issue: Judicial and Executive

NOW Urges Nomination of Sen. Debbie Stabenow as Secretary of Health and Human Services

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With the withdrawal of Sen. Tom Daschle from consideration, the National Organization for Women urges President Barack Obama to nominate another strong and consistent advocate for universal health care to the position of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) has long focused on health care as a priority, and with her background as a social worker she is well positioned to take the helm of this agency that is so critical to women and families.

Harassment Complaint Against Federal Judge Calls for Congressional Inquiry

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On October 31, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) formally requested that the House Judiciary Committee open an investigative file on U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent, of Galveston, Texas, regarding sexual harassment complaints. Kent was reprimanded by and suspended from the bench by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on September 28, 2007, but that suspension ends on January 1, 2008.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) applauds Congresswoman Jackson Lee for taking this crucial step, noting as a member of the Judiciary Committee that it is their “obligation as members of the U.S. Congress to do all in our power to prevent all forms of sexual harassment, especially in the judicial arena, which is entrusted to administer these very laws which have allegedly been violated and over which we have oversight.”