In August 2009, President Obama honored Harvey Milk posthumously with America’s highest civilian medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, with the following citation: Harvey Bernard Milk dedicated his life to shattering boundaries and challenging assumptions. As one of the first openly gay elected officials in this country, he changed the landscape of opportunity for the nation’s…
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Politics trumped progress on Friday as President Barack Obama and Republican leaders traded blame for $85 billion in forced spending cuts after they failed to come up with a compromise to avert the harshest impacts. The president signed an order required by law that set in motion the automatic, government-wide cuts. Obama…
Today, the White House released the following statement from President Barack Obama on the Senate passage of the Violence Against Women Act: “Today the Senate passed a strong bipartisan bill to reauthorize and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act. This important step shows what we can do when we come together across party lines to…
National lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights organizations, including the National Center for Lesbian Rights, today released a joint statement reiterating the call for a comprehensive immigration policy that ensures fair and just treatment for all those currently impacted by our failed immigration policy. It comes as a bipartisan group of U.S. senators today…
Members of the House of Representatives have offices in three buildings, each of which is named after a former speaker: Sam Rayburn, Nicholas Longworth and Joseph Gurney Cannon. When a fourth building is needed, I have little doubt it will be the “Nancy Pelosi House Office Building.” Not just because she was the first woman…
WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Barack Obama launched his second term Monday with a call for the United States to continue its “never-ending journey” to live up to the ideals of its founders. On his way out, with the oath taken — again — and the speech delivered, he stopped. And for about 24 seconds, as…
WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Barack Obama has picked a neighbor to deliver the closing prayer at the inauguration. The Rev. Luis León told CNN on Tuesday the White House and the Presidential Inaugural Committee invited him last week to deliver the closing prayer at the 57th presidential inauguration. León pastors Saint John’s Church, an Episcopal…
(CNN) — In the face of withering criticism over a sermon he apparently delivered on homosexuality in the 1990s, the Rev. Louie Giglio has withdrawn from giving the benediction at President Barack Obama’s inauguration. Giglio informed inauguration officials Thursday morning of his decision to withdraw from the ceremony, an inauguration official told CNN. “I am…
(CNN) — The R-rated insult House Speaker John Boehner hurled upon Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last week at the White House was a deviation from the normally diplomatic language of official Washington. After all, it isn’t every day that reports emerge of a top lawmaker telling another to “Go f*** yourself.” But it’s certainly…
(CNN) — After exhaustive negotiations that strained the country’s patience, the House approved a bill to avert the dreaded fiscal cliff, staving off widespread tax increases and deep spending cuts. In the 257-167 vote late Tuesday, 172 Democrats and 85 Republicans favored the bill; 16 Democrats and 151 Republicans opposed it. The approved plan maintains…
