Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and fellow congresswoman-elect Rashida Tlaib have criticized a Bipartisan Orientation Program" for congressional freshman as a glorified corporate lobbyist event. The pair railed against this week's three-day program - hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics - in a series of tweets. Tlaib [tweeted]: "Gary Cohen, former CEO Goldman Sachs addressing new members of Congress today: 'You guys are way over your head, you don't know how the game is played.'" [To which she responded,] "No Gary, YOU don't know what's coming-a revolutionary Congress that puts people over profits." The event was billed as an opportunity for representatives-elect to "forge bipartisan relationships and learn practical skills of lawmaking." Organizers wrote online the event is "nationally recognized" as "the preeminent educational and preparatory program" for newly-elected members of congress. A press release ... lists certain speakers from the private sector, including Cohen, General Motors chairman and CEO Mary Barra and Johnson & Johnson chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky. Ocasio-Cortez [tweeted] "our 'bipartisan' Congressional orientation is co-hosted by a corporate lobbyist group. Other members have quietly expressed to me their concern that this wasn't told to us in advance. Lobbyists are here. Goldman Sachs is here. Where's labor? Activists? Frontline community leaders?"
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