The current Congress could become the most radical in American history. Once-marginalized “progressives,” socialists, and even Communist Party supporters are taking the reins of several strategic congressional committees. Democratic Party leadership is bending to accommodate fired-up young radicals.
How radical is the crop of Democratic congressmen? Avowed socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has deemed the latest crop of radical recruits “the most progressive freshman class in modern U.S. history.”
Socialists have been infiltrating the Democratic Party for decades — and the Republican Party on occasion. The situation has gotten gradually worse since the Vietnam War era. Democratic Party “moderates” have been mostly successful — with the help of the establishment media — in keeping a lid on their socialist wing for years, but the relentless pressure from open socialists, along with an increasingly indoctrinated populace, has finally blown the lid off the charade. Every election cycle the radicals have gained a little more ground. In 2018, a tipping point was reached. Mere “infiltration” is boiling over into a full-fledged scarlet-tinged socialist takeover.
Today’s Democratic Caucus is divided into three main groupings: On the far left is the “Quad Caucus,” consisting of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC). The second grouping is the centrist New Democrat Coalition (NDC), and the third consists of the comparatively “conservative” Blue Dog Caucus (BDC).
The leftist caucuses all overlap considerably, and all caucuses have members within the NDC. Only the tiny, marginalized Blue Dogs stand alone; but even they are willing to vote alongside their more openly radical colleagues on many issues.
Communist Party USA
Of course, there is no open “Communist Party Caucus” in the U.S. Congress, but the ties to the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) are undeniable. Our survey of the socialist revolution in Congress begins by referencing communist acknowledgements of their congressional influence, followed by a hard look at each of the major Democrat caucuses, with further documentation showing communist connections to the Congressional Progressive Caucus in particular. Then we list the various expected committee heads (this survey is going to the printer on January 3, the first day of the new Congress), encapsulating their radical connections. To make our case ironclad, our survey is necessarily detailed. This is intended not as “pleasure reading” but as an irrefutable wake-up call, and should be shared.
Quad Caucus members willingly work with the 5,000 members of Communist Party USA to broaden government programs, change U.S. foreign policy, and cut military spending.
According to an April 2010 CPUSA Political Action Commission Report submitted as part of the discussion leading up to the party’s 29th National Convention May 21-23, 2010:
The formation this year of the Quad Caucus within Congress is a reflection of a growing demographic and progressive shift within the electorate. The collaboration of the Congressional Black, Hispanic, Asian-Pacific and Progressive caucuses creates a strong counter-force to the conservative element within the Democratic Party.
Many of our clubs are located in Congressional Districts of Quad Caucus members. A labor-people’s electoral force working within the broad alliance and relating with members of Congress can project specific legislation like passage of the Local Jobs for America Act to restore one million jobs in cities and towns, and bigger goals like shifting military funding to human needs with massive public works job creation.
A report highlighting the CPUSA’s connection to the Congressional Progressive Caucus, often referred to as the “Progressive Caucus,” was delivered at the 14th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties, held in Beirut, Lebanon, from November 22 to 25, 2012, by the late Erwin Marquit, a then-member of the CPUSA’s International Department:
The Communist Party USA not only welcomes the reelection of President Barack Obama, but actively engaged in the electoral campaign for his reelection and for the election of many Democratic Party congressional candidates….
In our electoral policy, we seek to cooperate and strengthen our relationship with the more progressive elements in [the] Democratic Party, such as the Progressive Caucus….
In its domestic policy, for example, the Progressive Caucus has put forth a program for using the public sector to deal with unemployment. In its foreign policy, the Progressive Caucus and the Black Caucus are outspoken in their opposition to U.S. imperialist policies abroad. The Progressive Caucus, now that Obama has been reelected, will be playing an important role in contributing to the mobilization of mass activity on critical issues to bring pressure on the Congress and administration to act on them.
Congressional Progressive Caucus
Described by former Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair California Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey as the “heart and soul of the Democratic Party,” the Progressive Caucus is about to become the brain as well.
The Progressive Caucus was founded in 1991 by then-freshman Congressman Bernie Sanders, a longtime affiliate of the country’s largest Marxist organization, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Caucus co-founders included DSA member Ron Dellums (D-Calif.), DSA-aligned Lane Evans (D-Ill.), and DSA/CPUSA-friendly Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).
