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For Immediate Release: March 4, 2009
Contact: Ranit Schmelzer or Mary Robbins, 202-588-5180
NWLC JOINS MAJOR PROGRESSIVE ORGANIZATIONS, UNIONS IN CAMPAIGN TO PASS PRESIDENT OBAMA’S BUDGET
(Washington, DC) More than 40 major groups, including progressive organizations and unions, have joined together to form “Rebuild and Renew America Now,” a coalition dedicated to passing President Obama’s historic budget. As a leading member of the coalition, National Women’s Law Center Co-President Nancy Duff Campbell joined in a national press conference call today announcing its formation. Below are her remarks.
“As Co-President of the Center for over 30 years, I have been involved in many budget battles – sometimes in support and other times in opposition. For the Center, the guiding principle is always whether the proposed budget addresses the needs of women and their families.
“The Center opposed the Administration’s budgets of the past eight years because they cut vital supports to vulnerable women and children while redistributing wealth to the very richest. They neglected fundamental needs yet piled up debt, even when the economy was growing.
“President Obama’s budget blueprint not only reverses this disastrous course – it sets us on a significant new one.
“After years of neglect, the President’s budget increases investments in key supports for women and families. The budget makes a serious down payment on comprehensive health care reform. It invests in education, starting with the first years of life. It provides additional supports for those most vulnerable, such as child nutrition, job training programs, and refundable tax credits that will reduce poverty. And, it strengthens civil rights enforcement and worker protections, two items that are vital for women.
“Importantly, the President’s budget makes these investments in a fair and responsible way, by cutting subsidies to special interests and beginning to make corporations and the very wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.
“The President’s budget charts a new direction that will begin to put women – and their families – back on their feet. But it will take a lot of work to get there. The Center looks forward to working with the Obama Administration, Congress, and our partners in this campaign, to make a fair and responsible budget a reality.”
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