{"article":{"id":12769,"heading":"FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION RECOGNIZES THE GREEN PARTY","author":"USGP Media Team","created":"2001-11-09 18:47:00","modified":"2005-08-15 00:42:59","last_modified":"Mon, 15 Aug 2005 07:42:59","article":"

THE GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES

MEDIA RELEASE

For immediate release:

Thursday, November 8, 2001

Contacts:

Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576,

nallen@acadia.net

Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,

scottmclarty@yahoo.com



FEC application contacts:

Dean Myerson, Green Party Political Organizer,

cell phone 303-956-0827

David Cobb, Green Party General Counsel,

713-444-6592 or 713-880-3219

Carol Miller, Media Committee, 505-660-5988

Robbie Franklin, Green Party Treasurer,

713-699-5440



FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION RECOGNIZES THE GREEN

PARTY

The Green Party celebrates the FEC decision

announced today, as the party grows and strong

Green candidates challenge two-party dominance

across the U.S.



WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Federal Election

Commission (FEC) today issued a unanimous opinion

recognizing the Green Party of the United States

as the National Committee of the Green Party.

The decision, in response to a request to the FEC

from the Green Party in August, follows the Green

Party's ground-breaking 2000 campaigns, including

the national campaigns of Ralph Nader and Winona

LaDuke for President and Vice President.

\"The decision of the FEC adds to the enormous

momentum the Green Party now enjoys,\" said Dean

Myerson, Green Party Political Coordinator. \"We

are running more candidates, electing more

candidates, gaining more members and support.\"

During the party's annual meeting in Santa

Barbara, California last July, Green delegates

voted to establish a national party and to apply

to the FEC for national committee status.

Delegates also approved growth plans that include

opening an office in Washington, D.C. and hiring

a team of field organizers for the mid-term

election season.

\"National Committee status is a tremendous

accomplishment for the young party, one that

acknowledges its place as the leading and fastest

growing political alternative in the United

States,\" added David Cobb, General Counsel for

the Green Party of the United States. \"It will

help increase the numbers of voters who recognize

us as the party of change, a serious contender on

the political landscape.\"

National Committee status will permit the Green

Party to accept contributions up to $20,000 per

year from individuals, but internal Green Party

rules cap such donations at $10,000 per year.

The party and its candidates also refuse

contributions from corporations.

\"The Green Party is the only political party to

oppose the big money that is corrupting politics

in America,\" said Steve Schmidt, chair of the

party's Platform Committee. \"We're the only

party that chooses to regulate itself more

strictly than the federal government.\"

The Green Party has called for a measured and

just response to the September 11 attacks,

demanding that the U.S. avoid further civilian

deaths and continue to protect civil liberties

and our constitutional rights of dissent, free

assembly, privacy, due process, and mobility.

The Republican and Democratic Parties continue to

retreat from supporting such protections.

\"The attacks were a crime against humanity, and

Greens call for the culprits to be brought to

justice in an appropriate international court of

law,\" said Annie Goeke, a Pennsylvania Green and

chair of the International Committee of the Green

Party of the United States. \"The current war

mentality threatens to undermine our rights and

cause needless deaths, abroad and possibly even

here in the U.S. It will prove ineffective in

stopping terrorism.\"

The Green Party of the United States is the

national political organization of the Greens, in

which 33 states are represented, with other

states' memberships pending. It organized the

Green National Convention in Denver in June,

2000, at which Ralph Nader was nominated to run

for President, and is recognized among Green

Parties around the world.

Media inquiries about national policies and

activities of the Green Party should be directed

to the Green Party of the United States, through

its media representatives as listed in the

heading above. To contact state Green Parties,

visit the Green Party of the United States web

site and follow the links to

the state parties and their contacts and web

sites.



MORE INFORMATION

The Green Party of the United States

http:\/\/gpus.org

Federal Election Commission http:\/\/www.fec.gov

Green Party statement on the September 11 attacks

http:\/\/gpus.org\/articles\/9_11_01.html



END

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