    
Appalachian Bus Tour Underway: Pittsburgh Rallies and Press Conference, Kucinich Speaks
The “Reinvest
in America:
Put America
Back to Work!” campaign
kicked off
its Appalachian
bus tour
with a 6:00
p.m. rally
Sunday in
downtown
Pittsburgh
at the headquarters
of the United
Steelworkers
of America
(USWA).
Led by Reverend
Jesse Jackson
and the Rainbow/PUSH
Coalition,
the campaign
represents
a broad coalition
of organizations
that are
joining together
in this election
year to focus
attention
on what matters
most to American
families
and communities:
well-paying
jobs, affordable
healthcare
and quality
education.
The bus tour
is focusing
on a particularly
hard hit
area of the
country,
the Appalachian
region of
western Pennsylvania,
southeastern
Ohio and
all of West
Virginia.
Prior
to the
kickoff
rally,
Congressman
Dennis
Kucinich
(D-Ohio)
spoke
at a
voter
registration
rally
at the
Monumental
Baptist
Church,
2240
Wylie
Ave.,
joining
Rev.
Jackson,
United
Mine
Workers
of America
(UMWA)
President
Cecil
Roberts,
USWA
Vice
President
Leon
Lynch,
and several
other
union
and religious
leaders.
During the
church gathering
Congressman
Kucinich
addressed
the relevance
of voting
to people’s
lives. He
urged the
crowd to
help bring
about change
by taking
action before
and after
the coming
election.
Kucinich
had suggested
earlier in
the day how
to tackle
the displacement
of domestic
workers by
American
companies’ increasing
reliance
on foreign
labor.
“The
way to solve
outsourcing
jobs is to
end NAFTA
and the WTO,
which both
make outsourcing
desirable,” said
Kucinich. “Much
of the blue
collar work
in America
has gone
out of the
country over
the years.
Now that
white collar
jobs are
leaving the
country,
they call
it ‘outsourcing.’ We
need to go
back to trade
that supports
workers’ rights,
human rights
and environmental
awareness.”
At the 6:00 p.m. rally Jackson told a cheering crowd outside the United Steelworkers downtown Pittsburgh headquarters that America should protect its national interest by providing the necessary conditions for a resurgence of the steel, energy and aerospace industries.
“If we can find the money to destroy and then rebuild Iraq, we can find the money to reinvest in America,” Jackson said.
Vice president of the USWA Leon Lynch agreed with Jackson, emphasizing that, “We have to make sure that we have the vital products to improve national security.”
Gerald McEntee,
president
of the American
Federation
of State,
County and
Municipal
Employees
(AFCSME),
appealed
to Washington
to fix bridges
and roads
in Pennsylvania,
Ohio, and
West Virginia
before building
them in other
countries.
One remedy
for the revenue
shortfall,
he argued,
would be
to bring
non-taxpaying
American
offshore
corporations “back
where they
belong.” His
message regarding
healthcare
was similar.
“You
bring health
care to America
before you
bring it
anywhere
else,” said
McEntee.
Sherry and
Greg Perkins
attended
the rally
with their
two young
sons. Mrs.
Perkins,
a business
consultant
and lifelong
resident
of Pittsburgh,
spoke about
the lack
of affordable
healthcare
as the rhythm
and blues
band, The
Carpenter
Ants, played
behind her.
She and her
husband have
received
two percent
raises in
each of the
last two
years.
“When
my benefits
went up,
we actually
lost money
with our
raises after
my second
child was
born,” said
Perkins. “I’d
like to be
in a union
job because
I’d
be more protected
that way.”
Earlier
in the day
Kucinich
had referred
to the state
of 44 million
Americans
living without
of health
care as “a
new kind
of poverty.” He
called on
the government
to create
universal,
single-payer,
nonprofit
healthcare.
UMWA President
Cecil Roberts
reminded
the crowd, “Thirty-five
million Americans
are in poverty.
Three million
manufacturing
jobs have
been lost
under Bush’s
watch. Four
million Americans
are without
healthcare.
America has
a fifty billion
dollar trade
deficit.
George Bush
promised
jobs, and
we thought
he meant
here. We
can’t
just pray
for victory,
someone’s
got to march.”
The Appalachian
bus tour
continues
through June
9 with stops
in McClellandtown,
PA; Weirton & Parkersburg,
WV; Athens,
Ohio; Charleston & Beckley,
WV; and Portsmouth,
Ohio.
A complete
itinerary,
tour updates,
daily press
releases,
and downloadable
pictures
are available
at www.reinvest-in-america.org.
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