Cicilline Joins Congressional Progressive Caucus
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Congressman David Cicilline has followed through on a campaign promise to join the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), a Cicilline spokeswoman said Friday.
Cicilline made the pledge in front of a large crowd of liberals last summer at a Drinking Liberally event hosted by the Wild Colonial on Providence’s East Side. The room was filled with many of the state’s most progressive leaders, a group that had to choose between the well-financed
Cicilline and David Segal, who was considered one of the most progressive Representatives in the State House.
What It Means
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIt comes as no surprise that Cicilline would align himself with the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party, but what does his joining the CPC mean for him and more importantly, his constituents, a group that proved to be significantly more conservative than many pundits thought before last November’s election?
Joining a Congressional Caucus is essentially a public indication that the Congressman will support his group’s agenda and further its legislative objectives. There are hundreds of caucuses within the House of Representatives ranging from the powerful Black Caucus and the increasingly recognized CPC to less significant groups such as the Boating Caucus and the Minor League Baseball Caucus. Among other roles, former Congressman Patrick Kennedy was co-Chair of the Congressional Down Syndrome Caucus.
According the website ProgressiveCongress.org, the CPC’s main issues include peace and global security; energy independence and environmental sustainability; civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights; public health, education and economic opportunity.
While Cicilline is in no way obligated to vote based on his affiliation with any caucus, it is likely he’ll support the majority of the CPC’s causes as they closely align with many of the issues he campaigned on. Kershaw said Cicilline has not joined any other Caucus yet, but is considering multiple options.
Segal Reacts
Although many viewed Cicilline and Segal as similar candidates at the beginning of their respective campaign, most liberals wound up throwing their support behind the younger Segal, who was viewed as the more-authentic progressive of the two.
But after finishing third in the Democratic primary, Segal decided to publicly endorse Cicilline in his General Election faceoff with Republican John Loughlin. On Friday, Segal reinforced his support for the Congressman and praised his commitment to progressive politics.
“It's heartening that he's kept his promise to join the CPC,” Segal told GoLocalProv. “Foremost, I hope it'll buttress his stands against the wars -- a large majority of CPC members voted against funding for Afghanistan over the summer. Progressives won re-election in November at a much higher rate than Democrats as a whole and the CPC will be the locus of organizing to block Republican attempts to role back social programs and taxes on the wealthy. So it's nice to see that our congressman is willing to stand with his progressive colleagues.”
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