Solicitation Period has begun for Incarcerated Youth and Women Programs
(Washington, DC—February 28, 2013) – Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen would like to announce that the solicitation period for Grants for formerly incarcerated youth and women programs has begun.
Today, The United States Department of Labor has announced the availability of funding for two grant competitions. These competitions are geared towards non-profits that will offer job training, education, and support services to formerly incarcerated women and children.
The first program is Intermediary Organizations Serving Juvenile Offenders in High-Poverty, High-Crime Communities (HPHC): Any nonprofit organization with 501 (3)(c) status that meets the requirements of the solicitation may apply for this grant. The department will award a total of $20 million to four organizations to operate programs that work with juvenile offenders and youths at-risk of becoming juvenile offenders in high-poverty, high-crime communities. Each organization may submit only one application for |
Violence Against Women Act Passes the House Republican Substitute Amendment Fails
(Washington, D.C. – February 28, 2013) – The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday with Members affirming S. 47, the Senate version of the bill on a vote of 286 to 138. The vote was a victory for House Democrats who were successful in defeating a Republican led amendment in the nature of a substitute which would have left Native Americans, college students, immigrants and LGBT citizens outside of its protections.
As Assistant Minority Whip, Congresswoman Christensen helped to whip Democratic votes in support of the Senate version. “It was the version that was worthy of being passed,” she said. Earlier in the day, she joined Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and other House Democratic women in championing the Senate version. “Our unified stand coupled with breakaway Republicans with Native American constituencies forced them to bring the better Senate bill to the floor in case the Republican substitute failed,” she explain |
Christensen Outlines Key Issues At Intergovernmental Meeting
(Washington, D.C. – February 26, 2013) – Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen outlined key issues that the federal government can assist the Virgin Islands with at the annual Interagency Group on Insular Areas meeting on Tuesday. The meeting, chaired by David Hayes, Interior Department Deputy Secretary and David Agnew, White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs brings key federal officials together with territorial governors and delegates and their staff to discuss issues of particular concern. “This meeting comes at a critical time for us in the US Virgin Islands,” said Congresswoman Christensen. “We are facing a severe fiscal crisis and all of the requests are critical to our recovery.” Congresswoman Christensen said that the people of the territory are anxious about their future. “Although I see change and opportunity on the not too distant horizon, that horizon is at least a year and a half, 18 months away,” she said. She asked federal officials for atten |
Christensen Speaks Against Federal Budget Sequester White House Tours Cancelled; Congressional Staff Furloughed
(Washington, D.C. – March 5, 2013) – Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen joined her colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus on the floor of the House of Representatives on Monday evening to speak against the federal budget sequester which went into effect on March 1st.
Congresswoman Christensen decried the “across the board ax taken to government workers, contracts and programs in every department.” She told her colleagues: “I think that we are smart enough if the will is there to come together and reason and come to a far better approach than this blunt instrument that is now being applied.”
Congresswoman Christensen spoke specifically about the effect that the sequester will have on the Virgin Islands. “We stand to lose $13 million, while we do not fully participate in all of the federal programs that states do and many programs are capped regardless of need,” she pointed out. She spoke about the losses to Education, Headstart, WIC, TRIO and Upward Bo |
