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Sen. Hillary Clinton’s Refusal to Answer Steelworkers’ Questions Both Troubling and Revealing, Says Kucinich Campaign

CLEVELAND, July 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Kucinich for President
Campaign issued the following statement this afternoon:
“It is deeply troubling, but, perhaps, very revealing, when a
Democratic candidate for the Presidency of the United States seeks the
support of one of the most important industrial labor unions in the nation
but refuses to answer questions from the rank and file union members.
“That’s what happened today when U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton addressed
the United Steelworkers conference in Cleveland. Not only did she not
participate in the question-and-answer portion of the program to which all
of the Presidential candidates had agreed, but she also completely ignored
one of the major issues that has forced millions of union workers and
others into unemployment: the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
“Yesterday, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Senator Joe Biden, and
former Senator John Edwards held to their commitment to the USW to answer
any and all questions from union members for 30 minutes each.
“It borders on arrogance for a Democrat to deliver pro-union promises
and platitudes in prepared remarks, but then refuse to engage in an honest
and open conversation with workers whose lives have been profoundly
impacted by disastrous trade policies — especially NAFTA, which was
enacted during the Clinton Administration.
“Does Senator Clinton support NAFTA? Will she attempt to ‘fix it,’ as
former Senator Edwards proposed yesterday? Or will she have the courage to
repeal it, as only Congressman Kucinich has proposed? Members of the
steelworkers union and other industrialized unions did not get any answers
because they weren’t permitted to ask the questions.
“Candidates have an obligation to go beyond orchestrated and scripted
performances, answer tough questions, and address serious issues. If they
calculate that it is preferable to side-step that obligation when they are
trying to win votes, voters will be left wondering where those candidates
really stand and what they will really do if elected. If anything, Senator
Clinton has an even higher obligation to address this issue because NAFTA
was enacted during the Clinton Administration. Someone needs to ask where
the Senator stands. And the Senator has a responsibility to answer.”

SOURCE Kucinich for President 2008

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 10th, 2007 at 6:52 am and is filed under Public Affairs, wordpress, Politics, campaign, election, GOP, Democrats, Clinton. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.