Position: Secretary

The secretary is the head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development which works to provide a decent, safe, and sanitary home and a suitable living environment for every American. The department attempts to create opportunities for home ownership using assistance for low-income persons. It also develops programs to help the homeless. It enforces the nations housing laws while at the same time, helping local communities meet their development needs and spurring economic growth in distressed neighborhoods.

Type of Appointment/Position: Presidential with Senate confirmation    

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To research this nominee, please look for them on at the Progressive Government Institute website and Google.

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Carol Moseley Braun

Current Rating:

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Nominee's Background:

Born in Chicago August 16, 1947. Graduate of Chicago Public Schools. B.A. from University of Illinois-Chicago, 1968. Law degree from the University of Chicago, 1972. Joined U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago in 1973. Elected to Illinois General Assembly in 1978, rising to Assistant Majority Leader in the Illinois House. Proposed a moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois in 1984. Served one term as Cook County Recorder of Deeds 1988-1992. Served as Senator from Illinois in the U.S. Senate 1992-1998. Served as Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa 1999-2001. Professor of Business Law, DePaul University School of Business, 2001-2002. John Stewart Mott Visiting Professor, Morris Brown College, 2001.

Nominating Speech:
Carol Mosely-Braun started her career by gaining recognition for her housing, health policy and environmental law, winning the Attorney General's Special Achievement Award. A tireless advocate for people, especially the marginalized of our society, Ms. Mosely-Braun has received over 300 awards for her achievements in the public interest. She has been a staunch defender of a woman's right to choose.

Carol is committed to universal health care coverage for all persons, including a single-payer system of health care.

In the past century, as a product of the struggle for equal opportunity in America, women have made enormous economic, political and social advances. Women are key contributors to every sector of our economy. Women hold leadership positions in academia, industry and government. True gender equity, however, has not yet been achieved. Women face income inequity, sticky floors and glass ceilings at work; they constitute a disproportionate number of those Americans living in poverty; they are systematically underrepresented in political office. In the absence of leadership committed to equal rights and equal protection for women under the law and in society, the progress made in economic equity, reproductive rights, and political representation will quickly erode. In order for our country to live up to its promise of inclusion and equal opportunity for all Americans, our leadership must commit to preserving those historical advances already achieved and spearhead efforts towards addressing the inequities still undermining our national promise of fairness and equality.

A pioneer among women and people of color in public service in the United States, Carol Moseley Braun has been an unwavering advocate for women's rights throughout her career in politics. As an Illinois State Representative, she supported equal rights legislation. As a United States Senator, she fought for pension and pay equity for women, defended women's reproductive rights, helped to ensure funding Title IX programs that opened the doors of colleges and universities to women, and fought against legislation that pushed women and their children into poverty. As President, Carol Moseley Braun will continue to fight to protect women's economic, civil, political, and reproductive rights. As President, she will lead efforts to address the systematic inequities women face at workplace, at school, in healthcare, in the military and in programs designed to address poverty.

Carol Moseley Braun has been actively involved in the Kerry-Edwards campaign, and will be a true asset to the Kerry administration.

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