Interview with Rep. Mel Watt, New CBC Chair

Interview with New CBC Chair

As the 109th Congress was sworn in, Congressman Melvin L. Watt (D-NC) took over as the new chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Rep. Watt has been in Congress representing the 12th Congressional District of North Carolina for the past 12 years and has just began his 7th term as a Member of Congress and the new unanimously elected Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Rep. Watt in his own words talks to Policy Perspectives about his plans and the work of the Congressional Black Caucus over the next two years.

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http://www.cbcfinc.org/profile_watt.htm



Policy Spotlight

CBCF Staff: Congressman Watt, Congratulations on your election as the Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus(CBC). Why did you seek this position and what are your goals for the next 2 years as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus?

Congressman Mel Watt: I sought this position because I have had the opportunity to be here for 12 years and observe the influence that the CBC has. I’ve also had the opportunity to observe prior Chairs and I’ve seen what needs to happen. I also feel that knowing the personalities of various Members of the CBC provides an opportunity for me to coalesce the group.

My goal is to maximize the impact of the CBC by coalescing members behind a precise agenda developed by the CBC and a set of action steps that members are willing to participate in. This will be done by keeping the group focused and unified.

CBCF Staff: What specific agenda items will the Congressional Black Caucus take on in the next two years under your leadership?

Congressman Mel Watt: I have one specific agenda item. That is closing disparities that have existed and continue to exist between Whites and African Americans. These disparities separating Blacks from Whites continue to exist in every aspect of life. Now, having said that, there are numerous disparities outlined in the agenda that must be addressed.

CBCF Staff: The Congressional Black Caucus has now expanded to include 43 members of congress including a U.S. Senator. How will the Caucus use this new found growth to expand its mission and ensure minorities have a strong representative voice in Congress.

Congressman Mel Watt: Well, there’s power in numbers. If you can unify those numbers behind a single objective, the more people marching together, the more effective we’ll be. We could have 43 different messages or be unified under one set of objectives essentially singing from the same sheet of music. Acting, voting, educating, messaging and tugging together. There lies our power.

CBCF Staff: The 40th anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights Act occurs next year and in 2007 the bill will be reauthorized.

In light of the voter disenfranchisement that occurred during the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, what fundamental changes do you believe need to occur to ensure minority voting rights?

Congressman Mel Watt: First, we need to reauthorize the provisions that will expire in 2007. I don’t want to contribute to the myth that African Americans will loose their right to vote, since that’s just not the case. Only certain provisions of the Act will expire. Those provisions are important enough to reauthorize the bill, because they keep local and state governments from making changes that could be detrimental to African Americans.

Beyond that we need to improve the election process itself. We did that through the Help America Vote Act of 2003. We, however need to strengthen both acts by making it clear that specific acts like deterring people from voting, falsifying results, defunct voting machines in poor districts, and the like that actually occurred in the last two election cycles are made illegal acts.

CBCF Staff: A key issue for African Americans is the economy, specifically, the job loss in the manufacturing and retail industries.

How would you recommend we increase African American participation in the labor market in this economic climate? Do you think that special attention should be given to reducing black male unemployment?

Congressman Mel Watt: First, we need to make sure that the current employment laws are enforced, both in the private and public sector. We then need to ensure that the opportunities for our people exist, by improving education at the elementary and High School levels as well as retraining programs for adults to upgrade their skills and make them more competitive in the current business environment.

We also need to ensure the continuation of Affirmative Action. We know that employment laws prohibit unlawful acts, but we need to ensure that they actually benefit African Americans.

CBCF Staff: Following up on your meeting with the President on January 26th, 2005, are you hopeful that dialogue between the CBC and the White House will improve?


Congressman Mel Watt: The Jury is still out on that. It’s hard for me to prognosticate on it , but I’m hopeful for a positive response to our meeting and hopeful for more meetings and dialogue over the next few years. However, on the other side of that, nothing made me less hopeful that it would be a constructive relationship.

I recall about 4 years ago when the CBC went to the White House to meet with the President, we thought there would be more dialogue, but here we are, 4 years later and that wasn’t the case, so I can’t read positively or negatively into that.

We’ll get a better idea over the next few weeks when he has an opportunity to use his bully pulpit at the State of the Union address, where we’ll be looking for him to address the disparities that continue to exist between Blacks and Whites in this country. He’ll have a second opportunity to demonstrate his commitment to these disparities by funding programs that reduce disparities when he submits his budget. None the less, we’ll be watching.

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Rep. Watt's House website is http://www.house.gov/watt/