Creative Meeting with Senator 's Aide : Pittsburgh Indymedia

Creative Meeting with Senator's Aide
by Brad Cue Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2003 at 11:38 PM

Report from meeting and awards ceremony with Senator Rick Santorum's aide, Director of Economic Development Jay French.

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On Monday February 24, 2003 members of the Pittsburgh Organizing Group and the Student Community Organizing Project met with Senator Rick Santorum's aide, Director of Economic Development Jay French. Scheduled as a meeting to discuss educational funding in the region, the true target of the meeting was the impending war in Iraq. The five citizens meeting with French began the meeting inquiring about educational funding policies the Senator is in favor of. Eventually the questioning moved towards defense funding and contracts. French responded to the questions as best as he could, providing answers to some and avoiding others. A brief oration was then given as follows:

"Having reviewed Senator Santorum's impressive voting record it is
impossible not to recognize the consistency with which he represents the
vital interests of this nation and his constituents. Year after year,
he has introduced and advanced legislation related to failing public
education, embattled civil liberties and the current state of war. We
meet with you today to extend our heartfelt praise for his continued
exemplary performance.

"We recognize the Senator's pride in his many accomplishments, such as
the passing of the 2002 National Defense Authorization Act he helped to
craft. The success of that legislation provided $1 billion more than
even the White House requested for Armed Services funding. His
understandable pride in this legislative victory must be even greater in
memory of his vote on House Resolution 83 to reduce the 2001 tax cut to
provide $250 billion dollars for education. (1)

"His resolve on these and other issues: such as using conditional
federal funding to force libraries and schools to buy and install
Internet content filtering software, such as protecting our freedoms by
supporting "roving" wiretaps against the terrorists among us. For his
stalwart positions on these issues critical to the safety and freedom of
all Americans, we present to the Honorable Senator Rick Santorum the
following awards:"

1. The Senator voted against this resolution.

Three awards were then presented to a remarkably patient and understanding French. Presented first was the "American Patriot Award" followed by the "War Without End" award and finally the "Creating an Uneducated Populace" award. Once the awards had been accepted, further discussions about citizens' concerns regarding the impending war and effects both here and abroad ensued.

Overall the meeting went well with important issues being discussed and passed along to the Senator. The creative approach surely got the attention of Jay French and hopefully raised an eyebrow or two inside the office.