Collaboration to educate consumers: ‘Always a treat’ – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

As conversation hearts and boxes of chocolates start to appear across America this week, we’re reminded that candy plays a very special role in our celebration of Valentine’s Day.

We found some recent developments in the confectioner industry worthy of note this Valentine’s Day.

The National Confectioners Association (NCA) has joined with the Partnership for a Healthier America to provide consumers with more information about their favorite treats. Known as the Always A Treat Initiative, this is a 5-year collaboration to focus on transparency, portion guidance and choice, and consumer education.

NCA says that, over the next few years, consumers will begin to see more chocolate and candy options in smaller pack sizes, along with new products and more front-of-pack calorie labels. And, they tell us, many of those choices will be 200 calories or less. That’s a positive development. 

The data show that consumers enjoy candy about two or three times per week and average around 40 calories per day from chocolate and candy items. Sounds about right. I’m an “everything-in-moderation” believer myself, and as someone with a serious sweet tooth, a little candy goes a long way in satisfying my craving for sweets.

Providing more information and adaption to consumer demand makes sense for the industry. 

NCL likes the confectioner industry’s collaboration with PHA and the investment they are making in programs to help consumers to make better and healthier choices for themselves and their families. So enjoy the sweet treats that come with this holiday, and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Child Labor Coalition joins calls for cleaner, more responsible jewelry supply chain – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

February 8, 2018

Contact: Reid Maki, Child Labor Coalition, (202) 207-2820, reidm@nclnet.org 

Washington, DC–The Child Labor Coalition (CLC) today joins nearly 30 NGOs and trade unions from around the world in calling on the jewelry industry to ensure responsible sourcing of precious metals and gems. One million children toil in mines, often extracting metals, including gold and silver, and gems like jade, emeralds, and diamonds. The work is extremely hazardous, putting children at risk of serious injury and death. Many child miners use toxic substances such as mercury that can cause severe damage to their developing neurological systems. Mining also causes profound ecological damage in many communities, polluting waterways and soil and endangering the health of communities.

“Consumers purchase nearly $300 billion in jewelry each year,” said Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League (NCL) and co-chair of the CLC, whose 38 member organizations have worked to reduce child labor around the world for nearly three decades. “It’s time for jewelry companies to do more to provide consumers with jewelry that isn’t tainted with the scourges of child labor and forced labor. Existing mechanisms to clean up this supply chain have not gone far enough. It’s time for greater transparency. Jewelry companies must take responsibility for their supply chains.”

“The prevalence of child labor in the jewelry supply chains is a major concern,” said Reid Maki, NCL’s director of child labor advocacy and coordinator of the CLC. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, child labor is found in gold mining in 21 countries. Child labor is also used to produce silver in Bolivia, rubies and jade in Burma, and diamonds in six African countries. In the Philippines, children do compression mining of gold, submerged under muddy water while they breathe air through flimsy plastic hoses.

Today, the NGOs and trade unions are issuing a Call to Action to the jewelry industry calling on companies to:

  • Put in place and implement a robust supply chain due diligence policy;
  • Ensure full chain of custody over gold and diamonds by requiring evidence of business transactions and their transport routes from their suppliers;
  • Assess and respond to human rights risks throughout their supply chains, and ensuring that workers have a right to unionize and access to effective remedy;
  • Use independent third-party audits;
  • Publicly report on their human rights due diligence on an annual basis;
  • Publish the names of gold and diamond suppliers and their independent third-party audit mechanisms;
  • Actively seek gold and diamonds from artisanal and small-scale mines that are not associated with human rights violations and willing to formalize;
  • Improve human rights conditions in artisanal and small-scale mining communities;
  • Support multi-stakeholder initiatives designed to strengthen responsible minerals sourcing and work with mining cooperatives and trade unions.*

“Through this ‘Call to Action’ and the accompanying campaign, we hope to see real engagement and transformation of the jewelry industry,” said Judy Gearhart, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum and chair of the CLC’s International Issues Committee.

The CLC also applauds Human Rights Watch’s new report, “The Hidden Cost of Jewelry: Human Rights in Supply Chains and the Responsibility of Jewelry Companies,” which examines the sourcing of gold and diamonds by 13 major jewelry and watch brands that generate more than $30 billion in annual revenue in the United States.

