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State News Release - July 26, 2002 |
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| DC Statehood Green Party DC Statehood Day: Stay Home for Equal Rights Adam Eidinger, U.S. Representative (DC) Candidate, Proposes Holiday. |
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ADAM FOR SHADOW U.S. REPRESENTATIVE WASHINGTON, DC DC Residents are long accustomed to the lack of full democracy and local autonomy, since the U.S. Congress largely controls the citys budget. However, few Americans outside of the city have knowledge of this problem or care. U.S. Shadow Representative for DC Candidate, Adam Eidinger, proposes an annual holiday for DC Statehood. DC Equal Rights Day, to take place on October 1st, which coincides with the beginning of the fiscal year, would focus on the political crisis plaguing DC residents. The campaign for DC Equal Rights Day begins this Friday, July 26 at 5:00 PM as Eidinger and local activistshang the DC Statehood Now! flag during rush hour over Rock Creek Park. We are sick of having our decisions overturned by Congress. We are asking for DC residents to stay home from work on the first day of October to show the rest of the country that we want democracy, we want autonomy and we want statehood, Eidinger says. We can only change the flag and license plates once. This isthe logical next step. I ask all city residents to endorse legislation to support the stay home holiday. DC lacks true representation in Congress, the legislative body that regularly re-writes the Districts budget. Members of Congress attach riders to the DC Appropriations Bill that override the decisions made by DC City Council or DC citizens themselves. Most recently, Congress forbade the city from implementing a medical marijuana initiative endorsed by 69% of DC voters and mandated that federal dollars could not fund a needle exchange program. They also backed the Federal Control Boards closure of DC General Hospital. WHO: Adam Eidinger, Candidate for DC Shadow U.S. Representative and local statehood activists WHAT: 30 Foot DC Statehood NOW! Flag to be dropped during evening rush hour. Interview Avail. WHEN: Friday, July 26, at 5:00 PM WHERE: Rock Creek Park (Connecticut Ave. Bridge) Adam endorses the DC Statehood Green Party platform and advocates full voting representation in the U.SHouse and Senate, keeping community institutions like DC General Hospital, libraries and city services open and under public control, local power over all branches of DC government & budget, eliminating federal oversight of DCs local budget, giving all DC residents the right to vote in local elections, and ensuring that local ballot initiatives are implemented. Since DC has no vote in the U.S. Senate and only a non-voting Delegate to the U.S. House we have a Shadow delegation that will step in as our representative in Congress when DC becomes a state. Until then, the Shadow Rep. serves as an advocate for democracy in DC. The position is unpaid.\ For more information, or to schedule an interview
with Adam, please call Zoe Mitchell at 202-253-2990. |
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State News Release - July 26, 2002 |
Home | Press | State Press |
