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Green Party Candidates for Congress Establish the Greens as America's Opposition Party. |
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THE GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES Contacts: NOTE: The office of the Green Party of the United States will be open Tuesday night and Wednesday for updates on results and contact info for Green Party candidates. Phone: 202-319-7191 Bipartisan consensus on major issues -- especially support for war powers for Bush -- leaves the Green Party as the only choice for clean elections, challenging corporate rule, and adherence to constitutional and international law WASHINGTON, DC -- "There's so much bipartisan agreement and overlap on many major issues of the day, that voters across the U.S. have begun to recognize Greens as a viable alternative -- often, the only viable alternative," said Rachel Treichler, Green Party candidate for the House of Representatives in New York's 29th Congressional District. "Our candidates for the U.S. House and Senate have established the Greens in 2002 as America's party of choice, of re-enfranchisement and giving people a reason to come out and vote. We're the alternative to the two major parties, which represent the interests of those funding their campaigns -- the large corporations, PACS, and wealthy donors." Over 60 Greens are competing in congressional races, out of more than 530 Green campaigns across the U.S. "Congressional Green candidates are talking about national health insurance and focus on prevention as the solution to the crisis in access to primary care and prescription drug prices for older Americans and others who need medicine the most," added B.J. Armstrong, Texas Green candidate for representative for the House in District 6. "Under the influence of the drug, HMO, and insurance lobbies, the Democratic leadership has abandoned the promise of national health insurance. And Greens are talking about concrete measures and international cooperation to stop global warming -- an urgent topic most Democrats have ignored this year, despite President Bush's withdrawal from the Kyoto accords in 2001. Where's Congress's push to convert to clean, safe energy sources and end our dependence on fossil fuels? Where are the Democrats?" Green congressional candidates have shown leadership and distinguished themselves from the Democrats and Republicans on two other issues in the headlines: ALTERNATIVES TO WAR: "The Green Party is the party of adherence to the Constitution and to international law," said Elizabeth Shanklin, Green candidate in New York's 17th District. "We're the party that urges international negotiation -- not to bribe and threaten other countries into supporting Bush's illegal invasion plans, but to find nonviolent solutions and save human lives." DISMANTLING CORPORATE RULE AND CORRUPTION: But Greens insist that corporate abuse doesn't just mean swindled investors, financial raids by CEOs, and multimillion-dollar bonuses. "The influence of corporate boardrooms over Democrats and Republicans in Congress has ensured the passage of the greatest legislated threat to the health of the environment and the rights of working people in our lifetime," said Rachel Treichler. "Under secretive international financial authorities and pacts like the WTO, NAFTA, FTAA, World Bank, IMF, etc., our precious environmental and human rights protections are in jeopardy. Secrecy, privatization of public resources and services, disappearance of American jobs, sweatshop labor here and abroad, and taxpayer-funded payoffs to companies to compensate for their adherence to environmental laws -- these are all forms of corruption." Charles Pillsbury, Green candidate for the House in Connecticut's 3rd District, agreed and added, "All of these depend on the continued corrupting influence of campaign money accepted every election cycle by both Democrats and Republicans. This is why Green congressional candidates have signed on to the Corporate Reform Candidates Pledge. "Democrats and Republicans in Congress have been scrambling like maniacs to grab as much soft money as possible before McCain-Feingold kicks in, and they've started to look under every rock for loopholes, many of which have been proposed by the FEC," noted Steve Greenfield, Green candidate in the 22nd District of New York. "Meanwhile, we Greens continue to refuse corporate money, and we're calling for the next level of reform to make elections clean and candidates accountable to the voting public -- measures such as public financing of campaigns and opening the airwaves to candidates for discussion and debate over issues affecting voters' lives." "We're working for globalization -- for globalized democracy, globalized justice, and the responsible stewardship of nature," said Jonathan Farley, congressional candidate from Tennessee. "We'll win seats in Congress soon -- if not in 2002, then in another election another year, as more and more voters find out what the Greens really stand for: the defense and freedom of earth's most precious resource, the human spirit." MORE INFORMATION Corporate Reform Candidates Pledge The Green Party of the United States Index of Green Party candidates in 2002 search: gbl, cmp
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