Prometheus 6   

Kucinich responds to N.A.A.C.P. on missing the forum in Miami

Just received by email two minutes ago

DENNIS AND THE NAACP EVENT

Kucinich supporters have asked why the Congressman didn't attend the NAACP candidates' forum in Miami on Monday afternoon. He couldn't attend because the forum conflicted with his responsibilities as a voting member of Congress, and there were key Medicare votes late yesterday in the House.

When there have not been conflicts with Capitol Hill duties, Dennis has repeatedly attended candidates' forums held by civil rights and equal rights groups, including ones organized by the NAACP and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. (The Rainbow forum was on a Sunday.) Dennis has shined at these events, because he is a fighter for civil rights -- as he's shown year after year on Capitol Hill through his leadership role in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. It's Dennis who is leading the fight to abolish the racially-biased death penalty.

Due to conflicts with his Congressional duties, Rep. Kucinich recently had to miss a candidates' forum on the environment in Los Angeles and a "Democracy Rising" rally in Baltimore -- when Dennis stayed in Washington to vote against Medicare privatization, which passed by a single vote. Unlike other presidential candidates, he is a fulltime Congressperson who has not missed a vote so far this session.

Yesterday afternoon, our campaign released this statement to the media: "Congressman Kucinich has the utmost respect for the NAACP, its leadership, its members and its mission. He regrets his absence from this afternoon's candidates' forum. His duties as a member of the United States House of Representatives required that he be in Washington today for votes. Important votes are scheduled on Medicare prescription drugs and agriculture spending. Congressman Kucinich strongly believes that it is wrong to campaign across the country on the issue of expanding healthcare coverage and then miss one of the most important healthcare votes in years."

posted by Prometheus 6 at 7/15/2003 04:10:52 PM |