FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: MELINDA SHELTON, 767; DIANE MINOR, 773
Today the President who writes about "Hope and History" kills hope, creates a shameful place for himself in history and caves in to religious and political extremists -- the radicals in Congress and this country who were under wraps for one short week in San Diego. We, as feminists and progressives, refuse to stand in silence as this bill passes into law. And we refuse to swallow the idea that it will be fixed. We intend to fix the political climate that make the President and Congress think they can get away with writing off the poor.
Feminist women and men helped President Clinton win by a narrow margin in 1992. We voted for him because he promised to end 12 years of trickle-down economics, 12 years of attacks on women's rights and 12 years of neglect and deprivation of the poor.
When Candidate Clinton promised to "end welfare as we know it," it was with several crucial caveats. He promised universal health care. He promised child care. And he promised jobs. Over the past five years, we have used both traditional and non-traditional means to try to reach that same end. We testified at hearings; we disrupted hearings. We met with officials inside the White House; today we are protesting outside the White House.
The so-called "pro-family" Congress churned out a law that will destroy poor families. And now the so-called "new Democrat" in the White House signed it.
Bill Clinton has defined both his presidency and his party. Whitewater and Travelgate were political ploys to discredit the president, but the welfare repeal bill was truly a test of his character. Today, Bill Clinton failed the test.
Yet Bill Clinton is only the most recent politician to stagger to the right after an onslaught of immoral attacks by the highly organized religious and political extremists. Although their sound and fury were muted during last week's TV theatrics, all of us have heard their rabid rhetoric against people of color, women, lesbians and gay men, immigrants and now the poor. And we see the radical right's ability to raise money and defeat progressive candidates -- often with the aid and assistance of churches.
Let the signing of the welfare repeal bill serve as a call to action for feminists and progressive people throughout the United States. For the past 21 days, since President Clinton announced he intended to sign this bill, NOW activists and allies across the country have been protesting and fasting. Now we break our fast and break into even greater action.
While some of us may hold our noses and vote for President Clinton, many of us will refuse to lift a finger or contribute a penny toward his re-election. We know he is at best our option this year, not our answer. The real hope for tomorrow is right here among us. Today, we recommit ourselves to fighting back. We will take our energy and anger over this bill and put it into the campaigns of candidates who have the courage to vote correctly, out of their convictions. We will remember in November.