*The campaign action steps are spelled out in greater detail by Human Rights Watch on its web site.

About the Child Labor Coalition

The Child Labor Coalition, which has 38 member organizations, represents consumers, labor unions, educators, human rights and labor rights groups, child advocacy groups, and religious and women’s groups. It was established in 1989, and is co-chaired by the National Consumers League and the American Federation of Teachers. Its mission is to protect working youth and to promote legislation, programs, and initiatives to end child labor exploitation in the United States and abroad. The CLC’s website and membership list can be found at StopChildLabor.org.

 

NCL critical of CFPB’s decision to stop protecting consumers from massive data breaches

/in imported/by

February 6, 2018

Contact: NCL Communications, Carol McKay carolm@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2831

Washington, DC–Consumers should be extremely troubled by reports that Mick Mulvaney, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has stopped investigating the Equifax breach, which affected 143 million consumers’ accounts. Equifax’s mishandling of consumers’ most personal data increased the risk of identity fraud for millions of consumers.

The following statement is attributable to John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud: 

“The mission of the CFPB is simple: to protect consumers. In the wake of one of America’s most damaging data breach, 143 million Americans are now at increased risk for becoming a victim of identity fraud. Victims of such crime can have their ability to borrow, get a job, or rent a home damaged for years. The idea that protecting consumers from data breaches and identity fraud is somehow beyond the scope of the CFPB is ridiculous. It’s time for the acting director of the CFPB to stop protecting businesses that harm Americans and fulfill the mission of its Congressionally-mandated mission. The CFPB must continue its investigation to make sure that a data breach like Equifax’s never happens again.”

###

About the National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit https://nclnet.org.

National Consumers League: Consumer agency independence vindicated by court ruling – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

February 1, 2018

Contact: NCL Communications, Carol McKay carolm@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2831

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League is calling the January 31, 2018 Court of Appeals decision “a vindication of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s structure and mission.”

On Wednesday, in a 7-3 vote, the federal appeals court for the District of Columbia found that “Congress established the independent CFPB to curb fraud and promote transparency in consumer loans, home mortgages, personal credit cards, and retail banking.”

Comparing the independent structure of the Bureau to other federal agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, the court noted, “The Supreme Court eighty years ago sustained the constitutionality of the FTC, a consumer protection financial regulator with powers analogous to those of the CFPB in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, 295 U.S. 602 (1935).  In doing so, the Court approved the very means of independence Congress used here: protection of agency leadership from at-will removal by the President.”

The National Consumers League strongly supported the creation of the CFPB, part of the 2008 Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The Bureau was established to oversee the activities of the financial services industry to ensure they abide by basic consumer protections.  The Bureau has returned $12 billion to consumers and has successfully curbed predatory payday loan, debt collection, student loan and mortgage fraud practices.

“We greatly appreciate this vindicating decision by a very influential federal court., said Sally Greenberg, the NCL’s Executive Director. “Indeed, we agree that the CFPB’s independent structure is critically important to keep it removed from political pressures and to allow the Bureau to do its job: protect consumers from predatory industry practices. Consumers have few allies looking after their interests when it comes to complicated financial transactions. The Bureau is one of the few of these institutions. We are very pleased that the court upheld its mission, structure and independence.”

###

About the National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit https://nclnet.org.

Fraud trends: Bogus Internet sales remain most-reported fraud for fifth year in a row; Fake check, phishing scams making a comeback

/in imported/by

February 1, 2018

Contact: NCL Communications, Carol McKay carolm@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2831

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s pioneering consumer advocacy organization, has released its annual compilation of the top ten scams reported to Fraud.org, NCL’s flagship project for fraud prevention and education. Based on an analysis of nearly 5,000 fraud complaints submitted by consumers to Fraud.org in 2017, NCL is warning consumers to beware Internet merchandise sales scams.

For the fifth year in a row, Internet merchandise scams topped the list of complaints reported to Fraud.org. The way many consumers first come into contact with these scams is via a “too good to be true” ad on a website, social media platform, or Internet forum. Popular ways scammers catch consumers’ eyes is with deep discounts on goods like iPhones, sneakers, luxury apparel, video game systems and even pets.

