To the Mods: This is a cross-post from the Wisconsin Forum. Please forgive me if I've broken any rules.I am simply astounded that any voter with a conscience could support Jim Sensenbrenner. You're a Republican? Fine. Whatever. I can live with that. But to vote for a congressman who would make it a felony for social workers to the treat victims of domestic violence, for example, is appalling beyond belief. It is un-American and it is patently un-Christian. In the Gospal According to Jim, Jesus Christ himself would have been imprisoned had he healed the wrong leper.
Having recently received a mailer from the Bryan Kennedy campaign describing how New Orleans residents are making campaign contributions in wake of Sensenbrenner's voting against hurricane relief, I thought that maybe lightning could strike twice, so I sent to follow message to ten addresses (gleaned from the internet) of officials from Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.
Dear Mr. Haynes,
The Sensenbrenner Bill for immigration reform, championed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), displays yet again the triumph of ideology over common sense, and another example of how Washington places pandering to right-wing groups ahead of promoting common decency. I know that you and your colleagues at the Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce understand what kind of harm this legislation would do to your businesses and to your communities.
As an American and as a resident of the Wisconsin 5th Congressional District, I am appalled that Rep. Sensenbrenner would advocate criminalizing the activities of Catholic social workers who provide assistance to undocumented workers and their families. Building a wall between the United States and Mexico is a disastrous waste of taxpayer money that could be directed toward pressing national security concerns, and spending billions to harass otherwise honest and hard-working people is simply a betrayal of American values.
We have an alternative to Jim Sensenbrenner. Bryan Kennedy is running for Congress in the Wisconsin 5th Congressional District. Bryan is a professor of Portuguese at the University of Wisconsin, and he regularly travels to the shantytowns of Rio de Janeiro to learn first-hand about the plight of the working poor in South America. On the issue of immigration reform, Bryan Kennedy supports both the DREAM Act and the SOLVE Act, both of which are intended to reduce the challenges faced by undocumented aliens and to fully integrate guest workers into the fabric of everyday American life.
Before I ask you to make a financial contribution to Bryan's campaign (and I will) please let me say right now that I have no formal or informal connection with Bryan Kennedy or his campaign. I am simply a citizen who is outraged by the behavior of Jim Sensenbrenner, and who knows a better alternative when I see one. Bryan Kennedy represents an admirable mixture of common sense and common decency, and I urge you to explore his website at www.bk2006.org and then make a financial contribution to his campaign.
And when you've done that, please circulate this message to other members and staff of the Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and to your contacts within the larger hispanic community. "Talk is cheap," Caesar Chavez once remarked, "It is the way we organize and use our lives every day that tells what we believe in." I hope that you'll take a moment of your busy day and make this gesture to let Jim Sensenbrenner know that we don't share his values, and that we stand for an America that is only as strong as its most vulnerable citizens.
Thank you and God Bless,
Jeffrey Ritchie
Brookfield, WIIf you have the time and are so inclined, please feel free to contact the people on the following mailing list, urging them as well to support the Kennedy campaign.
Michael Barrera, President, US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,
[email protected] Cici Rojas, VP Special Projects, US Hispanic C of C,
[email protected] Peter Romero, Past Chair, Illinois Hispanic C of C,
[email protected] Maria Monreal-Cameron, President WI Hispanic C of C,
[email protected] Brian Ganos, Vice Chair WI Hispanic C of C,
[email protected] Paula Mendoza, President TX Mexican-American C of C,
[email protected] Arcilia Acosta, Chair TX Mexican-American C of C,
[email protected] Jorge Haynes, Chairman Regional Hispanic C of C,
[email protected] Sandy Cajas, President Regional Hispanic C of C,
[email protected] Note the Regional Hispanic Chamber is for the Los Angeles Area.
The addresses for the California Hispanic Chamber both bounced (tried twice) so I'm not including them. If you know of other addresses -- and I went for Chambers of Commerce, as you can see, but I'm not ruling out others -- please post them here.