• Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) questioned former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns on June 28 as part of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, raising questions of the current administration and President Donald Trump‘s response to the threat of Russian interference in the past election and possibly in the future. “I think the American people should have a better sense of how our reputation and standing in the global community has been impacted by our failure to acknowledge that Russia attempted to manipulate an election for the President of the United States,” Harris said. Harris continued to ask Sarts how America could protect itself, considering factionalized media, the problem of media veracity, and hacking. “Well, truths and facts matter,” Sarts responded. “Facts matter. We don’t build bridges on false facts. We want to get them straight. It is very hard to have functional democracy without facts as the basis for it. We tend to go into different directions because of opinions, and that’s ok, that’s what the Democratic process is, but at the end of the day all we have to agree is that if we don’t value the factual basis of our reality, democracy would not work.”
• California’s 24th District Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) held the first citizenship recognition ceremony of his tenure as a U.S. Congressman on July 3 at the Santa Barbara Court Sunken Garden in Santa Barbara. Carbajal hosted 80 new citizens who live on the Central Coast and presented congressional recognition awards to those who had taken their citizenship oaths between Jan. 3 and June of 2017. “As we look forward to celebrating our nation’s Independence Day, I am so proud to honor some of our newest U.S. citizens from the Central Coast,” Rep. Carbajal said in a statement issued before the event. “By successfully pursuing their citizenship, these hardworking individuals have joined a proud history of immigrants who strengthen the fabric of our democracy. One of the proudest moments of my life was attaining my U.S. citizenship and it is a privilege to celebrate this achievement with my constituents.” Rep. Carbajal will host another citizenship recognition ceremony on July 15 in Santa Maria.
• California State Assemblymember Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) honored Leading From Within as a Nonprofit of the Year at a California Nonprofits Day celebration at the State Capitol in Sacramento on June 29. Limón is an alumnus of the program, which invests in and connects social sector leaders dedicated to tackling challenges communities face, and selected Leading From Within to be the honored organization from her district. California Nonprofits Day was formally recognized by the Assembly Concurrent Resolution 54, which was authored by Assemblymember Limón, who also chairs the new Assembly Select Committee on the Nonprofit Sector. “Leading From Within identifies and invests in nonprofit leaders with the goal of strengthening the entire nonprofit sector,” Assemblymember Limón said at the ceremony. “As we more regularly rely upon nonprofits to do more in our communities, Leading From Within is working to ensure nonprofit professionals are able to develop sustainable organizations that address unmet needs and advance community priorities. By deliberately developing human capital, Leading From Within is improving the impact of nonprofits and improving lives across the Central Coast.” Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham nominated a nonprofit for the 35th California Assembly District, Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley, which seeks to partner with the community to achieve resilience from substance abuse and violence for local youth. “This is a huge honor, it validates what we strive for,” Fighting Back’s Executive Director Edwin Weaver said in a statement.
This article appears in Jul 6-13, 2017.