“The convenience of online shopping is simply unbeatable for many consumers,” said John Breyault, who directs Fraud.org. “Obviously there are plenty of legitimate companies online, but there are also fraudulent sellers out to cheat consumers—and they are very good at what they do.”

While the top scam didn’t change in 2017, other forms of fraud made sizeable gains. Year-over-year, complaints about fake check scams increased 12.55 percent and phishing/spoofing scams increased by 27.28 percent, respectively. The growth of fake check scam complaints is particularly worrisome, given that the 12.55 percent increase in 2017 followed a 15.16 percent increase in 2016.

In fake check scam scenarios, consumers are paid with realistic looking phony checks for work or for items they’re trying to sell and then are instructed to wire proceeds from the check back to buyer. Ultimately, the consumer is left responsible when their bank tells them the check is worthless. In phishing scams, emails appearing to be from a well-known, trusted source ask consumers to enter or confirm their personal information. Links or attachments lead consumers to equally trustworthy-looking websites that capture their data and use it to commit credit fraud and ID theft.

The increase in phishing and spoofing scams is raising advocates’ concerns that the proliferation of data breaches in recent years could be fueling the fraud.

“With each major data breach—think Yahoo!, Equifax, Uber, and others—our fear that the information criminals glean from such breaches will help them craft convincing phishing and spoofing campaigns rises,” said Breyault. “It’s probably too soon to make a definitive link, but complaints involving phishing and spoofing scams appear to on the rise, and this is a flag for those of us concerned about the long-term effects of data breaches.”

Another trend among 2017 consumer reports to Fraud.org was that Internet and email-based communication are overtaking the phone as scammers’ preferred method of initial contact. The telephone marginally beat out the Internet as the method of first contact for scammers (34.29 percent vs. 34.11 percent), but another 15 percent of consumers said they first heard from a scammer via email. Both web- and email-based methods of contact increased this year.

 “The fight against fraud is constantly evolving, as criminals refine their tactics for separating consumers from their hard-earned cash,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “We hope our annual list of top scams helps consumers know what to watch out for and avoid falling victim, especially since falling victim for one of these scams is apparently getting more costly.”

Read the full 2017 top ten scams report.

###

About the National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit https://nclnet.org.

Strategies to improve rural health care – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

Stephanie_Sperry.jpgBy Stephanie Sperry, NCL health policy intern

Stephanie is a 4th year Public Health Policy student at the University of California Irvine, interning at NCL as part of the University of California Washington DC Academic Internship Program.

“Just because we live in rural areas in this country, we shouldn’t have to settle for anything less than the best health care services” – Darrold Bertsch, CEO, Sakakawea Medical Center

The rural health care landscape in the United States is vastly different from the health care found in urban and suburban areas. On January 17, 2018, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) and the Center for Outcomes Research and Education (CORE) held a briefing at which they released a report on the current state of rural health care in seven Upper Midwest states (Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming) and identified opportunities for improvement. The panel included Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND); Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD); Keith Mueller, Ph.D., Interim Dean, University of Iowa College of Public Health and Director, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis; John Dunn, R.N., MPA, Director Physician Services, Nebraska Methodist Health System; Heidi Duncan, M.D., Physician Director of Health Policy, Billings Clinic; and Darrold Bertsch, CEO, Sakakawea Medical Center. The BPC/CORE report focused on four key areas: rightsizing health care services to fit community needs, creating rural funding mechanisms, building and supporting the primary care physician workforce, and expanding telemedicine services.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has implemented programs to monitor the quality of health care and drive its improvement. However, many of these programs are not tailored for rural areas, and in turn, rural facilities often lack resources to provide more advanced procedures. As Senator Rounds noted, people in rural areas end up overpaying for their health care – the quality of which would not be accepted in urban areas. Health care policies should not come in a “one size fits all” option, but should be tailored to fit the needs of the community. Senator Heitkamp argued that flexibility from CMS would allow health care professionals in rural areas to provide higher quality care, like incorporating care options for the elderly that wouldn’t require relocation.

