FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 15, 2005
1:30 PM

CONTACT: Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Doug Gordon (202) 225-5871(o); (202) 494-5141(c)

"The Bush Administration used the horrific attacks on our nation on 9/11 to push an extreme right wing foreign policy agenda of unilateralism, preemptive strikes, and an ill-advised war in Iraq. With the nation just now coming to grips with the historic devastation in the Gulf region, the Administration is poised to push through an extreme right wing domestic agenda. "This Administration has already rolled back decades worth of progress in protecting wages when it suspended both Davis-Bacon and the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act. In addition, it has been reported that, Administration officials and the Congressional Leadership are meeting with top conservative think tanks in Washington in an effort to push through school vouchers, tax credits for health care and insurance, the lifting of some environmental restrictions on new oil refineries and the lifting of affirmative action rules for employers with federal contracts."Congress must not allow this Administration to use New Orleans as a test tube for an extreme right wing agenda. "Friday will be a national day of prayer. Yet, hurricane victims shouldn't have to pray for a job and a decent wage. It is their right to the job of rebuilding their communities.  That is why, last week, I called on the President to hire local residents, when possible, and pay a living wage when using federal funds for the reconstruction of the gulf region. "This is the time for people to see their government in action. But, it must be a government that helps all, not just a select few. The rebuilding of the Gulf region will be a difficult task that will challenge this Administration and this Congress for years to come.

"This Administration will do the nation, and particularly those who have lost everything, a great disservice if it uses this tragedy to push a political agenda and an extreme ideology."