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Jet, June 3, 2002 by Simeon Booker

Confidential: Ambassador George F. Moose was a finalist in the competition to head the $10 billion Global Fund founded by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to attack HIV/AIDS in the developing world. The chances for the Howard University senior fellow in international affairs dimmed during a crossfire between the U. S. and other Security Council members unhappy with the Bush Administration Middle East policies ... Only Congressional Black Caucus Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson sounded the alarm when a Labor Dept. report showed that the national unemployment rate for African-Americans peaked at an eight-year high in April. This showed that efforts to stimulate the economy hadn't reached people of color. The Labor Department showed the jobless rate soared to 11.2 percent in April, up from 10.7 percent in March. The digit rate was the highest since October of 1994 and increased during a strong economic growth rate in the first quarter of 2002 ... Here's one reason to register to vote: This fall, if Democrats manage to gain control of the House, Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel could become the first Black Chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee while Detroit Rep. John Conyers could become Chair of the Judiciary Committee ... Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld cancelled the seven billion dollar Crusader military project and triggered a Capitol Hill controversy. One of the few African-Americans involved in preparing for the new artillery weapon was Okla. Rep. J. C. Watts, the House's only Black GOPer and Chair of the GOP Conference. Oklahoma was the site of key operations, including the army's artillery bases and sites for new plants.

Simeon Booker, Washington Bureau Chief