Here’s Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, urging the House today to adopt an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2010 that would call for the Defense Secretary to report to Congress by Dec. 31 a comprehensive exit strategy from the war in Afghanistan:

The amendment later failed on a 138-278 vote: Lee, Pete Stark, George Miller, Jackie Speier, Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda and Lynn Woolsey voted for it; Ellen Tauscher and Jerry McNerney opposed it; and Zoe Lofgren and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn’t vote.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, spent some quality time today grilling Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing:

As I reported Monday, Bay Area House members were being pressed by anti-war progressives on one side and by President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the other about how to vote on the $106 billion supplemental spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The House passed the bill late Tuesday on a 226-202 vote. Here’s how the Bay Area delegation voted:

No: Barbara Lee, D-Oakland; Pete Stark, D-Fremont; Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough; Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma; Mike Honda, D-San Jose; Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose

Yes: George Miller, D-Martinez; Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo; Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton; Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto; Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco

The 32 Democrats voting against the bill did so mainly for anti-war reasons, while most of the 170 Republicans who opposed it did so because the bill included more than $5 billion for the International Monetary Fund. The bill passed overwhelmingly last month, but changes in conference committee led to an intense battle to get it through again.

Here’s what Lee had to say about it:

“I cannot support any funding for Iraq that was not dedicated solely for the redeployment of our troops and military contractors. I am also unable to support the open ended military escalation in Afghanistan. We need a better balance between humanitarian and military spending in Afghanistan and we need an exit strategy. The supplemental appropriations bill does not reflect a fundamental shift in direction. Therefore, I cannot support it.”

And here’s what Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said:

“Our men and women in uniform deserve far, far better than to be treated like this. Republicans supported a troop funding bill last month, and we are prepared to do so once again. But this is a politically-motivated stunt that uses troop funding as bait for a global bailout that should be judged on its own merits in its own legislation. Let’s give our troops the resources they need for victory in a real troop funding bill free of a costly global bailout.”

Strange bedfellows indeed.

Some liberal bloggers are singling Miller out for heat, because he’s among Democrats who voted against the war funding last month “when their votes stood no chance of actually blocking the funding” but voted for it Tuesday, as AfterDowningStreet.org’s David Swanson put it. Swanson described this group as “the Hall of Shame. These Congress members voted No for show when it didn’t matter, and voted Yes to fund wars when it came to crunch time.”

Elsewhere, the Down With Tyranny blog called Miller “another progressive who let pressure get to him and has now jumped the fence and is voting for more war.”

Miller, a close political ally of Pelosi, explained his shifting vote to the Chronicle:

“I understand the deep frustrations regarding this bill; I’ve voiced them myself and have consistently voted against the war,” Miller said. “I don’t support the war in Iraq, and I want to bring it to a close. I registered my concern, but now it is time to give President Obama what he believes he needs to make progress. This bill is part of the price of cleaning up the mess of the failed policies from the previous administration.”

It’s worth noting that the progressive community was split on this: Although lots of left-leaning groups opposed the bill, some significant heavyweights – including the Campaign for America’s Future, the Center for American Progress, Democracy for America, Moveon.org, Talking Points Memo, and True Majority – didn’t.

A few opportunities for you to meet with your elected representatives…

Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, will hold three budget summit meetings around her 14th Assembly District later this week, partnering with the nonprofit Next 10 so constituents can tackle the “California Budget Challenge” simulation and decide how to grapple with the state’s $24 billion deficit. “I am looking for feedback that I can take back to Sacramento,” Skinner says. The meetings are from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 18 in Emeryville City Hall, 1333 Park Ave.; from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 19 in Room 1 of the Elihu Harris State Office Building, 1515 Clay St. in Oakland; and 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 20 in the McHale Room at the Pleasant Hill Community Center, 320 Civic Dr.

Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, will host a roundtable discussion on Congress’ health-care reform efforts and steps needed to reduce healthcare disparities among minorities from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Monday, June 22 in the Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church, 408 MacArthur Blvd. in Oakland. Health care community leaders, providers and stakeholders from throughout Lee’s 9th Congressional District have been invited to participate.

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, will share updates on Washington happenings – including economic stimulus efforts – at a Contra Costa Council/Tri-Valley Business Council luncheon at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, June 30 in the Crow Canyon Country Club, 711 Silver Lake Dr. in Danville. Tickets for the event cost $35 for council members or elected officials, $45 for all others; reservations are required by June 24. Send your name, company, e-mail address, telephone number, number of tickets by type, amount due, and a Visa/Mastercard/American Express number with expiration date and authorized signature to the Contra Costa Council via fax, 925-674-1654, or by mail, 1335 Willow Way #253, Concord, CA 94520.

Several Bay Area House members are among targets of a progressive Democratic phone/fax/email lobbying blitz pressuring them to vote against the $100 billion Iraq/Afghanistan/Pakistan war supplemental spending bill, even as the Obama Administration and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi try to whip votes into line for it. From Democrats.com:

All 178 House Republicans plan to vote against the $100 billion Iraq/AfPak War Supplemental to protest $5 billion for the International Monetary Fund. That means 39 Democratic opponents could defeat the bill. 34 Democrats on the right promised to vote no, so we only need 5 more.

