After etching her name in the legislative record books in the state Assembly in Sacramento, Karen Bass jumped to Congress 13 months ago, lopsidedly winning the seat of retiring U.S. Rep. Diane Watson (D-Culver City). Hardly a blade of grass has been disturbed in the switchover.
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U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, at left, reports yesterday to the community
No one complained of missing the outspoken veteran Ms. Watson when her replacement stepped in. The district’s visibility remained sturdy and vocal. Eschewing freshman jitters, looked Congress in the eye, introduced seven bills, influenced another and even managed to buttonhole President Obama for a pep talk — she gave it to him, not the other way.
By now a confident, polished legislator, her transition from state to federal government was as seamless for Ms. Bass as changing shoes or moving across the street.
When she came home yesterday to report on her rookie season to about 150 enthused activists at the Holman United Methodist Church on broad West Adams Boulevard, her self-written report card reflected high scores.
mploying her tongue as her most effective ammunition, Ms. Bass opened her red-meat speech by spanking her Republican adversaries and the Tea Party for their “delaying” tactics this week with the payroll tax cut, potentially hurting tens of millions of workers.
Ms. Bass was speaking one day before the House leaders agreed late this afternoon to settle for the two-month payroll tax cut extension, with a consenting vote expected tomorrow morning.
“The Tea Party is running the House of Representatives,” she said. “They have taken over. For all the people who thought the Tea Party was going to show us a new day and make Washington, D.C., right, we know what happened when you give them the power. They are running the House of Representatives. There is enough of them that they form a bloc of votes and keep the Speaker (John Boehner) from doing what he wants to do.
“Even though I don’t agree with any of Speaker Boehner’s policies, I do have empathy for him. I have been in that position. (Ms. Bass was Speaker of the Assembly before being term-limited.) I went through hard times. But after seeing what is going on now in the House, I have thought ‘Gee, I had it easy,’” and that was worth a husky laugh from the audience. “I didn’t have people stabbing me in the back every single day like he does.
It Could Hurt
“In a nutshell, what has happened is unemployment for 160 million Americans is going to run out in the next couple of weeks. They have been on unemployment for a long time. They need us to pass legislation to extend their unemployment insurance,” an applause line.
“The President, as part of his jobs act, wants to have a tax cut to payrolls so you will have a little more money in your pocket. He wants to have the tax cut extended into next year.
“Finally, if we don’t pass legislation by the end of the month, doctors who take care of patients on Medicare are going to have their pay cut. That means doctors will say ‘I am not going to take care of patients on Medicare.’
“The Senate decided they couldn’t come to agreement on those things for a year. But they did agree to extend it for two months. They put in a poison pill, that Keystone XL pipeline. The bill says the President has to decide whether to move forward with the pipeline. It doesn’t say he ‘has’ to move forward with it. He already has said his decision is ‘no.’ He will then have 60 days to say ‘no’ again,” another applause line.
Looking Ahead
Ms. Bass listed four goals for the new year:
• Improving access of administrative and federal agencies.
• Exploring the foster care system nationally (one of her neon causes). • P
roviding support for job creation and small businesses.
• Launching a foster youth caucus.
Of the seven bills Ms. Bass authored, one, the Child Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act, was signed into law.
Among the others were: Foster Care Mentoring Act, Speaking Out to Stop Child Abuse Act, strengthening the Child Welfare to Human Trafficking Act, the Home Ownership Preservation Act, the Health IT Modernization for Underserved Communities (to aid physicians’ assistants, a position she once held), Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act (by 2020).”
Afterward, Culver City activist Tom Camarella stepped to the microphone and told a beaming Ms. Bass, “Terrific first year.”
To contact Rep. Bass, see http://karenbass.house.gov
