I received an invitation to a reception for the Girls and Boys Town facility in Trabuco; the draws for the event at appearances by Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) and Rep. John Campbell (R-Irvine).  Since both of these guys usually vote in lock-step with the Bush administration, I find their appearance at this event an odd pairing.
For those who don’t remember the Spencer Tracy movie, Girls and Boys Town, the original Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home, is a leader in the treatment and care of abused, abandoned and neglected girls and boys. It’s been around for 90 years and is a leading nonprofit, nonsectarian organization providing children with a safe, caring, loving environment.
Here’s the text of the invite; I removed the weblink:
Dear friends and associates,
Please join me in honoring Congressmen Ed Royce and John Campbell, this Sunday, December 10th at Girls and Boy’s Town in Trabuco Canyon. Joining us will be over 100 business people, donors and elected officials from Orange County.
As host of this event, I am inviting close associates of mine to join in honoring these two fine Congressmen
Congressman Royce will be speaking at 12:00 noon, so please plan on arriving at 11:30 a.m. We will also arrange for a photo of you and the Congressman. Food and beverage will be provided. If you are not able to attend, you are welcome to send someone from your organization on your behalf. /###
So this event appears to be nothing more than a photo op with local Congressmen who have a spotty, at best, record on actually support children’s and family issues. ÂÂ
Their records below:
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2005  Representative Campbell supported the interests of the Children’s Defense Fund 0 percent in 2005.
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2003  On the votes that the Children’s Advocacy Institute considered to be the most important in 2003, Representative Campbell voted their preferred position 39 percent of the time.
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2001-2002  On the votes that the Children’s Advocacy Institute considered to be the most important in 2001-2002, Representative Campbell voted their preferred position 36 percent of the time.
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1999-2000  On the votes that the Children’s Advocacy Institute considered to be the most important in 1999-2000, Representative Campbell voted their preferred position 39 percent of the time.
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2005  Representative Royce supported the interests of the Family Research Council 92 percent in 2005.
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2005  Representative Royce supported the interests of the Children’s Defense Fund 0 percent in 2005.
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2004  Representative Royce supported the interests of the Family Research Council 92 percent in 2004.
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2003-2004  Representative Royce supported the interests of the Children’s Defense Fund 0 percent in 2003-2004.
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2003  Representative Royce supported the interests of the Family Research Council 100 percent in 2003.
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2003  Representative Royce supported the interests of the School Nutrition Association 0 percent in 2003.
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2003  Representative Royce supported the interests of the American Family Association 100 percent in 2003.
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2002  On the votes that the American Family Voices considered to be the most important in 2002, Representative Royce voted their preferred position 0 percent of the time.
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2001  Representative Royce supported the interests of the Family Research Council 90 percent in 2001. (Due to the 49-51 split in the Senate, an insufficient number of votes were taken on issues of concern to warrant inclusion).
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2001  Representative Royce supported the interests of the Children’s Defense Fund 0 percent in 2001.
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2000  Representative Royce supported the interests of the Children’s Defense Fund 40 percent in 2000.
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2000    Representative Royce supported the interests of the Family Research Council 100 percent in 2000.
Worth noting that the Family Research Council is a very hard core conservative organization.  From its web site:ÂÂ
The Family Research Council (FRC) champions marriage and family as the foundation of civilization, the seedbed of virtue, and the wellspring of society. FRC shapes public debate and formulates public policy that values human life and upholds the institutions of marriage and the family. Believing that God is the author of life, liberty, and the family, FRC promotes the Judeo-Christian worldview as the basis for a just, free, and stable society.
American Family Voices has a different set of core values. From its web site:
American Family Voices was founded in 2000 to be a strong voice for middle and low income families on economic, health care, and consumer issues. Since our founding, we have educated the public and pushed for legislation on a number of vital issues to make American families more secure.
Given the mission of Girls and Boys Town with the relatively poor records on children and family issues, I wonder why these Congressmen are a draw.ÂÂ
So if you go and you get your photo with either Congressman, ask them why their voting record doesn’t measure up to the photo opp.
An Update: Rep. Campbell won’t be there; he is sending a representative. But the Web invitation clearly addresses the notion that Rep. Royce is being honored and to that, in the context of the Girls and Boy’s Town, I’d say what for?>
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Dan:
Let me get this straight: if one votes with liberal interest groups like the Children’s Defense Fund, one has a “good” record on “children and family issues.”
If one votes against what the Children’s Defense Fund wants, then one had a “relatively poor record” on “children and family issue.”
When did Marian Edelman become the arbiter of what is a children and family issue and what constitutes a good or bad record?
I think Ms. Edelman is an advocate for children without the religious strings attached from Family Research Council.
