The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus is offering three important issues to focus on as the next millennium dawns: the 2000 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," said Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), in a recent exclusive interview with The Final Call.

With the census count having a major impact on everything from program funding to congressional redistricting, it is a subject that demands attention. The census helps determine who gets what and how much they get, so Black America must protect its interest by being counted.

Alongside the census is the continuing fight for justice from the criminal injustice system, which means fighting to end mandatory minimum sentencing, getting Black judges confirmed to the federal bench and a campaign to restore voting rights to ex-felons, who were convicted of non-violent crime.

Political power isn�t the magic bullet to solve the Black community�s ills, but it is a tool. The more of us who are deprived of that tool, the fewer options and lesser impact we can have. The power to vote�exercised properly to reward friends and punish enemies�must be protected.

Rep. Clyburn warns projections say by 2005, 40 percent of Black men will be ineligible to vote, if current trends continue. If you combine that percentage with those who are in jail, it means the impact Black male voters had on 1996 elections won�t be repeated�that vote put Mr. Clinton back in office and prefigured increased Black vote in 1998 mid-term congressional elections. The fallout from the 1998 election helped retire Georgia�s Newt Gingrich, who once seemed an unbeatable right wing Republican Party leader.