Topic: Sen. Edward Kennedy

Matthew Shepard bill is a casualty of war

By Christine Anne Piesyk | December 6, 2007 |

How many perfectly good pieces of legislation have faded to oblivion by virtue of being “attached” to an unpopular bill doomed for failure.

Such is the case with the hate crimes bill, familiar to many as the Matthew Shepard bill, a meticulously drafted act that would have categorized crimes based on gender identity or sexual orientation as hate crimes. Matthew Shepard was a young, gay university student in Wyoming who was beaten into a coma and subsequently died.

The Matthew Shepard Bill was a bill whose time had not only come but was terribly overdue, but being incorporated into a package of military spending (i.e. Iraq War funding) resulted in a kill on the battlefield of equal rights and civil liberties. Matthew Shepard and gays across America have become casualties of war. «Read the rest of this article»

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Congress boosts Pell Grant funds; bucks lenders on loan subsidies

By Christine Anne Piesyk | September 7, 2007 |

College students will be getting a financial break, thanks to bi-partisan approval today to an educational finance package that increases Pell Grants to low and middle income students over the next four years and alters the ground rules for student loans.

Both the House and Senate approved the changes, and in the bi-partisan Senate vote the numbers came in 79-12 in favor of the changes, with Democrats citing this win as one campaign promise fulfilled.

“We need a bold new commitment that will enable the current generation of Americans to rise to the global challenges we face. Today we will help millions of students achieve the American dream.”

–Sen. Edward Kennedy, Senate Education Committee Chair

«Read the rest of this article»

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