Funding for rural health care (and health care as a whole) is a recurring challenge. The current passage of short-term continuing resolutions does little to provide financial stability for health care delivery, hospitals, and any organization in a contract with the federal government. According to Senator Rounds, the best course of action to address this issue will start with Congress passing a budget for more than three weeks at a time, to provide stability for organizations that depend on federal funding.

Rural areas face different types of challenges in health care delivery, with transportation and shortage of workforce personnel presenting major struggles. The distances that must be travelled to reach necessary health services in rural areas place an added burden on the rural population. Not only are people spending more time to travel, they spend more money making the trip. To address this issue, the BPC and CORE study suggests an expansion in the use of telemedicine services. Senators Heitkamp and Rounds praised the work of the Helmsley Trust in the areas of e-pharmacy and telemedicine. Telemedicine relies on high-speed broadband connectivity, the current state of which Senator Rounds criticized when he said “if you can watch your favorite college team on TV or on a computer, you ought to be able to also provide appropriate connections in emergency situations, between professionals and institutions with huge capabilities, to make contact with people in rural areas.” Senator Heitkamp uses Netflix as her benchmark for measuring successful broadband connectivity, believing that “there isn’t any millennial who is going to live in any community where they can’t stream Netflix. So, if you don’t have it, then we’re failing.”

Dwindling numbers of primary care physicians have placed an added strain on rural health care accessibility. BPC and CORE support the encouragement of completion of medical residencies in rural areas, thus paving the way for more practices to be established nearby. Because less than 8 percent of all physicians and surgeons choose to practice in rural settings, the hope is that increased exposure to rural communities during medical training will increase the number of physicians who choose to stay upon completion, as noted by Heidi Duncan, Physician Director of Health Policy at the Billings Clinic. Physician Assistants, guided by physicians via broadband connectivity, present another promising option – utilizing the expansion of telemedicine to provide the same essential services to rural communities that would otherwise be easily accessible in an urban setting.

As detailed in the BPC/CORE report, additional strategies to build a diverse and sustainable rural health workforce include distributing Graduate Medical Education (GME) positions to rural institutions and reauthorizing the Primary Care Residency Expansion and Area Health Education Center programs. Loan-forgiveness programs could also be expanded to include dental therapists and community paramedics.

In alignment with the strategies outlined by BPC and CORE, the National Consumers League is working with the Patient Access to Pharmacists’ Care Coalition (PAPCC) to build support for the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act (H.R. 592/S. 109), which would amend Medicare to increase medically underserved seniors’ access to health care through pharmacist-provided care. Since nearly 95 percent of the population lives within 5 miles of a pharmacy, improving access to pharmacists’ services can help to improve the care of our nation’s rural residents.

NCL statement on CHIP reauthorization – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

January 24, 2018

Contact: Carol McKay, (202) 207-2831 or carolm@nclnet.org

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League (NCL) welcomes news that Congress and the Administration have reauthorized funding for the bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years, as part of the temporary spending bill to end the government shutdown. After an unprecedented 114-day lapse in funding, the nine million children and pregnant women who rely on the program for life-saving care can be confident that their coverage will not be snatched away from them, and states who had been scrambling to bridge the gap in funding may finally move towards a state of normalcy. CHIP has been integral in decreasing the number of uninsured children and ultimately improving their health outcomes, by bringing access to regular doctor visits, immunizations, essential prescription medications, and emergency services within reach. While we are pleased that this most urgent need has been filled, we will remain steadfast in ensuring that support for the health and well-being of America’s children is never again subject to partisan, political gamesmanship.

###

About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

LifeSmarts program awards scholarship to student leaders from Anacostia, DC and Douglas County, GA – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

January 22, 2018

Contact: Carol McKay, National Consumers League, (202) 207-2831, carolm@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—Today the National Consumers League (NCL) has announced two scholarship recipients, honored for their involvement in a community service and leadership initiative made possible through its consumer literacy program, LifeSmarts (LifeSmarts.org). The students were awarded $1,000 academic scholarships for their winning entries based on their experiences serving as Safety Smart® Ambassadors, a partnership between LifeSmarts and UL that pairs high school students with elementary classrooms to teach lessons about health, safety, and the environment.

