PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Harris Kornstein, 610.690.4834, hkornst1@swarthmore.edu
         Jason Fults, 215.222.4711, youthpawr@riseup.net

PHILADELPHIA-AREA CITIZENS DECLARE: WE WILL VOTE FOR BOOKS, NOT BOMBS

PHILADELPHIA, May 5 -- Citizens from around the area are planning to gather outside of Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum's Center City office tomorrow afternoon for a "read-in." Like a sit-in, the read-in will have specific demands from the participants -- namely, that federal money be prioritized for domestic issues rather than war and militarism. 

Participants, including students and youth, parents and educators, will declare that in 2004 and beyond they will vote for "books not bombs." Elected officials who, like Sen. Santorum and President Bush, continue to place needless war and destruction above education, healthcare, job training and community redevelopment will lose the votes of these citizens. Petitions have been circulating for the past month, and organizers plan to present the hundreds of signatures that support this position to the senator's office at 4:00 pm.

Locally, the action is being organized by Youth Philadelphia Area War Resistance, a coalition of youth and student groups committed to lasting peace and justice at home and abroad. Similar events will take place around the nation, organized by the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition. NYSPC organized a student day of anti-war action in March that brought hundreds of thousands of students to events at over 500 college and high school campuses. In Philadelphia, the protest culminated with a march of thousands of students through the streets of Center City, in front of the downtown armed services recruiting center and before an address by Councilperson Angel Ortiz.

Currently the United States is "engaged in an unjust war and occupation with untold human and financial costs," organizers say. They point out that at the same time, schools and social services are in danger of having their budgets cut even further as state and local governments find themselves in deep financial crises. According to the Office of Management and Budget at the White House, the cost of just one day of war on Iraq -- $1.1 billion -- would be enough to prevent any cuts to Department of Education programs for the entire fiscal year.

Many young people will also be registering to vote as part of the campaign. The day "will seek to mobilize a powerful youth and student voting block that will vote only for those candidates who oppose planning and waging aggressive war," NYSPC organizer Keith Quick says. "[We] will continue mobilizing for the 2004 election by educating and registering thousands of young fresh minds intent on turning the tide of militarization."

"Which is more beneficial to the long-term peace and security of Americans? A pre-emptive war that kills thousands of innocent people and makes our nation more likely to be attacked by terrorists? Or well-funded public education available to every student through college?" asks local organizer and Swarthmore College student Ivan Boothe. "The Bush Administration and its supporters in Congress must realize that they cannot declare war on the world and expect to be re-elected. Officials who have chosen militarism and profiteering over human needs will be held accountable by the voters in 2004 and beyond."

From the opportunistic USA-PATRIOT Act II to kickback contracts in Iraq for large Republican donors like Halliburton, organizers say the Bush Administration is trading domestic necessities and true peace in Iraq for short-term financial and political gain. "We demand increases in spending to financial aid, education, and job creation that does not rely on militarism," teacher and Youth PAWR member Jenn Perna said. In the rebuilding of Iraq, organizers "seek an international solution" through the United Nations, rather than continued unilateralism and occupation by the United States.

Ideally, organizers say they are interested in meeting with Sen. Santorum about his funding priorities, but they don't expect much of a response -- the senator has twice refused to meet with student representatives on related issues since last fall. "Ultimately, the point of the read-in is to call attention to the gross disparity between education and military funding," Boothe said. "Youth may not have the bargaining power of Wall Street executives or Washington insiders, but we can force accountability in our elected officials. We have a voice, and we're putting Sen. Santorum on notice that we intend to use it."