June 3, 2006

HOUSTON – Enron workers who lost billions in pension benefits when the company collapsed are voicing satisfaction that at last top Enron executives have been found guilty of a long list of crimes that plunged the company into bankruptcy.

With the May 25 Senate passage of S 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, both houses of Congress have approved separate major immigration bills. The next step is for a House/Senate conference committee to meet behind closed doors to see if members can reconcile the versions into one final bill.

The People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo was a hit at the Young Communist League USA’s 8th National Convention, held May 27-29 in Brooklyn, N.Y.

PITTSBURGH — The coal that miners extract at the Miller Brothers strip mine in Breathitt County, Ky., keeps the lights on in the chambers of Congress. On May 23, the Senate passed the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (MINER). That same day Steven Bryant, 23, went to work at Miller Brothers and died. The next day, Todd Upton, 34, died from head injuries underground at International Coal Group’s Sycamore #2 mine in Harrison County, W.Va. Both mines are nonunion.

WASHINGTON — The ultra-right is hopping mad that House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) joined with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a sharp protest to President George W. Bush for the FBI’s raid on the Capitol Hill offices of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.).

CHICAGO — Hundreds gathered May 12 at the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum here to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the 22nd Ward Independent Political Organization (IPO) and to rejoice in the continued fighting spirit of political independence.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Determined to fight for a better future and to beat back the ultra-right, over 250 members, friends and allies of the Young Communist League USA gathered at the Marriott Hotel here May 27-29 for the YCL’s 8th National Convention.

ANDERSON, Ind. (PAI) — In the 1970s, UAW Local 662, including workers at the Delphi Auto Parts plant in Anderson, Ind., had 17,000 members. In the early ’90s, less than half that remained. Now only 722 are left, and that number is dropping fast.

Earlier this month the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) held a conference on sexually transmitted diseases. The conference was slated to include a panel discussion entitled “Are ‘Abstinence-Only Until Marriage’ Programs a Threat to Public Health?” However, Indiana’s Republican Congressman Mark Souder complained to the Health and Human Services Department about “the controversial nature of this session and its obvious anti-abstinence objective.”