Kaʻū News Briefs, Friday, April 5, 2019

Three classic cars captivated the attention of car lovers. The red 1965 Corvette Sting Ray has been owned for  44 years by Tony Page, a Ranchos resident. The blue coupe is a 1972 Volvo 1800 ES owned by Les Garbis who lives in HOVE. The paint job on the large black van is familiar to customers of Ocean View Auto Parts, one of ten businesses that donated prizes for the show that raised money for OVCA. Photo by Annie Bosted

A CLASSIC CAR & BIKE SHOW FUNDRAISER for Ocean View Community Association last weekend drew more than 200 attendees. Organized by OVCA, the event displayed 23 classic and vintage cars, and 13 very fancy bikes at Ocean View Community Center.

Suffragist Alice Paul introduced the ERA in 1923. Photo from National Women's History Museum

     The first version of the ERA was introduced by suffragist Alice Paul in 1923. While a version of the ERA passed Congress in 1972, it fell short of the constitutional requirement that 38 states ratify the amendment. Currently, the U.S. Constitution does not contain any explicit protections guaranteeing equal rights for women.
     Said Hirono, "Passing a constitutional amendment that guarantees full equality on the basis of sex is long overdue. Women have made long strides toward equality since I first entered public service more than 30 years ago, and while we have made great progress, we are not done fighting yet. Under the current administration, we have faced an extraordinary number of attacks that would limit women's access to affordable, accessible health care, roll back workplace protections and opportunities, and ignore economic issues that disproportionately affect women, such as the gender wage gap and unpaid family and medical leave time. It is time that our country recognize the full political, economic, and social equality of all women, and pass the Equal Rights Amendment."
     "Throughout the past two years, the Trump Administration has ignored the gender wage gap; attempted to block access to affordable, quality reproductive health care; and has appointed right-wing judges who have been groomed by conservative think tanks who seek to roll back time. The Equal Rights Amendment was first passed nearly 50 years ago and, while we have made great strides in forming a more equal and just society, we have recently found ourselves having to fight the same old battles to keep the clock from turning back. Now more than ever, we must formally codify in the U.S. Constitution that women are entitled full equality under the law, and I won't stop fighting until that day comes."
     Sunu Chandy, Legal Director for the National Women's Law Center, said, "Equal rights for women means ensuring access to reproductive health care, equal pay, and freedom from pregnancy-based discrimination.The NWLC supports having additional attention paid to the on-going sex discrimination faced by so many – that this work to pass the ERA will provide. Including equality based on sex, explicitly as part of the U.S. Constitution, will highlight to everyone in this nation and beyond that the fight for women’s rights must continue until these rights are a reality for all of us, including women of color, immigrant women, poor women, women with disabilities and LGBTQ individuals."
     ERA is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jackie Rosen (D-Nev.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).

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A RESOLUTION URGING AN END TO THE SAUDI WAR IN YEMEN and withdrawing U.S. troops from involvement is headed for Pres. Donald Trump's desk. Kaʻū's Rep. Tulsi Gabbard urged the House to approve S.J.Res.7 on Thursday. Just before the vote, Gabbard spoke on the House Floor, saying, "Right now the United States continues to support Saudi Arabia's genocidal war in Yemen. This support has been ongoing since 2015 and yet has never been authorized by Congress. It must end now.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. Photo from Gabbard's Flickr

     "U.S. support for this war has resulted in dire consequences. Just last week the Saudi coalition bombed a hospital, they've bombed school buses, weddings, markets, funerals. Tens of thousands of Yemeni civilians killed. Millions more are in dire need of humanitarian aid, starving and sick without access to food and water or basic medicine. This has created the worst humanitarian disaster in the world. We need to put politics aside. Lives are at stake. We cannot afford to delay."
     The House of Representatives voted 247-175 to pass S.J.Res.7 and sent it to Trump for his signature or veto.
     In congress and during her campaign to become U.S. President, Gabbard often speaks about her opposition to "counterproductive, regime-change wars." She has called for ending support for Saudi Arabia, pushed for additional oversight on acquisition and cross-service agreements (Section 1271 of the FY19 NDAA), supported three resolutions in the 115th Congress (H.Con.Res.81, H.Con.Res.138, and H.Con.Res.142) that sought to stop U.S. military participation in Saudi Arabia's war against the Houthis in Yemen, in addition to bipartisan legislation (H.R.7082) that would immediately stop all military sales and aid to the government of Saudi Arabia, and more. The congresswoman also led a letter calling on former Speaker Paul Ryan to schedule an immediate vote on a bipartisan resolution to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
     Last congress, Gabbard and Rep. Walter Jones introduced H.Res.922, which would reclaim Congress's constitutional right to declare war by: Defining presidential wars not declared by Congress under Article I, section 8, clause 11 (Declare War Clause) as impeachable "high crimes and misdemeanors," and prohibiting the President from perpetuating ongoing wars or supplying war materials, military troops, trainers, or advisers, military intelligence, financial support or their equivalent in association, cooperation, assistance, or common cause without first receiving congressional authorization.

See footage of the car and driver at bigislandvideonews.com

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