The scholarship winners are:

  • Takia Holsey, a freshman from UPO P.O.W.E.R Program in Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, DC
  • Rachel Dunnell, a junior from Douglas County 4-H in Georgia

Since 2013, when the LifeSmarts UL partnership began, hundreds of LifeSmarts students have become Safety Smart Ambassadors. Working in teams, high school students have made more than 1,000 interactive 30-minute presentations, sharing empowering, educational safety messages with thousands of younger children throughout their communities. LifeSmarts is a national program that competitively tests high school students’ knowledge of consumer awareness, with subjects including personal finance, health and safety, consumer rights and responsibility, technology, and the environment.

“We are so proud of our students who participated in the Safety Smart Ambassador program and the positive impact they made on their communities, and especially these two stand-outs,” said Lisa Hertzberg, LifeSmarts program director. “We truly appreciate this partnership with UL. It has been extremely gratifying to see LifeSmarts students embrace the Safety Smart Ambassador program, provide education and mentoring to younger children, and learn about themselves in the process.”

The LifeSmarts-UL partnership has underwritten the Safety Smart Ambassador program and provided LifeSmarts with access to the vast knowledge base of UL, including resources for LifeSmarts to bolster its science and environment curriculum, resources, and competitive opportunities.

For more information, please visit LifeSmarts.org/SafetySmart.

January 2018 Safety Smart Ambassador award winners – in their own words 

“Students really loved the video, even the older students, and they liked hearing the new vocabulary words and by the end of the session they were singing the Going Green song and using the vocabulary words.” – Takia Holsey

“I appreciated the opportunity to teach in front of children and to help them learn useful skills they will need as they grow older. They loved giving examples and reasons to conserve and protect our water.” – Rachel Dunnel

###

About LifeSmarts and the National Consumers League

LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League. State coordinators run the programs on a volunteer basis. LifeSmarts educational resources are available online throughout the year at LifeSmarts.org. Competition begins again in September. For more information, visit: LifeSmarts.org.

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit nclnet.org.

Script Your Future launches seventh annual student competition for innovations in medication adherence – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

January 15, 2018

Contact: Carol McKay, National Consumers League (412) 945-3242, carolm@nclnet.org

Washington, DC–January 15 marks the launch of the seventh annual Medication Adherence Team Challenge, a two-month-long intercollegiate competition among health profession student teams and faculty for creating solutions to raise awareness about medication adherence as a critical public health issue. The Challenge, hosted by the National Consumers League (NCL) and its Script Your Future campaign, is returning to university campuses across the country after six years of successful student competition and innovation.

The Challenge is an integral part of Script Your Future, a campaign launched by NCL and its partners in 2011 to combat the problem of poor medication adherence in the United States, where nearly three out of four patients do not take their medication as directed.

“With the uncertain future of healthcare in America, the role of health professionals in helping patients preserve and improve their own health is more critical than ever. The Challenge uniquely encourages an interprofessional approach and lays the foundation for adherence-minded care among future professionals before they enter the workforce,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL executive director. “Over the years we have been so impressed by the ingenuity of our student teams and their ability to impact patients in their communities. We look forward to seeing what this year’s Challenge will contribute to the discussion.”

The Challenge is sponsored by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation, the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA).

From January 15 through March 16, inter-professional teams—including student pharmacists, nurses, doctors, and others—will implement creative outreach approaches in their communities to raise awareness and improve understanding about medication adherence. At the end of the Challenge, teams submit entries for review by national partner organizations, and winners are recognized for their efforts to improve medication adherence.

“The Script Your Future Adherence Challenge has provided a tremendous opportunity for health professions students to illustrate how they can work collaboratively to improve patient care through better medication adherence,” said Dr. Lucinda L. Maine, executive vice president and CEO at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. “This challenge, now in its seventh year, continues to provide a great example of the power health professions teams can have on the public health issue of medication adherence.”

