Who is Rep Payne of NJ? Great

[greekspeak]

Just called Bar out for her statement about all the lucky ducks in Houston. Not by name, but it was her. YES.

[mcscajun]

1. Congressman for the 10th District of NJ.

Comprising, Essex, Union, and part of Hudson counties.

Donald M. Payne, a native of Newark, New Jersey, was elected to represent the 10th Congressional District of New Jersey in 1988 as New Jersey's first African American Congressman by an overwhelming majority and has been returned by a wide margin of the vote in each subsequent election. In 2004, he won election to his ninth term to represent the 10th District in the 109th Congress.

Congressman Payne serves on the powerful Democratic Steering Committee, whose membership determines each individual committee assignment for Democratic members and plays an active role in shaping the legislative agenda. In addition, he is a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, where he serves on two subcommittees - the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations and the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness, which has jurisdiction over higher education issues. He is also a member of the International Relations Committee and its Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, where he holds the position of Ranking Member. A past Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, he is a member of the Democratic Whip Organization and has served as a member of the House Democratic Leadership Advisory Group. As a leading advocate of education, he has been instrumental in the passage of key legislation, including the Goals 2000 initiative to improve elementary and secondary schools; the School-to-Work Opportunities Act; the National Service Act and the Student Loan Bill.

(snip)

On the international front, Congressman Payne has been at the forefront of efforts to restore democracy and human rights in nations throughout the globe, including South Africa, Namibia, Haiti, Zaire, Nigeria, China, Eastern Europe and Northern Ireland. He was one of five members of Congress chosen to accompany President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton on their historic six-nation tour of Africa.

In the 108th Congress, Payne was successful in wining passage of a resolution declaring genocide in Darfur, Sudan. He is leading the national Divest Sudan Campaign to divest state-administered pension funds of companies doing business with the country. In addition, a resolution introduced by Congressman Payne commemorating a decade of majority rule in South Africa was approved by his colleagues.

(snip)

A former national President of the YMCA, he served as Chairman of the World Refugee and Rehabilitation Committee.


http://www.house.gov/payne/

[greekspeak]

2. Excellent speech just a bit ago on C-Span.

NJ...be proud he is yours. Good people there.