Rep. James: LaRouche Is Needed at the Convention

Pennsylvania Rep. Harold James (D) issued this statement to press and officials in Harrisburg at a press conference with Lyndon LaRouche on March 29. A transcript of the press conference is also available.

In politics, it is important to do the right things, whether or not it agrees with what is on TV or the evening news. Doing the right thing means thinking about who represents the real concerns of our constituents, now and in the future. This means strategizing to develop an agenda that effectively represents the true interests of the people. It also means remembering who your friends are, now and later.

Currently, the Democratic Party has begun to rally behind the banner of Sen. John Kerry, who is no doubt a better man than what we have in there. However, the Democratic Party is continuing to take many of its leading constitutency groups for granted, such as African Americans, other minorities, labor, and others. Our concerns, at this point, are not being adequately represented by the Kerry campaign, and we want to remedy that.

For this reason, I decided to invite Democratic Presidential candidate Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. to Harrisburg today. Mr. LaRouche is one of three active candidates that will be on the Pennsylvania primary ballot on April 27. As of the Federal Election Commission's February 2023 report, Mr. LaRouche leads all of the Democratic Presidential candidates in the cumulative number of individual itemized contributions. LaRouche has 36,281 cumulative itemized contributions as compared to 25,899 for John Kerry, the second-ranking candidate.

By the time of the Democratic National Convention, Mr. LaRouche will have appeared on the ballot in 32 states and the District of Columbia. Also, as of the February FEC report, Mr. LaRouche had raised $6,735,378, and he qualified for Federal matching funds.

Over the years, when I have asked Mr. LaRouche to become involved with issues that will improve the conditions of my community, he has responded, not with words alone, but with action. Several years ago, when it was revealed that black elected officials were being systematically targetted and harassed by the Department of Justice, Mr. LaRouche sponsored hearings and circulated crucial material exposing that horrible injustice. Those hearings were dedicated to the memory of our late, great, State Rep. Dave Richardson, whose tragic, untimely death precluded his planned participation.

When the Democratic National Committee failed to sponsor hearings to establish a fair and just platform in the 2000 campaign, Mr. LaRouche called for Democratic Platform hearings. My colleagues and I participated in these historic hearings which addressed the critical issues of healthcare, jobs, economic injustice, and government harassment.

When I asked Mr. LaRouche to help last Fall, after it was discovered that Attorney General Ashcroft had authorized the wiretapping of the office of Philadelphia Mayor John Street, in an attempt to influence the outcome of the election, Mr. LaRouche responded. He personally supported Mayor Street, and unleashed an army of young people in Philadelphia in that election. That effort helped to insure the Mayor's re-election by a landslide. While I invited all of the Democratic Presidential candidates at that time to speak out against that injustice, only two candidates, Mr. LaRouche and former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, responded.

Several years ago, when Washington, D.C. General Hospital was being shut down as a prelude to the closing of trauma centers and full service hospitals in urban centers across the country, Mr. LaRouche took up the challenge to defend public health in the nation's capital. I joined that fight. Today, Mr. LaRouche is pledged to upgrade our healthcare as a national security issue of the highest magnitude. And I salute him on that. Mr. LaRouche has championed the cause of universal healthcare. Healthcare is a right for all Americans and not a privilege for some.

Echoing the voice of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Mr. LaRouche has called for defending the rights of America's forgotten men and women, and promoting the general welfare of the entire nation. Moreover, he has fought vigorously on behalf of the rights of the forgotten men and women of the world. He has waged a relentless campaign against the silent genocide which is ravaging Africa, while others have failed to adequately address this issue.

Without Mr. LaRouche's input and delegates, I am concerned that these issues will not be adequately raised or addressed at the Democratic Convention in Boston this Summer.

- 30 -