ADA Convention

National ADA held its 53^rd annual convention June 15-18, and it was a doozy. The banquet's keynote speaker, Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr., was unable to make it at the last minute because of weather conditions, so his remarks were read by the emcee, former talk show host Phil Donahue. We honored Patricia Friend, President of the Association of Flight Attendants for her dedication on behalf of AFA members, including her most recent success with USAirways' flight attendants. The Winn Newman award was given to longtime ADAer Dick Warden, and the first ever Wayne Johnson Memorial Award was given to the United Students Against Sweatshops.

The convention included such highlights as speeches and panel appearances by Senator Paul Wellstone, Charlie Cook of the National Journal, Steelworkers president (and former Roosevelt-Humphrey Day Dinner honoree) George Becker, President of Council for a Livable World John Isaacs, EMILY'S List President Ellen Malcolm, and the redoubtable Rep. Barney Frank.

#348, officially opposing PNTR for China. While it has already passed the House, we oppose its passing the Senate without enforceable protections for labor, the environment, and human rights;

#304, proposing a series of solutions to the growing gap between rich and poor in the country;

#151, supporting the expansion of Medicare to cover prescription drugs;

#150, opposing legislation withholding the approval of Mifepristone (RU 486), known as the "day after" pill, which was considered "approvable" by the FDA in 1996;

#153, supporting a Patients' Bill of Rights, and more specifically the Norwood-Dingell Bipartisan Consensus Bill of Rights (HR 2990);

#456, opposing the aerial surveillance of Iraq, on the grounds that it has lead to admitted erroneous attacks on civilian areas;

#463, supporting the Jubilee 2000 campaign for a one-time erasure of debt for the poorest nations, whose debt to the G-7 countries, the World Bank, and the IMF has crippled their economies;

#458, opposing economic sanctions on Iraq on the grounds that they hurt the people rather than the government;

#457, opposing the national missile defense program, on the grounds that it is not only expensive but raises tensions with other nations;

#220, reaffirming our opposition to the death penalty;

#248, supporting the inclusion of progressive issues in the Democratic National Convention platform, and opposing the expected show of force by the LAPD at the event;

#249, supporting the reform of the nominating procedures in the Democratic Party;

#231, supporting statehood for D.C.;

#213, supporting public financing of campaigns.

The convention's tone was set by President Jim Jontz's keynote speech, where he focused on our continuing fight against legislation like PNTR, NAFTA, and fast track trade authority, saying that we do not have to sacrifice the environment and labor standards for a global economy. He shared his experience in the protests against the WTO in Seattle, and scolded the media for their obsession with a handful of rowdy demonstrators, and spoke about the unity of environmentalists, human rights advocates, workers, and religious leaders, against bad policy. He spoke on the necessity of unions in our society, saying:

"Unions provide a social force for progressivism that is irreplaceable in today's society. This has nothing to do with bad employers. It has to do with the good that workers can do when they are organized in unions that simply cannot be achieved if they are not."

He gave a long list of ADA's battles, including health care, the need to break up the "enormous concentrations of economic power in our country," foreign policy, and federal spending priorities that invest in the needs of the American people. He stressed in each case the need for strong campaign finance reform, pointing out that the system itself must be fixed in order to fix the problems we experience.

"'The future is literally in our hands to mold as we like,' said Eleanor Roosevelt. 'But we cannot wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow is now.'"