U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson pushing Coast Guard Academy to use congressional nominations to increase diversity

A proposal in Congress would require 50 percent of each incoming class at the Coast Guard Academy to come from a pool of congressionally nominated candidates.

The proposal is part of The Coast Guard Academy Improvement Act introduced by U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat representing Mississippi's 2nd congressional district, on Sept. 26.

Thompson, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, which has oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, including the Coast Guard, has for many years pushed for congressional appointments to the academy as a way to increase diversity. Unlike the other military service academies, the Coast Guard Academy has never had congressional nominations or appointments.

"When you chart out where cadets are from, it's primarily the East Coast and the West Coast. They're sparsely represented in the other parts of the country," Thompson said by phone Tuesday.

The academy's Superintendent Rear Adm. James E. Rendón responded with a written statement saying, "One of the main goals in our strategic plan is to further the important work we have been doing to cultivate a supportive and inclusive environment at the Academy. So we look forward to working with members of Congress to continue to diversify our Corps of Cadets who will soon be the future leaders of our service."

Women make up 40 percent of the incoming Class of 2022, and minorities make up a record 36 percent. The academy offered 392 appointments for the Class of 2022. That was out of 2,045 prospective students who completed an application. Of the appointments offered, 281 were accepted.

Thompson's bill would allow each member of Congress to nominate up to three candidates to attend the academy. The academy would chose half of its incoming classes from that pool of candidates, and the other half under its current admissions process.

The proposal also calls for a plan to improve retention and recruitment of cadets, faculty and staff of diverse backgrounds. It would formally authorize an existing program the academy uses to help recruit and retain minority cadets. Those efforts led to the largest number of black cadets — 18 — to graduate from the academy this past spring. Formalizing the program, known as the Academy Minority Outreach Team, would "ensure permanent leadership and that leadership has authority in law to get things done," Thompson said. Right now, the work is being done largely on a volunteer basis.

[SOURCE: STARS AND STRIPES]

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More Blacks Headed to Congress

There are 44 African American members of Congress. Next year, five more are expected to join them, bringing the total to 49. That will represent the highest number of Blacks in Congress in American history. But will it make a difference? Can they leverage their numbers?

Another record-breaking development in the record-breaking 114th Congress will be that all of the new Black members will be women. It is likely that as many as 20 Black women could take the oath of office on Capitol Hill, which is also a record.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that as we’ve seen in statehouses throughout the South, when Democrats become a minority in a legislative chamber, that means less clout for everyone in the party, including African Americans.

Depending on how many House Democrats there are in 2015 (there are now 199), the Black Caucus could become 25 percent of the House Democratic Caucus. As the Tea Party members in the House Republican Caucus have proven over and over, a voting bloc of just 25 members can leverage a great deal of power.

Read more: More Blacks Headed to Congress

Are you aware of the Congressional Black Caucus and what they do?

Recently Marcia Fudge a congresswoman from Ohio opined that African americans don't support the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC ). That got me to wondering how many African Americans know of the Congressional Caucus or what they do. So I ask you are you aware of the CBC?

ABOUT THE CBC:

Since its establishment in 1971, Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have joined together to empower America’s neglected citizens and to address their legislativeconcerns.For more than 40 years, the CBC has consistently been the voice for people of color and vulnerable communities in Congress and has been committed to utilizing the full Constitutional power, statutory authority, and financial resources of the Government of the United States of America to ensure that everyone in the United States has an opportunity to achieve their version of the American Dream.

The legislative agenda of universal empowerment that Members of the Congressional Black Caucus collectively pursue include but are not limited to: the creation of universal access to a world-class education from birth through post secondary level; the creation of universal access to quality, affordable health care and the elimination of racially based health disparities; the creation of universal access to modern technology, capital and full, fairly-compensated employment; the creation and or expansion of U.S. foreign policy initiatives that will contribute to the survival, health, education and general welfare of all peoples of the world in a manner consistent with universal human dignity, tolerance and respect and such other legislative action as a majority of the entire CBC Membership may support.

Visit the CBC website here: CBC