In 1999, the youth wing of the DSA, the Young Democratic Socialists of James Madison University, wrote:
DSA. [sic] is not a political party, but rather works within the left wing of the Democratic Party and other third parties. DSA. [sic] is a driving force for the Progressive Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives (led by Rep. Bernie Sanders, Socialist Congressman of Vermont).
The Democratic Socialists’ relationship with the Congressional Progressive Caucus remains strong to this day. At 55,000 members, DSA has the electoral muscle to make even entrenched “moderate” Democrats tremble.
California Congressman and DSA-friendly Ro Khanna is now first vice-chair of the CPC, while Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is both a very vocal new member of the Progressive Caucus and a card-carrying DSA member.
Back in February 2002, Joelle Fishman, chair of the Political Action Committee-CPUSA, evaluated the usefulness of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in a report to the party’s National Board:
Although this Caucus [CPC] is not large enough to control the Congressional agenda … the existence of this group of 57 members of Congress … provides an important lever that can be used to advance workers’ issues and move the debate to the left in every Congressional District in the country.
Buoyed by an influx of new far-left members, the CPC has made a bargain with Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi (herself a former CPC member) to significantly increase socialist power in the House of Representatives. The deal will see more CPUSA and DSA-aligned members of Congress appointed to key congressional committees, empowering them to gain even greater influence over legislative priorities.
In return, the CPC will support Pelosi in her bid to become the next speaker of the house.
Politico recently reported:
It wasn’t a coincidence that moments after Nancy Pelosi promised progressive House leaders more power in the next Congress, a host of liberal groups announced they were supporting her for speaker….
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who is expected to co-chair the Progressive Caucus next year, left a Nov. 15 meeting with Pelosi in the Capitol and proclaimed that her members would have more seats on powerful committees and more influence over legislation.
The CPC has increased its membership from 78 to at least 95 members in the new Congress — about 40 percent of the entire Democratic Caucus. Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders are using that leverage to secure influential House committee assignments.
Politico added:
Thursday’s meeting with Pelosi included Jayapal and current Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Mark Pocan (D-Wis.). One request to which Pelosi agreed was to give the Progressive Caucus proportional representation on what lawmakers call the ‘A committees’: the Appropriations, Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, Financial Services and Intelligence committees.
The 116th Congress’ CPC co-leaders Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) both come from the hard Left.
Mark Pocan has been linked to DSA since at least 2002. He still has extensive ties to the DSA-allied Progressive Democrats of America.
For more than 25 years, Pocan has been intimately active with the Madison, Wisconsin-based Colombia Support Network (CSN), which works closely with revolutionary forces in Latin America.
On November 7, 2012, the CSN issued this statement:
Colombia Support Network (CSN) celebrates the election last night of two great friends: Tammy Baldwin, elected to the United States Senate, and Mark Pocan, elected to the United States House of Representatives…. Both Tammy and Mark went to Colombia on a CSN delegation in 1993 and visited San José de Apartadó, 4 years before San José declared itself a Peace Community. Mark has returned since, meeting with Senator Manuel Cepeda-Vargas and 3 other leaders of the Patriotic Union movement days before Senator Cepeda was murdered. He [Mark Pocan] is a former CSN Board Member and is currently on our Advisory Board.
The “Patriotic Union” is a hard-left Colombian political party. It was founded by the narco-terrorist FARC guerrilla movement and the Colombian Communist Party in 1985.
Pramila Jayapal works closely with Seattle’s openly socialist city councilor Kshama Sawant. She also has a long history with groups aligned to DSA and the pro-China Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).
Jayapal spent the whole of 2010 training at the FRSO-aligned Rockwood Leadership Institute, a radical training school based in Oakland, California.
Congressional Black Caucus
Founded in 1971, the Congressional Black Caucus was initiated by several CPUSA or Cuban-aligned members of Congress, including Shirley Chisholm (D-N.Y.), John Conyers (D-Mich.), Ron Dellums (D-Calif.), Augustus Hawkins (D-Calif.), Ralph Metcalfe (D-Ill.), Parren Mitchell (D-Md.), and Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.).
From the beginning, the Congressional Black Caucus has been closely aligned with Cuba and has campaigned relentlessly to ease U.S. trade and travel restrictions on the communist-run island.
The CPUSA’s Erwin Marquit vowed in 2012 to “strengthen our relationship to the Congressional Black Caucus, which has been the point of origin of innovative policies including an end to the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba.”
The CBC has sent multiple delegations to Cuba. One prominent CBC member, California Representative Barbara Lee, has publicly stated that she visited Cuba more than 22 times.