Rand Paul Speaks to National Urban League

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Rand Paul Will Outline His Agenda For Minority Voters In National Urban League Address

By PHILLIP M. BAILEY
9:56 AM THU JULY 24, 2014

Republican U.S. Senator Rand Paul speaks before the National Urban League this Friday to outline an agenda relevant to minorities.

In a one-on-one interview with WFPL Thursday morning, Paul previewed a speech that will focus on criminal justice reform, school choice, and economic freedom zones.

"I think all of these have relevance to really the agenda of the Urban League and the things the Urban League would like to pass," said Paul. "The things we're doing to try to restore voting rights to make the war on drugs less of a burden on one community are all things people in the Urban League both support politically and hopefully the audience will as well."

Over 8,000 participants are convening at the conference in Cincinnati to discuss jobs and economic opportunities for the black community.

Paul will deliver his message a day after Vice President Joe Biden addresses the civil rights group, providing the GOP lawmaker with a national audience in his continued effort to build the case for black voters to give Republicans a chance.

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Paul courts African Americans at Urban League

By MIKE ALLEN | 7/24/14 9:54 AM EDT

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), as part of a methodical effort to reach out to voters beyond the Republican base, will use a speech Friday to the National Urban League to unveil a major push on education reform, which he said will include “school choice, vouchers, charter schools, you name it — I think we need innovation.”

Paul, reaching out to youthful and minority audiences as he builds toward a likely 2016 presidential campaign, talked privacy in Berkeley in March, and earlier this month began an effort to make sentencing reform one of his signature issues.

The senator will be in Cincinnati on Friday for the Urban League’s annual conference, which this year has the theme, “One Nation Underemployed: Bridges to Jobs and Justice.” Paul’s speech will be heavy on criminal-justice reform, but will also give a peek at his plans on education.

“I’ll say this in my speech in Cincinnati: ‘Look, I grew up and went to public schools. My kids have gone to public schools. But, frankly, not all public schools are equal,’” Paul said. “And … we can’t just allow the status quo to go on, where some public schools are just incompetent, and kids are not really getting an education. And … this puts them at a lifelong disadvantage.’”

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Rand Paul's Urban League Message
He'll push criminal justice reform, school choice and economic freedom zones.

By David Catanese
July 24, 2014 | 7:00 a.m. EDT

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., will attempt to gin up support for criminal justice reform, school choice and economic freedom zones during his address to the Urban League convention Friday.

In a preview of his speech, Paul – the only Republican elected official slated to speak to the largely African-American conference – told U.S. News he expected his policy ideas to resonate with the crowd, despite their long-held allegiance to the Democratic Party.

"I'm not so sure there will be resistance to any of the three," says Paul, of the ideas he will promote. "It's policy driven but I go there also with the intention of trying to convince African-American voters that there are Republicans that are interested in their votes."

The 2016 presidential prospect has mounted a sustained effort to broaden the GOP and actually appearing before black audiences has been an integral part of the strategy. None of the topics Paul plans to cover will be new, but the audience will be.

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