 0 ure.
"Th Republi feel they've got their
t chance in at Ie t a decade to regain
control of the Ho e, " aid Bill Ballenger,
editor and publi her of the new letter Ide
MiChigan Politics and a former Republican
tate enator.
Viol nt Crlm
Sw ep BI c
Am ric
o ember vote ,
Ho . ority der ep. P ul Hillegonds
ai not only to see if . party can bu
24-year trend, but if he ill ve ne job.
The oUand I rna er ai vote
. which may ward the Republicans their first
Ho e of Repre entativ m [ority ince
1968 and, if that occurs, aIm t certainly
speaker of the Ho e ition for himself.
Th m [ority party lects candidate for
officer positions-including the peaker- in
November c ucu nd, the econd
Wedne day of the ne Iegi lative term,
presen their nominees to the House who are
than ually unanimo Iy voted in.
Speakers have practic 11y autocratic
power in that they appoint House members to
their committees and may witch them at any
time, decide the Ho 'budget and have the
power to hire and fire anyone employed by
theHo e.
W G10 -A
review of the FBI' recently
rete ed annual crime report
revea that whil violent crime
reaching record leve aroong
virtually all gro in Ameri
it has reached epidemic propor­
tions in predominately African­
American oommuniti .
The report found that the
bigge t incre in violent
crime are occuring among
young people, pecially young
Blacks.
For example, there w a 27
percent increa e in violent
crime over the t 10 years, but
the bigge tingle increase w
a 145 percent jump in the arrest
rate for Blac youth on murder
charges. Overall, Black
youth-mo tly young Black
male -were arre ted for
violent crimes at five times the
rate of white youths.
J OQUl, dmi . trativ i tant
to Sen. Jo nne Emmo ,R-Big R pid ,
echoed VanRegenmorter' entiment
upporting Hillegond , while ayin that
earning a Republic n majority will be
challenging.
"(Sen. Emmons) i
Hillegonds becoming
In this election year i a toss-up considering
all the incumbents in Congress who have los L
It on't be y, that' for ure."
Gernaat said the believes Hillegonds has
performed ell House Republican leader
and looks forw� to the possibility of having
him as speaker.
"I think we'd ee thing run more
moothly," Gema t aid. "I think the
constituen are the ones who would benefiL"
I DDITIO, Ballenger said
representative such a Lynn Jondahl,
D-Okemo ,Michael Griffin, �Jackson, and
current House Majority Floor Leader Pat
Gagliardi, D-Drummond land, will harm
the Republicans' majority hopes they are
practically shoo-ins for reelection in di tric
traditionally considered Republican teltOrity.
The fact is there are a lot of very trong
Democratic incumbents in the Hou e,"
Ballenger said. "The Demoaats have got
these people prinkled around in these
districts that, all thinp being equal, you'd
think would be Republican.
"As long as they're able to win those eats
it's going to be very, very difficult for the
Republicans to gain control of the House, " he
aid.
"I THINK they can do it, but I think the
odds are against them gaining control. If you.
want bottom-line prediction, I still think the
Democra are going to maintain control of
tbeHo e."
Ballenger believes e Democrats have
uffered under re pportionment mainly
becau e of population hifts out of
traditionally Democratic Detroit to outstate
areas consisting of marginally Republican
di tric this last decade. .
However, Ballenger said the lack of
trength at the top of the Republican ticket
and the strength of certain Democratic
DESPITE SOME PREDICTIONS that
the Democrats will retain majority control of
the Hou e, Hillegond and fellow
Republicans remain cautiously optimistic.
"I'm excited about the po ibilities,"
Hillegond said of the GOP's chance.
"There are candidates who want to win and
Mayor urge poor to
pply for Emergency
N ed Program
DETROIT (AP) _-Mayor
Coleman Young is urging the
city's poor' to apply for the
Michigan's Emergency Needs
Program after a judge ruled the
state illegally re laced the pro-
• ) J. 1\ 'I
The city filed a law ·:Wt after
Gov. JoM ngler tq>Jated the
Emergency Needs Program last
November with a new plaQ that
made fewer people eligible for
financial assistance.
Giddings ruled in July the
Engler administration had acted
illegally and ordered the
original program fully restored.
A revised Emergency Needs
Program is set to begin in two
weeks at the start of the new
fiscal year, on Oct. 1. .
The Emergency Needs Pro­
gram helps familie pay for
stoves, refrigerators, furniture
and clothing in the event of fire,
and sometimes help pay past
rent and mortgage payments
and unpaid taxes.
c
r
•
o ic
.. ,. ,.. t t,.. , • .,; ...
An'dr
.. 1
t __ 'l"" � ....... "_ -!-I"\""'"
,
From the tfme the office opens early in the morning,
until It finally close late in the evening, the NAACP
volunteers are inundated by telephone calls and personal
visits of victims of the df ter,
The NAACP has already served over 300 families
whose immediate problems ranged from how to obtain
food, when the Red Cross had inadvertently given them
, vouchers for restaurants-the NAACP provided them with
food and, saw to it that they received the right vouchers;
to how to get a disabled family member to medical
care-the NAACP arranged
transportation.
The office is under the
direction of Mrs. Johnnie
McMillan, President of the
Miami-Dade County
Branch of the NAACP,
who took leave from her
job as an administrator
with the Dade County
School System.
MIAMI-At the nerve center of the relief effort to aid
the victims of Hurricane Andrew, in a sprawnngbutldtng
near the operations of now defunct Eastern Airlines, the
NAACP has set up an office to lend a hand in the process.