Her bio is below:
Marian Wright Edelman was born in and grew up in Bennettsville, South Carolina, one of five children. Her father, Arthur Wright, was a Baptist preacher who taught his children that Christianity required service in this world and who was influenced by A. Phillip Randolph. He died when Marian was only fourteen, urging in his last words to her, “Don’t let anything get in the way of your education.”
Marian Wright Edelman went on to study at Spelman College, abroad on a Merrill scholarship, and she traveled to the Soviet Union with a Lisle fellowship. When she returned to Spelman in 1959, she became involved in the civil rights movement, inspiring her to drop her plans to enter the foreign service, and instead to study law. She studied law at Yale and worked as a student on a project to register African American voters in Mississippi.
In 1963, after graduating from Yale Law School, Marian Wright Edelman worked first in New York for the NAACP Legal and Defense Fund, and then in Mississippi for the same organization. There, she became the first African American woman to practice law. During her time in Mississippi, she worked on racial justice issues connected with the civil rights movement, and she also helped get a Head Start program established in her community.
During a tour by Robert Kennedy and Joseph Clark of Mississippi’s poverty-ridden Delta slums, Marian met Peter Edelman, an assistant to Kennedy, and the next year she moved to Washington, D.C., to marry him and to work for social justice in the center of America’s political scene. They had three sons.
In Washington, Marian Wright Edelman continued her work, helping to get the Poor People’s Campaign organized. She also began to focus more on issues relating to child development and children in poverty.
Marian Wright Edelman established the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) in 1973 as a voice for poor, minority and handicapped children. She served as a public speaker on behalf of these children, and also as a lobbyist in Congress, as well as president and administrative head of the organization. The agency served not only as an advocacy organization, but as a research center, documenting the problems and possible solutions to children in need. To keep the agency independent, she saw that it was financed entirely with private funds.
Marian Wright Edelman also published her ideas in several books. The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours was a surprising success.
In the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was elected President, Hillary Clinton’s involvement with the Children’s Defense Fund meant that there was significantly more attention given to the organization. But Edelman did not pull her punches in criticizing the Clinton administration’s legislative agenda — such as its “welfare reform” initiatives — when she believed these would be disadvantageous to the nation’s neediest children.
As part of the efforts of Marian Wright Edelman and the Children’s Defense Fund on behalf of children, she has also advocated pregnancy prevention, child care funding, health care funding, prenatal care, parental responsibility for education in values, reducing the violent images presented to children, and selective gun control in the wake of school shootings.
Among the many awards to Marian Wright Edelman:
1991 – ABC’s Person of the Week – “The Children’s Champion”
MacArthur “genius” award
More than 65 honorary degrees
Well, if you consider the instinting advocacy of growing the welfare state as equivalent to being “good” on “children and family issue” then Royce, Campbell and most Americans are “bad” on those issues.
Royce has a zero rating form the School Nutrition Association. Nanny state?
I find it interesting that both of these men seem to have more interest in schools in Iraq compared with schools here. They have a terrible record in voting for legislation that helps children at risk.
What’s next, Dick Cheney at a gun safety group? George Allen at a diversity seminar? Back to point – I think these guys are a terrible choice for this event
Thanks for point out their hypocrisy, Dan.
Perhaps some folks might want to make large posters with these ratings and put them along the road to “welcome” Royce and Campbell to this event.
If they were honoring Devore I’d cancel my other plans and go there myself.
What hypocrisy? Two conservatives aren’t towing the liberal line and that makes them hypocrites?
The School Nutrition Association? An association of people whose livelihood is wrapped up in school food service — gee, I wonder what kind of bills they would be supporting? Directing more federal dollars into their own pockets as school food service providers? So if you vote to give them more tax money, then you care about “the children.” If you don’t vote to give them more tax money, then you don’t care about “the children.”
When are liberals going to stop associating giving away other peoples’ money with “compassion” and “caring.”
The only one using the word hypocrite here Matt is you. And in fairness, I published Royce’s record with conservative family advocacy groups as well and between the left and right on children’s and family issues, Royce’s record is indeed spotty.
When are conservatives going to stop claiming liberals want to give away other people’s money when your side clearly has no problem handing over billions to Iraq, a war that a clear majority of Americans no longer support. Different pockets; same pants.
Dan,
Since I’m the one who brought up “their hypocrisy,” I’ll clarify:
My use of “their” was a reference to the folks at Girls and Boys Town who thought it would be a good idea to have an event with these two knuckleheads. Sorry, honorable knuckleheads.
Royce and Campbell are not hypocrites. They are 100% loyal to their fiscally conservative beliefs, often to the detriment of their many constituents (including children) who might be poor or hungry or in need of some government assistance. Bully for them (Royce and Campbell).
I will try to be more clear about my pronouns and antecedents in future comments.
And Marian Wright Edelman is a ROCK STAR!! I had the pleasure of meeting her years ago. She does great work, and remains a personal hero to me.