NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - March 10 - Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), author of HR 676 The U.S. National Healthcare Act, will be the featured speaker at "Turning Hope Into Action," a community forum on healthcare and the economy on Friday, March 20 at the Northampton High School auditorium, 320 Elm St. The forum will begin at 7:30 p.m. and admission is free to the public.

Also participating in the event will be Robert Pollin, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, Jackie Wolf, Ph.D., co-chair of MassCare, and Donna Smith, national co-chair of the Healthcare NOT Warfare Campaign. The forum will be moderated by John Nichols, political reporter for The Nation magazine. For more details and to register, click here.

"We're very excited to have Rep. Conyers join us in Western Mass," said Tim Carpenter, national director of PDA, one of the event's co-sponsors. "John is way ahead on this issue, but we think it would be good for those members who only know the Beltway talking points to also get out and hear what's being talked about in America's towns and cities. The single-payer healthcare model--embodied in HR 676 and a proven success in other countries--is gaining broad grassroots support."