Tell Your Senator to Oppose Rep. Solis Labor Secretary Confirmation
Today, AWF sent the following letter to all members of the U.S. Senate urging them to oppose Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA) nomination for Secretary of Labor. Given the recent tax and possible ethics issues, Rep. Solis' judgement must be placed under strict scrutiny and question.
Call the US Senate switchboard at 202-224-2131 and tell your Senator to oppose the nomination of Rep. Solis for Labor Secretary. From taxes to ethics violations, Solis should not be confirmed.
Dear Senator,
On behalf of the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF), and millions of American citizens and workers who reject corruption in politics, I urge you to oppose the confirmation of Representative Hilda Solis as this nation's next Secretary of the Department of Labor. There is now a growing body of evidence to suggest Mrs. Solis committed violations of McCain-Feingold ethics standards as constituted by the “Federal Election Campaign Act” (FECA) of 2002.
Of greatest concern is the possibly illegal method by which Mrs. Solis funneled money to groups supporting the “Employee Free Choice Act” (EFCA), which despite its misleading name paves the way for union intimidation in the workplace.
American Rights at Work (ARW), which Mrs. Solis served as Treasurer on the board of directors, while simultaneously serving as California’s 32nd district representative and which lobbied Congress on bills she cosponsored, is now under investigation.
Rep. Solis was part of an organization that lobbied Congress while she was still a Member of Congress. This seems to be a clear ethics violation, a major conflict of interest, and shows an extreme lack of judgment at least.
According to a DC Examiner report, ARW collected “at least $1 million in contributions from labor unions.” In addition, pre-election communications reports from the Federal Election Commission show ARW spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on television ads in states targeting Republican Senators.
These are highly-questionable activities in light of Federal Election Campaign Activity (FECA) statutes barring funds outside the limits and prohibitions of federal law (“soft money”) from federal election campaigns. One of those well-established prohibitions is that unions may not spend funds to influence federal elections or contribute to federal candidates. If Solis, as an officer and member of the board of directors of ARW had a hand in “controlling” the organization’s activities and expenses on political advertisements on television, ARW and Solis could be in violation of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act’s (BCRA) soft money rules.
A politician with such grave questions of ethics violations on their record is a poor choice for the head of a cabinet-level department. As a California Congresswoman in the U.S. House of Representatives, Hilda Solis engaged in campaign activity that can be described at best as dubious.
Based on the evidence and the circumstances surrounding Rep. Solis and her recent actions, I am urging you to oppose her nomination as U.S. Secretary of Labor.
Sincerely,
Brian M. Johnson, MPA
Executive Director
cc: All Members of the U.S. House and Senate
