YDA is excited to announce that our newest official member is Congressman Tom Perriello, representing Virginia’s 5th CD in the House of Representatives. Congressman Perriello, one of only three Democrats in Congress under the age of 36 (YDA age), made it official by signing up just yesterday with the up and coming Charlottesville/Albemarle County chapter within [...]

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In a statement today, Senator Arlen Specter (NOW D-PA) announced he would be switching his party affiliation to join the Democrats. YDA welcomes Senator Specter and praises his commitment to progressive ideologies.
Read Senator Spector’s statement below:
Statement by Sen. Arlen Specter:
I have been a Republican since 1966. I have been working extremely hard for the Party, [...]

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On Thursday, April 2, 2009, the Young Democrats of America (YDA) and the YDA Women’s Caucus will honor longtime women’s rights and national Democratic activist Ann F. Lewis. Entitled:
“BREAKING THE MARBLE CEILING: HONORING THE LIFE & WORK OF ANN F. LEWIS.”
This event will celebrate Ann Lewis’ lifetime of championing the policies and politics that advance [...]

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I had the very cool honor of attending a special Joint Session of Congress today to watch the official Electoral Count happen. Speaker Pelosi’s office invited a number of youth organizations to attend as her special guests (we got to sit where the First Lady sits during the State of the Union) and she held a press availability following the count with all of us. She (and her office, especially Tom Manatos) should be commeneded for including young voters!

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After initially threatening to veto the bill if passed, today President Bush reversed course and signed the 21st Century GI Bill into law.
This legislation proposed by Democratic Senator Jim Webb (VA) and Democratic Representative Harry Mitchell (AZ-5) significantly improves the educational benefits our veterans get when they return from service overseas.
This is another major victory [...]

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YDA Veterans & Military Affairs Caucus Chair Cole Hickman just sent this email out to Young Democrats celebrating the final passage of the 21st Century GI Bill.

Dear Young Democrat,

Last night, the Senate passed the Webb-Mitchell 21st Century GI Bill by an overwhelming majority, 92 to 6. Don’t let the margin fool you, this one wasn’t easy.

Democrats Jim Webb and Harry Mitchell first introduced the legislation over a year ago, facing considerate opposition from the Republican Party, namely Senator John McCain and President Bush, this crucial bill seemed doomed to a veto.

Democrats didn’t stand down; we stood up — you stood up — for our men and women in uniform. YDA’s newly-organized Veteran’s and Military Affairs Caucus mobilized young people nationally to pressure the Republican Party into honoring our veterans. Dozens of local events, hundreds of letters to the editor, and thousands of calls to Congress later, the Democratic Congress sent the sent the veto-proof bill to the president’s desk for his signature. Once signed, the bill will provide the greatest single expansion of educational aid since the last GI Bill in 1946. This is a much needed, hard fought, and well-deserved victory — just the kind of progress we can expect from the Democratic Party.

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Making college affordable is one of the most important issues for all us. Education is the basis for a progressive country, and it is a shame that in this country so many of us, young people, see our dreams of higher education deferred due to the costs involved. Upon restoring their leadership in Congress, Democrats have taken the initiative of seeking solutions to this problem. Within their first 100 hours they passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act that among other things included more than $2 billions a year in additional need-based grant funding, a new Income-Based Repayment program that allows borrowers to repay federal loans as a portion of their income, and lower interest rates for federal loans. According to a new new report by the U.S. PIRG, the interest rate reductions will translate into savings of thousands of dollars for college students. See the map above for how much average savings will be in your state.

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