Since the Challenge began in 2011, more than 12,000 future health care professionals have directly counseled nearly 50,000 patients and reached more than 23 million consumers about the importance of medication adherence. Last year’s National awardees were the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy and Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED). NEOMED also won two focused awards in the areas of health disparities and media outreach. The University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy earned the focused award for creative inter-professional team event. For the first time, NCL also honored an outstanding team in their first or second year of the Challenge with the Rookie Award. This prize went to University of the Sciences Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.

To learn more about last year’s winners, visit the Script Your Future website.

For more information on the Challenge visit the Challenge Community. Tweet along with us during the Challenge using #SYFchallenge and follow the campaign @IWillTakeMyMeds.

###

Script Your Future is a campaign of the National Consumers League (NCL), a private, non-profit membership organization founded in 1899. NCL’s mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information about the Script Your Future campaign, visit ScriptYourFuture.org. For more information about NCL, please visit nclnet.org.

On MLK Day, leadership needed more than ever – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

Sally GreenbergToday, January 15, 2018, marks the 35th anniversary of national celebration of the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As King’s widow Coretta Scott King observed, “This is not a black holiday; it is a people’s holiday,” She spoke these words after President Ronald Reagan signed the King Holiday Bill into law on Nov. 2, 1983.

She couldn’t have known how prescient her words were and that Dr. King’s message of love and tolerance is needed in America more than ever. King was a brilliant scholar, a gifted orator, and a bridge builder who reached across ethnic, religious, and racial lines to lift all downtrodden Americans and challenge long-held prejudices.

But in 2018, we are marking the first year in office of President Donald Trump, who was elected on a platform of overt appeals to racism and white supremacy and continues to invoke vulgar and crass language in discussions about race and gender. This shouldn’t come as a surprise: on the campaign trail, Trump said Mexicans are “murderers and rapists” and described African American neighborhoods as “more dangerous than the war zones.”

Just last week, on the eve of MLK Day, we got wind of his latest firebomb. In a series of overtly racist comments, in a public meeting with members of Congress, Trump grew frustrated with lawmakers gathered in the Oval Office, and while discussing protecting immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, and Africa, Trump apparently said – and I say apparently because it’s hard to imagine a U.S. President uttering these words: “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” and “Why do we need more Haitians? ….Take them out.” He followed that up with the suggestion that the United States should instead bring more people from countries such as Norway. White people, in other words.

What a wrenching time this is for America. We have a massive leadership vacuum in the White House and in Congress; indeed, while many Democrats denounced Trump’s comments, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and GOP chair Ronna McDaniel were silent. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) called Trump’s comments “very unfortunate,” and Sen. Marco Rubio posted a long Twitter thread about the many ways Haitians have made an impact in the United States.

And while some Republicans at the meeting denied hearing the comments, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — who also attended the meeting — confirmed that the media’s reporting of Trump’s remarks was “basically accurate.” But only Sen. Graham told Trump his comments were unacceptable.

Fighting racism and bigotry used to be seen as a bipartisan cause. The National Consumers League’s history is one of championing racial equality; Florence Kelley participated in the founding meetings of the NAACP and worked with another republican icon, President Teddy Roosevelt, who had some old-fashioned ideas on race but did warn that “the debasement of the blacks will in the end carry with it [the] debasement of the whites.”

When President Ronald Reagan, a Republican icon, signed the MLK bill into law, he gave an eloquent speech citing King’s contributions:

…traces of bigotry still mar America. So, each year on Martin Luther King Day, let us not only recall Dr. King, but rededicate ourselves to the Commandments he believed in and sought to live every day: if all of us, young and old, Republicans and Democrats, do all we can to live up to those Commandments, then we will see the day when Dr. King’s dream comes true, and in his words, “All of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning, ‘… Thank you, God bless you, and I will sign it. 

President Reagan finished with this:

All right-thinking people, all right-thinking Americans are joined in spirit with us this day as the highest recognition which this nation gives is bestowed upon Martin Luther King, Jr., one who also was the recipient of the highest recognition which the world bestows, the Nobel Peace Prize.

This eloquent and bipartisan message is more important today than ever. I only wish Republican leaders take note of the bold statement their iconic President made 35 years ago when he established this the MLK Jr. holiday and mark his commitment to racial justice and equality for all Americans.