Nancy Pelosi Continues to Dodge Most Pressing District Concerns

Press Release

REMARKS BY PELOSI SPOKESPERSON MISREPRESENT FACTS AND DISTORT THE SPEAKERS' REAL VOTING RECORD

It has been said that actions speak louder than words. And while Speaker Pelosi continues to say she represents her district, her actions - and inactions - resoundingly say she does not.

In a San Francisco Chronicle article published today, October 18, 2010, a Pelosi spokesperson denies Nancy Pelosi ever "voted for Iraq or Afghanistan supplementals." To the contrary, Pelosi voted YES to HR 2346, which appropriated billions in supplemental funding for the Department of Defense including $3.61 billion for the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund.

"Nancy Pelosi continues to portray inaccuracies in her voting record and what she really stands for," said John Dennis, entrepreneur and congressional candidate for CA-8 against Nancy Pelosi. "She continually claims she is against the war, while the official record shows otherwise. As Speaker of the House, she not only voted to fund the wars against our district's interest, but she has done nothing to stop them. What she has done is use her power to launch massive, irresponsible spending sprees at taxpayer expenses , all while turning a blind eye on our real needs. The voters of San Francisco deserve some answers."

In addition, Pelosi's spokesperson claims that Pelosi "vigorously opposed" the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. However, Speaker Pelosi told the Bay Area Reporter, April 15, 2010 that repealing the federal Defense of Marriage Act was not a top priority, choosing instead she chose to focus on passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the federal hate crimes bill. Yet, Pelosi's inaction on passing ENDA has been harshly criticized by LGBT groups across the country for her inaction.

"What's it going to take to get the Speaker to remember that the voters of San Francisco exist, and that she represents their interests, not the Washington special interest groups that give money to keep her in power," asked her opponent John Dennis. "It makes me furious that activists had to resort to shutting down Market and Castro Street to get her attention," referring to a recent protest by GetEQUAL demanding the Speaker make ENDA a legislative priority. "I find it disgraceful that the Speaker can say she stands up for the LGBT community and not work to schedule ENDA for a vote. As Speaker she could have helped out the community on tough issues that matter, but instead she turned her back on the voters of San Francisco."

In a recent press release from GetEQUAL, a national, direct action LGBT civil rights organization, Gabriel Haaland, spokesperson for Pride at Work and city-wide elected DCCC Committee Member has this to say: "Why is the Speaker of the House, who hails from the gayest city in America, blocking legislation that

protects lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers from workplace discrimination? Every day we live

without the passage of ENDA is another day Congress turns a blind eye to discrimination against the LGBT community."

"Notice how carefully Pelosi's spokesperson hides behind distorted inaccuracies by not directly answering the questions asked by the San Francisco Chronicle reporter," added Dennis. "Would it really be such a burden for her to spend 90 minutes in her district debating her policies and record with an opponent? Or is flying around the country raising money and trying to keep her position of power in Washington more important than discussing issues of real importance to the voters of San Francisco."

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