WASHINGTON�The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus has three primary things on his mind going into the year 2000�the upcoming census, correcting the judiciary system and fighting environmental racism.

"We want to make sure in the year 2000 we don�t make the same mistakes of 1990. We want a fair count. If you�re not counted, you�re not funded," said Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), in an exclusive Sept. 20 interview with The Final Call.

The census will be the "defining issue" for Blacks for the next decade, according to Rep. Clyburn, because the count dictates allocation of funds, and Blacks tend to be undercounted and therefore underfunded.

Rep. Clyburn said the CBC has launched a national initiative, headed by Rep. Carrie Meek (D-Fla.), to get people in every congressional district involved in the census between now and April 1, the day the count ends.

"People believe the census will be counting all year. There is only one day to count people for the next 10 years. Census Day is April 1, 2000," stressed Rep. Clyburn.

Census 2000 will be the first with a two-tract count. Congress has given enough funds to do the traditional head count, which is faulty in the poor communities where white counters are often too afraid to venture into "bad neighborhoods."

But this year, much to the delight of Rep. Clyburn, there will also be statistical sampling to give more accurate information. "The people are there, they just aren�t counted. So when they show up for Medicaid services there are insufficient funds because they weren�t counted," he said to The Final Call.

"This happens every year with education. We start off underfunded and we start off with overcrowded schools and people wonder where did these children come from," said the congressman. "I�m proud of what we�ve done to make the census count fair and accurate."

Rep. Clyburn also stressed the importance of making sure the judicial system is fair. "Something must be done to get rid of mandatory minimum sentencing and something must be done to restore the voting rights to those convicted of nonviolent crimes," he said.

Thirty-one percent of Black men in Florida and Alabama are no longer eligible to vote; more than 25 percent of Black men in Texas and five other states are no longer eligible to vote, explained the CBC chairman.

"The projections are that by 2005, 40 percent of African American men will be ineligible to vote. We must begin to develop a grass roots approach to bring attention to this matter," Rep. Clyburn said.

Finally, environmental justice, according to Rep. Clyburn, is needed to protect poor, Black or Latino communities targeted for toxic waste disposal, and pollution generating and emitting facilities to the exclusion of more affluent communities.

"In order to get employment in our areas, citizens shouldn�t have to choose between jobs and clean air, or good health and economic development," Rep. Clyburn said. "We have sufficient technology to develop smart bombs that can go down a chimney, why can�t we develop jobs with a clean environment?

"We want people to look at these issues, go back to their neighborhoods and get to work," he said.

Forging an agenda

Rep. Clyburn and other CBC members led braintrusts and issues forums during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation�s 29th Annual Legislative Weekend, Sept. 15-19. Over 50 sessions were held to examine challenges and opportunities facing Black America. Topics ranged from science and technology to the judiciary to health to international affairs, banking, small business, veterans concerns, aging, telecommunications, youth and other issues.

Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) sponsored a forum on "Voting Rights and Year 2000 Elections." She urged the audience not to ignore the problem of redistricting, which is tied to census figures. "We all know that congressional districts don�t start looking funny until Black people start getting elected. And then everyone wonders what is wrong! We need to make people understand how important it is to participate in this process because it is critical," she said.

Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) urged listeners to focus on "International Affairs: Improving the Health of Africa," during one braintrust. America is ignoring the needs of Africa, while millions suffer from AIDS and other diseases, she said. "We cause the wars to keep them destabilized in order to get their resources. We keep them impoverished, diseased and malnourished because we have stolen their wealth. And with your help and activism, we can make U.S. policy help, not hurt, and make a difference in the lives of African people," said Rep. McKinney.

In a workshop on "How America�s Drug Policies Are Imprisoning Our Communities," Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), pointed out that 96 percent of crack cocaine defendants are Black and Latino, caused by disparity in sentencing for possession of crack and powder cocaine. Five grams of crack brings a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, it would take 500 grams of powdered cocaine to get the same sentence, she said. Rep. Waters has introduced bill HR 1621, in an effort to repeal mandatory minimums.

She ended the session by dumping out boxes of letters her office has received from people who have loved ones incarcerated because of mandatory minimums. "These are real human beings. We have petitions from prisoners, their mothers and fathers call, their grandmothers call. Something must be done," she said, holding up letters.

"Our children need every one of us to commit to rebuilding the institution of fatherhood. Black children deserve good and constructive relationships with their fathers. We must use every available resource to inspire men to be committed, loving and responsible fathers," said Rep. Julia Carson (D-Ind.), who sponsored the "Responsible Fatherhood: Ensuring African American Fathers Count" forum. About 70 percent of Black children are born to single mothers and 80 percent can expect to spend time away from their dads, she said. Research shows when fathers are absent, school, drug and violence problems increase, Rep. Carson noted.

During Illinois Democrat Danny Davis� three-and-a-half hour "Welfare To Work: Is It Working?" forum a 20-something welfare mom, who lives with her mother, spoke of problems with getting help to leave the system�from lack of child care to lazy agency workers who were supposed to help her. By the end of the session, a United Airlines vice president volunteered to give her a job.

The young woman�s plight is an example of continued problems, despite drops in the welfare rolls, said Richard Boykin, chief of staff for Rep. Davis. There is no way to track welfare recipients and tell whether they are making progress or stuck in low-wage, dead end jobs, he said. Panelists stressed more must be done to help people still stuck in poverty, Mr. Boykin noted. Part of the fight must happen at the state level where lawmakers have federal money to help welfare recipients that isn�t being used, he continued. Health care and what happens if the economy sours are other questions, Mr. Boykin added.

Native American/Black Unity

"A lot of people talk about the parties that go on during the (legislative) weekend, but I think that people who walked away from the welfare-to-work forum�who walked away from some of the other forums that were going on�will talk about those issues forums. These issues forums are really what galvanize the nation, are really what bring us around a centerpiece or an agenda," he said.

Blacks in America and Native Americans must form a partnership, proclaimed Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) in his "African American, Native American: A Shared History�The Case of the Black Seminole Freedmen" workshop.

Native American Chief Jerry Haney told The Final Call that his people want their land back, but need CBC help. "Our issue has been before the Indian Claims Division. It takes an act of Congress to help us. We don�t have representation in Congress like the Blacks have. We�re asking the Congressional Black Caucus to support our cause, to correct the wrongs done on this issue. We�ve been together since the 1800s. We need the CBC to do this," he said.

The plight of Native Americans is often overlooked, congressmen said. "Human rights abroad brought me to human rights at home. Leonard Peltier, is he our Nelson Mandela?" asked Rep. McKinney, talking about an imprisoned Native American leader.

In the audience was Nation of Islam Chief of Protocol Claudette Marie Muhammad. She was part of a delegation led by Nation of Islam First Lady Khadijah Farrakhan and Min. Farrakhan�s daughter, Maria. "Thank you for accepting us and Min. Louis Farrakhan for having enough interest in us to send a representative," said Ted Underwood, chairman of the Mekuseky Band Indians.

Health issues confronting Black women was examined in a workshop conducted by Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.). In the United States 50 percent of women over the age of 20 are overweight, with Black women more overweight than other women, she said, during the "Black Women�s Recipe for Solving Our Health Crisis through Fitness and Diet" forum.