Operated by volunteers, with assistance from national
staff members out of the NAACP regional office in
Atlanta, it opened on Sunday, August 30th, to begin the
long and difficult task of helping hurricane victims
negotiate the bureaucratic maze as they attempt to put
their lives back in order.
The Federal Emergency
Management Agency
(FEMA), the government
entity charged with the
overall coordination of
relief activities, is housed in
the facility, along with a
broad array of other federal,
tate, and non-profit agen­
cies.
The purpose of the
NAACP office has been
spelled out by Dr. Benjamin
L. Hooks, the Association's
Executive Director/CEO,
who said:
Center will end poll
ob erver to Ghana.
ATLANTA (AP) - The Carter
Center will send observers to
monitor electi in Togo and
Ghana in November and
December at the request of those
countries' leaders, former Presi­
dent Jimmy Carter said Mon­
day.
Togo, which hold a con­
stitutional referendum Sept. 27,
has its presidential election Dec.
6 and a runoff, if needed, Dec.
20.
In Ghana, the military
government of Flight­
Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings has
discussed arrangements with
Carter Center officials to
monitor the presidential elec­
tion Nov. 3 and a possible runoff
Nov. 17 preceding elections for
parliament.
Rawling • government has
been in power since 1981 and is
preparing for a transition to a
constitutional multiparty sys­
tem. The Carter Center repre­
sentatives will join other
international ob ervers in
monitoring the elections in the
west African countries.
ON WEDNESDAY,
September 2nd, Dr. Hooks
vi i ted the office and
presented a S5,OOO check
to help underwrite the cost
of operation, with the
promise that more funds
would be forthcoming.
Delivered directly to
relief stations were the
contents of two large vans
that included food, clothing, and personal times. TIle
material was collected by Women In NAACP (WIN)
under the direction of its national director, Mrs. Frances
Hooks, who accompanied Dr. Hooks to Miami.
"OUR EXPERIEN­
CES IN past disasters have
made us aware that in the
rebuilding process that takes
place, despite the be t of in­
tentions, there are' those
who, through circumstances beyond their control, are
liable to fall through the cracks.
"We saw this happenin.1989in the wake of Hurricane
Hugo, where we stepped in to offer our assistance over
an extended period of time."
WANDA F. ROQUEMORE/Michigan CitIzen
Giving The City Warning
ACORN and community residents recently protested Detroit's slow
pace in processing applications for vacant homes under the City's
Nuisance Abatement Ordinance.
Hal ian policy
u.
AACP pro e
•
"Until democracy is restored in Haiti, the
best solution to the refugee crisis is to grant
Temporary Protected Status to Haitians,"
Robinson said. "Temporary Protected Status
has been granted Kuwaitis, Lebane e,
Salv doreans and Liberian. The
extraordinary circumstances in Haiti
certainly qualify Haitians for protection
under TPS and intemationallaw.·
NAACP Board Chairman Dr. Gib on said
the demonstration was important because it
showed the concern of the NAACP and
TransAfrica and the public outcry that has
re ulted from forced repatriation of the
Haitians'.
"We must be trong and force the
enactment of a Haitian Adj tment Act�ne
modeled after the Cuban Adjustment Act of
1966. We must be bold and demand that
Haitians be granted Extended Voluntary
Departure status just the Afghans, Poles
and Salvadoreans were in the 1980s" he said.
Robin on, Tr nsAfrica' Executive
Director, said that the Bush administration'
continued refusal to grant Temporary
Protected Status (fPS) to the Haitians is
being done imply because they are Black.
people were arrested in a show of conscience.
Protesters stood in the street in front of the
White House to block traffic. All were fined
$50 and released.
During an interview prior to the
demonstration Dr. Hook, who visited the
Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba where
many of the refugees were then being held
temporaril y , called the Bush adminis tra ti on's
treatment toward the Haitians an outrage.
WASHINGTON -Under a blazing summer
sun, slowly chanting "Locked out because
their Black"; more than 1,000 demonstrators,
led b . NAACP executive Director Dr.
Benjamin L. Hooks; Randall Robinson,
Exceutive Director of TransAfrica; Wade
Hender on, Director of the NAACP
Washington Bureau; NAACP National
Board Chairman Dr. William F. Gib on, and
tennis tar Arthur Ashe, staged a peaceful
protest demonstration and civil disobedience
on behalf of Haitian refuges in front of the
White House on 'Wednesday, September 9.
The Haiti Camp gn was launched by the
NAACP and TransAfrica in re ponse to
President Bush's May 24Ul Executive Order
sanctioning the return of all Haitians picked
up at ea.
During the demonstration, more than 70
Hou e approves Bill
lAM ING - The House ap­
porved $17.5 million Wednes­
day to keep Detroit' Lafayette
Clinic open after October 1.
The Senate is expected to
reverse the House.
A HIGH POINT of the day came when
82-year-Old Katherine Dunham, the famed
dancer and choreographer, w brought in a
wheelchair to the area wheR those who were
to be arrested had assembled. Earlier during
the year Dunham went on a hunger trike to
protest the Bush dministration' policies
toward the Haitians.
"THE TREATMENT accorded for
Haitian refugees by our government Qffends
morality and common decency," Dr. Hoo
said. "It make a mockery of this nation'
long tanding and honored policy of
providing a safe haven for tho e fleeing
oppres ion, dictatorship and injustice."
I
•