Recently in Washington, D.C. Category

The National Association of Latino Elected Officials will present Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa with the Edward R. Roybal Award for outstanding public service at a Washington, D.C., ceremony next week.
Villaraigosa will be honored by Interior Secretary Ken Salazr, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard at the event.
Roybal, a former Los Angeles City Councilman, went on to Washington, D.C., as a congressman and each year a Latino public officials is presented with the award in his name.
Villaraigosa, who is serving out his second term as mayor, previously served as a City Council member and Assembly speaker.

In the runup to the June primary election, Rep. Brad Sherman beat out Rep. Howard Berman from a Democratic Party endorsing conference on Sunday.
Sherman received 54 percent of the vote, to 36 percent for Berman, with the remaining members saying no endorsement should be given,
Sherman's campaign said the action is the first step needed in winning the full party endorsement.
The two Democratic Party stalwarts are facing off against each other as a result of redistricting where their congressional districts were combined.
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Mayor Antonio Villlaraigosa is heading back to Washington, D.C., next week as part of a trip leading a delegation of mayors to meet with President Obama.
Villaraigoa, who is serving as president of the U.S. Confererence of Mayors, willalso be releasing a report on the state of the cities.
During the conference, the mauyors will meet with members of Congress and the Adminisration to discuss job creation and economic development.
Villaraigosa is expected to be in Washington on Tuesday and return to Los Angeles on Friday.

With all the partisan gridlock in Washington these days, it's nice to know that not all fights split along Democrat vs. Republican lines. Bob Strauss in the Daily News

In the struggle against Internet piracy, for example, the sides in their most simplest terms boil down to Silicon Valley vs. Hollywood, with members of the two political parties lining up on both teams.

Those battle lines have formed as a House Judiciary Committee vote on the Stop Online Piracy Act (HR 3261) looms in the coming weeks.

The public would be allowed to purchase shares in the Dodgers and other professional sports teams under federal legislation introduced Thursday by Rep. Janice Hahn and an Oregon lawmaker. Daily News.

Hahn, D-Wilmington, acknowledged that even if the bill were to pass, it probably wouldn't be in place in time to affect the expected bankruptcy auction of the Dodgers.

"Introducing this shows there could be a way in the future to have more fan involvement," Hahn said. "Clearly, this is bigger than the Dodgers. While it might not pass in time for when the Dodgers are sold, it might affect some future sale."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa urged local officials Tuesday to join in pressuring Congress to reauthorize a six-year, $500 million transportation bill as a way to put Americans back to work. Daily News,.

"The millions that we invest in transit flow to businesses, large and small, and create hundreds of thousands of jobs," Villaraigosa said in a speech at the annual Mobility 21 Conference.

"Let's make this as clear as possible: Transportation investment equals jobs. It is a sad comment on the quality of our political debate that such an obvious fact is met with skepticism in Congress."

On the same day that new data showed zero employment growth in August, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa led a chorus of mayors in calling for more federal spending to spur job creation. Daily News.

Villaraigosa, in his role as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, released a broad, bipartisan proposal to try to end the stalemate in Washington over funding. He was joined by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Mesa, Ariz., Mayor Scott Smith in calling on Congress to accept their "common sense jobs agenda" to put America back to work.

"These are programs that have received bipartisan support in the past," Villaraigosa said. "It's time to break the gridlock in the Beltway. I think the American people are tired of the political posturing and want to see an end to the polarization and lack of progress."

- At a town hall meeting Sunday, U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, criticized the outcome of the redistricting process, which is expected to pit him against a fellow veteran congressman in the newly formed 30th District. Christina Villacorte in the Daily News.

During the meeting, where hundreds packed the Reseda High School auditorium, Sherman refused to answer a question about why voters should choose him over U.S. Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, saying he would not use the event to campaign.

He did, however, speak out against the redistricting process, questioning why it drew boundary lines in the middle of established communities.

Pitted against each other because of redistricting, two powerful San Fernando Valley congressmen are gearing up for an expensive, tough campaign next year that will test the loyalties of local Democrats.Dakota Smith in the Daily News.

Reps. Brad Sherman and Howard Berman, who collectively have 42 years in Congress, are launching early campaigns for a new district that encompasses parts of both their previous seats.

Neither man has officially declared yet, but in separate interviews this week, both said they will run.

Given that both men are very well-liked, have similar political leanings, and appeal to the same type of voters, securing allegiances from Valley residents will be a battle.

TIPOFF: Rep. Howard Berman gets endorsement from GOP stalwarts in potential race against Rep. Brad Sherman.
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The Boeckmann's have supported some Democrats in the past, but aides say it has been a rare decision by them.

Councilwoman Janice Hahn won her bid for Congress on Tuesday over Republican Craig Huey by a strong margin.
The bittersweet victory came the day after the death of Hahn;s mother, Ramona Hahn,
Results showed Hahn with 30,545 votes for 56.8 percent to Huey's 23,207
for 43,1 percent,
Huey, a Tea Party memeber, spent niore than $800,000 of his own money on his campaign,.
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Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who is running against Republican Craig Huey in the South Bay for a congressional seat in the South Ba area, scaled back her campaign following the death on Monday of her mother, Ramona.
Hahn went early to her San Pedro polliing place to cast her ballot, then stated with family throughout the day. She was scheduled to be with supporters for an election return event.
Ramona Hahn died of unknown causes in her San Pedro home. She was 86.
The race against Huey has become closer than most expected as he has been able to put $800,000 of his own money into the race. Hahn has raises more than $1.2 million.

Continuing his appeal for federal government investments for local projects, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Sunday it would be "political malpractice" for Congress to fail to reach an agreement on raising the debt ceiling to balance the federal budget.DailyNews

"Our No. 1 priority is jobs, jobs, jobs," Villaraigosa said during an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation." "We have to put people back to work. We have to put up $40 billion we will get over the next 40 years that we want to see invested over the next 10 years. It doesn't cost the federal government much and we will pay it back."

But, he said, it will require Congress to agree to increase the debt limit to put the federal budget in balance.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took on a new role Monday as advocate for the nation's cities and his first stop was to lobby President Obama. Daily News.

Villaraigosa was inaugurated in Baltimore as the new president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, saying it was time for cities to begin making their voices heard in a Congress that has been dominated by rural and suburban interests for decades.

"We need to lead the national conversation about what America must do to put our people back to work," Villaraigosa said in his remarks in Baltimore.

"It's fitting we are meeting just a few miles outside of the Beltway - hopefully they can hear us all the way from Baltimore - because the thinking has got to change inside the Beltway."

In his first appearance on "Meet the Press" in his role as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa presented his argument Sunday for an increase of federal funding to cities. Daily News,

And, part of that, he said, is ending the wars in the Mideast to make more money available to cities.

"I think the term was used that (it) is like they are on another planet," Villaraigosa said when asked about the Republican presidential debate.