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Angie Paccione (R-CO, 4th District)
From the Basketball Court to the House Floor
October 10, 2006
NOW PAC has endorsed Angie Paccione for U.S. Congress in Colorado's 4th District, a seat presently held by a darling of the right wing, Marilyn Musgrave. Currently serving as Chair of the Democratic Majority Caucus in the Colorado House of Representatives, Paccione has been a professional basketball player, an educator, and a leader in her community and the state. She now looks forward to winning a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Growing up in New York City, Paccione was born in the South Bronx into a multicultural family -- an Italian father and an African-American mother. Paccione played high school basketball, earning a full scholarship to Stanford University. After graduating with an honors degree in political science, Paccione went on to play in the Women's American Basketball Association.
After retiring from pro basketball, Paccione moved to Colorado, where she trained to become a high school teacher. She went on to teach at Smoky Hill High School in the Cherry Creek School District, eventually becoming Dean of Students at the school as well as earning a Ph.D. in education.
In addition to accepting a position at Colorado State University as Assistant Professor of Teacher Education and Diversity, Paccione also became very active in nonprofit organizations as well as local and state politics. She continues to fight for the rights of adolescents, seniors, and low-income families struggling to meet basic needs.
During her time as a teacher and administrator, Paccione recognized the importance of education, which led to her support for fully funding education, particularly federal loan programs for college. Acknowledging that No Child Left Behind is ineffective, Paccione supports federal funding of special education, which would then free local funds for additional programs in Colorado schools. Paccione's opponent Marilyn Musgrave, on the other hand, voted this year to increase the college debt for Colorado families, and in 2005 she voted to cut $12.7 billion from student loan programs.
Musgrave repeatedly has been accused of corruption and bribery, even being named in 2005 as one of the "13 Most Corrupt Members of Congress" by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Musgrave has even voted twice against instituting a bipartisan ethics task force, unlike Paccione, who believes that the U.S. Congress finally needs to hold its politicians accountable.
Musgrave recently stated that the most important issue facing this nation is the need to pass the federal marriage amendment. She believes that her effort to enact the oppressive, homophobic amendment is her signature work in Congress.
If elected, Paccione will stand up for women's rights and social justice. Paccione will work to lower the cost of healthcare so that all people can have access to affordable health services. She also adamantly opposes privatization of Social Security, unlike Musgrave.
As a state legislator, because of the drought conditions in her district, Paccione co-sponsored legislation to secure the Colorado water supply and promises to continue working toward that goal. She also opposes the sale of public lands [is this the sale and/or lease of public land to private entities for the sole purpose of mining/grazing/logging?? for the sake of acquiring natural resources.
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