On May 14, 51 Democrats voted no and 4 Democrats were absent. Most were Progressives who oppose the war funding, but a few were Bluedogs who want to cut unnecessary spending.

Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland; Pete Stark, D-Fremont; and Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, already are on the list of lawmakers who’ve vowed to vote against the bill. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, is on the “voted with us on May 14 and still with us as far as we know” list, but I guess they can move her onto the sure-thing list with Lee, Stark and Woolsey now, based on the statement she sent me a few minutes ago:

“I voted against the Iraq/Afghanistan supplemental last month because I have serious problems with the current wars and do not believe that escalating the conflicts make America or the world safer.

“Increased military operations, with the inevitable civilian casualties, only inflame local resistance and increase the number and severity of violent attacks.

“While other items are included in the supplemental - many of which I support - this is, foremost, a vote for or against funding the wars. For that reason, I will again vote no when it comes to the floor.”

Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, were listed the same as Speier; I haven’t heard back from either of their offices yet.

Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, is listed among those who “voted with us on May 14 but now oppose us.” And Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, is listed among the unknowns; his spokeswoman, Sarah Hersh, said McNerney “has received a similar number of calls, emails and faxes on this subject as compared to other major issues. Of those who have contacted his office, there’s about equal support and opposition. The Congressman looks forward to hearing from his constituents on this and other issues.”

Stark co-authors mental-health bill: Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, was joined by Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, and Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., today in introducing the Healthy Transitions Act of 2009, which he says will help millions of young adults with mental illness who fall through the cracks when moving from youth into adulthood. This bill is a response to last year’s Government Accountability Office report (requested by Stark and then-Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore.) which found that the nation’s estimated 2.4 million young adults with serious mental illness have a hard time finding services to aid them during their transition to adulthood because services that are available for mental health, housing and employment are not always suited for and directed to their age group. The bill would offer planning grants to states to develop coordination plans and implementation grants to execute those plans, as well as create a committee to coordinate federal programs helping mentally ill adolescents and young adults; to provide technical aid to states; and to report back to Congress.

Woolsey to testify on oil spills: Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, will be among those testifying Thursday at a House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Environment hearing entitled “A New Direction for Federal Oil Spill Research and Development,” examining current federal efforts to prevent, detect and mitigate spills. Woolsey will speak on behalf of her new Federal Oil Spill Research Program Act of 2009, which aims to strength spill-response efforts and streamline development of new equipment and cleanup/containment methods. Also testifying will be officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the California Department of Fish and Game.

Honda, Lofgren and Lee tidbits, after the jump…
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Congress must eliminate the disparity between federal criminal sentences for crack cocaine and powder cocaine, the American Civil Liberties Union told the U.S. Sentencing Commission during a hearing today at the Stanford Law School.

The commission held the second in a series of regional public hearings on federal sentencing policy, marking the 25th anniversary of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, yesterday and today. The commission sets federal sentencing guidelines that are meant to balance goals such as punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation while providing some certainty and fairness across all of the nation’s federal judicial districts.

But Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office, testified that the cocaine disparity – in which a first-time simple possession of five grams of crack cocaine requires the same five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence as possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine – is inherently unfair.

That’s a 100-to-one disparity that disproportionately impacts blacks, she testified; ACLU criminal justice lobbyist Jennifer Bellamy explained to me later today that law enforcement resources are more concentrated in minority communities, so although studies estimate that two-thirds of crack users are white or Latino, 80 percent of federal inmates imprisoned for crack offenses are black.

“The creation of crack cocaine mandatory minimum sentences, developed in the wake of a flood of misinformation, illustrates the need for the Commission and Congress to base sentences on facts not fear,” Fredrickson testified. “Only when sentences reflect a review of the best pharmacological and social science evidence will the perception and reality of racial bias be eliminated.”

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Tex., has introduced H.R. 265, the Drug Sentencing Reform and Cocaine Kingpin Trafficking Act of 2009, which aims to equalize the crack and powder sentencing laws. Among the bill’s 35 cosponsors are Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland; Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont; and Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose.

“We hope that in recommending its passage to Congress, the Commission will emphasize that the Jackson Lee bill is a first step towards an end that will only be achieved when mandatory minimums are also eliminated,” Fredrickson testified.

UPDATE @ 10:57 A.M. TUESDAY 6/9: U.S. Sentencing Commission spokesman Michael Courlander notes that although the commission has made known its position on the crack-powder cocaine disparity, it has taken no position on any specific legislation to address the disparity.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland; Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley; and Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, are expected to join President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s niece, union officials and others Saturday for a rally “for Social Security fairness for teachers.”

Organizers say as many as 3,000 teachers might gather for the event from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. this Saturday, May 30 in the Berkeley Community Theater at Berkeley High School, 1930 Allston Way, to demand the repeal of legislation which currently keeps teachers and other public-service employees in California and 14 other states from receiving the earned Social Security benefits they’ve paid for and believe they’re entitled to.

