DON'T SUPPRESS DEMOCRACY IN D.C.

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