To the Editor:

In 1998, 69 percent of Americans who call Washington, D.C. their home
voted to give medical professionals the responsibility to prescribe
cannabis if appropriate. Initiative-59 received resounding voter approval.

In 1999, the Republican-dominated 106th U.S. Congress nullified that
legal and ultimate expression of redress by a majority of Americans in
their own community. While the Congress has the right to overrule the
people and government of our national capital, is it right for our
Congress to suppress the will of 69 percent of the people? Would any
American want Congress to veto, nullify and suppress his or her legal
vote?

These members of the 106th U.S. Congress from Pennsylvania voted to
suppress the will of the voters in our national capital: Robert Brady,
Chaka Fattah, Robert Borski, Ron Klink, John Peterson, Curt Weldon,
Jim Greenwood, Bud Shuster, Donald Sherwood, Paul Kanjorski, John
Murtha, Joseph Pitts, George Gekas, Mike Doyle, William Goodling,
Frank Mascara and Phil English.

These members of the 106th U.S. Congress from Pennsylvania voted to uphold
and defend America's democratic institutions and traditions. These brave
members opposed the suppression of a legal voter initiative by Americans:
Tim Holden, Joseph Hoeffel, William Coyne and Pat Toomey.

This represents how our representatives voted on the final of two
votes on this issue, when it was included in the Y2K Omnibus Spending
Bill. The first anti-democracy bill was originally presented as the
Washington, D.C. Appropriations Bill. President Clinton vetoed the
first bill specifically due to this states rights issue. In that first
House vote to suppress democracy in Washington, D.C., Rep. Toomey
joined with the Republican majority and for the first time in history
vetoed America's democratic tradition.

In the Senate, both Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum voted repeatedly
to suppress democracy in Washington, D.C.

Pat Rogers,
Allentown