Bills are pending in Congress – H.R. 235 by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Los Angeles, and S.484 by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. – that would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset.

The WEP requires that someone’s Social Security retirement or disability benefit be reduced when they’re also entitled to a pension from a job in which he or she didn’t pay Social Security tax; the GPO can reduce or eliminate the Social Security benefit for spouses, divorced spouses, and surviving spouses who also receive a pension based on their own work for federal, state or local government that was not covered by Social Security. Both became law in 1983.

The activists behind this rally say these provisions “have financially disadvantaged teachers for decades” by requiring that teachers who worked in the private sector before or during their teaching careers can’t collect full Social Security from deceased spouses or get the same Social Security payouts as other workers even if they paid in the same amounts. These provisions affect not only teachers but many other public-service workers including police, firefighters, and government service workers, they say.

The Assembly earlier this month voted 62-13 in favor of Torlakson’s Assembly Joint Resolution 10, urging Congress and President Barack Obama to repeal the provisions; the resolution is now pending before the state Senate.

Saturday’s rally is being organized by The Grassroots Committee For Social Security Fairness; co-sponsored by the California Retired Teacher Association; and supported by labor groups including the California Teachers Association and the National Education Association.

Children’s Hospital and Research Center of Oakland will receive funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for a biomedical research project, Rep. Barbara Lee announced today.

Lee, D-Oakland, said the institution will get $240,000 in economic-stimulus money from HHS to fund a proposal to test a new genetically-influenced mechanism that can contribute to differences in how patients respond to certain drugs. This research’s results could help doctors better identify who’ll benefit most from using statins — a class of drugs that lower cholesterol levels in people with or at risk of cardiovascular disease — and develop new strategies for boosting those drugs’ effectiveness.

“The work that is being done in this area is of extreme importance,” Lee said in her news release. “I am pleased that Children’s Hospital will receive funding for this project. It is my hope that the test will yield the type of results that will enhance the treatment of cardiovascular-related conditions.”

House Republicans have introduced a pair of bills in support of President Barack Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“President Obama has outlined a responsible strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and he deserves support from Democrats and Republicans in Congress as our troops, intelligence professionals, diplomatic officials, and allies work to ensure security in the region,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. “Today, House Republicans are introducing legislation reflecting and authorizing the Commander-in-Chief’s plan. Importantly, this legislation does not include arbitrary congressionally-mandated benchmarks that tie the hands of our generals and diplomatic officials on the ground as they work to stabilize a part of the world that is vital to our national security. At the same time, it fully authorizes the funding levels requested by the President for each country, while requiring that he submit a specific implementation plan to measure progress and help ensure his strategy’s success.”

Boehner praised representatives Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands; Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.; John McHugh, R-N.Y.; Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich.; and Peter King, R-N.Y. for shaping the bills. “We urge swift bipartisan passage of the measures to make certain those responsible for carrying out the President’s strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan have the resources they need to get the job done.”

Specifically, the bills would support the President’s strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan that he outlined on March 27; authorize the money he wants for Afghanistan; authorize $1.5 billion a year in foreign assistance aid to Pakistan, as well as the President’s request for $700 million for the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund; require the President to submit to Congress a comprehensive plan to implement his strategy for long-term security and stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan “that includes measures of effectiveness;” and require the Administration, including the departments of Defense and State, to regularly brief and notify Congress on the implementation of the President’s strategy.

Meanwhile, some liberal Bay Area House members still aren’t convinced Obama’s on the right track.

(T)he administration’s supplemental request does not adequately reflect these diplomatic and humanitarian priorities — priorities that we believe are essential to success for U.S. security interests,” Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland; Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma; and Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, recently wrote for the Politico. “In fact, 90 percent of the supplemental request would go toward funding ongoing and increased military operations. The remaining $7 billion would be divided between humanitarian, civil affairs, reconstruction and diplomatic efforts in the region.”

“The United States must reorient our national security policy in the region and maximize what the Obama administration has called our nation’s “smart power.” At the heart of this strategy must be a regional diplomatic surge that engages all of Afghanistan’s neighbors as full partners in aiding the Afghan people and strengthening its central government.”

Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, and Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health held a Capitol Hill news conference today urging all of Congress and others to join the “Darfur Fast for Life” campaign by fasting in solidarity with Darfur residents suffering at the hands of the Sudanese government.

“Almost 15 years ago in Rwanda, the international community turned a blind eye while a million civilians were hacked to death,” Lee said in a statement issued afterward. “Can we really say we have done any different in the case of Darfur, South Sudan, Abyei, and Nuba? We declared genocide in 2004, but we failed to act decisively to stop it. If we had acted then, we could have saved many innocent people. If we do the right thing now, we can save children from a certain death and end the suffering for millions.”

The campaign (though obviously not each individual’s own fast) will continue until Congress adjourns in August. Payne began a four-day, water-only fast May 10. Among those who’ve also fasted are Virgin Group founder and chairman Sir Richard Branson and actress Mia Farrow, the latter of whom was at Tuesday’s news conference.

Lee spokesman Ricci Graham said she’s starting her fast today, for a length yet to be determined.