Additional Information on Mike Honda

Additional Information on Mike Honda

Overview


* Mike Honda served in the U.S. Peace Corps from 1965-67; graduated from San Jose State University (SJSU) in 1968 with a B.A. in biology and a B.S. in Spanish; served on the San Jose Planning Commission from 1971-81; earned an M.A. in education from SJSU in 1974; worked as an associate researcher at Stanford University’s Urban-Rural School Development Program from 1974-75; was thereafter the vice principal of a middle school and the principal of two public elementary schools; served on the San Jose Unified School Board from 1981-90; and sat on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors from 1990-96.

* The Council for a Livable World has supported Honda’s political campaigns.

* On June 26, 2002, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that because America’s Pledge of Allegiance contained the words “under God,” it violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment prohibition against government making any law respecting an “Establishment of Religion.” Within hours of this decision, Members of the U.S. Senate had gathered to recite the Pledge for TV cameras on the Capitol steps, and had voted 99-0 to denounce the ruling. The following day, the House of Representatives voted 416-3 to likewise denounce the court ruling. The three who sided with the court were Democrats Mike Honda, Robert Scott, and Pete Stark.

* On December 6, 2006—three days before the 25th anniversary of the murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner by former Black Panther Party member Mumia Abu-Jamal—Honda was one of 31 U.S. House Members (all Democrats) who voted against a resolution “condemning the decision of St. Denis, France, to name a street in honor of … Abu-Jamal.” To view a list of all 31 House members who voted this way, click here.

* In 2007, Honda was one of 90 Members of Congress who signed an open letter delivered to President Bush, stating: “We will only support appropriating funds for U.S. military operations in Iraq during Fiscal Year 2008 and beyond for the protection and safe redeployment of all our troops out of Iraq before you leave office.” The letter was initiated by the Peace Pledge Coalition, an alliance led by such notables as Medea Benjamin, Bill Fletcher, Kevin Zeese, and representatives of the Progressive Democrats of America, Democrats.com, AfterDowningStreet.org, Velvet Revolution, and the Backbone Campaign.

* In July 2009, State Rep. Honda signed a letter along with Dennis Kucinich, Jim Moran, and a few other Democratic legislators, to Attorney General Eric Holder invoking a list of grievances from CAIR, MAS, MPAC, and other radical Islamist groups and asking that Holder meet with representatives from those groups to hear their concerns regarding the use of convicted felons as informants in mosques, alleged religious profiling of Somali Muslims in Minnesota and elsewhere, and allegations that the FBI is working with foreign governments to question American citizens who are terror suspects. In the letter, the representatives said: “These concerns raise legitimate questions about due process, justice, and equal treatment under the law. We hope you will meet with American Muslim leaders to ensure that core American values are respected for all Americans, regardless of race, ethnicity, or faith.”

* In February 2010, Honda dispatched staffer Michael Shank on a three-day “fact-finding trip” to Venezuela and other Latin American countries to “fostering dialogue and improving U.S. policy and bilateral relations.” Venezuela for 3 days in February 2010. The trip’s $2,219.70 price tag was covered by the Center for Democracy in the Americas, which has ties to the Institute for Policy Studies.

* In the spring of 2010, Rep. Honda traveled to Honduras and El Salvador for 3 days to “assess the situation … and current U.S. policy implications” in those countries. The trip was funded by a $4,107.39 grant from the Center for Democracy in the Americas, which has ties to the Institute for Policy Studies.

* In November 2010, Honda and 15 other congressional Democrats met—either personally or through their respective staffers—with three supporters of the Marxist-Leninist Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack (FRSO/FB). Those FRSO/FB supporters, representing the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, expressed their condemnation of “the FBI raids and grand jury subpoenas of people doing international solidarity work and anti-war organizing.” It was reported that Honda and his 15 colleagues in Congress expressed “genuine concern” about the situation.

* In November 2012, Honda was a member of the host committee for “Leading with Love,” an event celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Marxist-led National Domestic Workers Alliance.

* In January 2012, Honda and Ami Carpenter, an assistant professor at the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, co-authored a Huffington Post article titled “What America Can Learn From El Salvador in Ending Gang Violence about El Salvador.” Advocating government negotiations with hardened criminals and murderous gangs, they wrote:

Earlier this year, in an effort to curb the violence, the government in El Salvador negotiated a groundbreaking deal with the Salvadoran MS-13 and a rival gang, Calle-18. In a bold move, mediators in El Salvador essentially extended the framework of humanitarian engagement to gang warfare, brokering a peace treaty between the two gangs and the Salvadoran government. After the deal, homicides decreased by 32 percent and kidnappings by 50 percent, as reported by the New York Times. In May, the gangs extended their truce to school zones and agreed to end forced recruitment of child soldiers…

The U.S. — and gang-plagued Mexico — should heed the progress made in El Salvador and recognize that the standard methods to end violence aren’t working. Creative, innovative solutions are needed. This Salvadoran example is one that should be tried, showing that everyone from the community to local elected officials to law enforcement needs to be brought in to truly end violence on a large scale.

* In 2014, Honda’s congressional campaign was supported by Peace Action. The 2014 campaign was also endorsed by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, an organization that promotes leftist agendas in areas like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Wall Street regulation, student loans, gun control, health care, taxes, and net neutrality.

* In December 2014 Honda co-authored an article stating that frequent “power outages, deluging rains, flash floods, mudslides and record droughts” were “bellwethers of an ecosystem out of whack” and the devastating impact of “climate change.”

* The JStreet PAC endorsed Michael Honda in his 2014 and 2016 Congressional races.

 

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