Press Room

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Contact: Dan Muller - Portland 207-772-0680
Ilze Cohen - Bangor 207-942-3343
Jamilla El Shafei (Bus Coordinator) 207-439-5800

MAINE PROTESTERS URGE CONGRESS TO STAND UP TO BUSH

Buses leave Maine to Join National Peace March to Flood DC Streets

January 24, 2007

January 24, 2007- Hundreds of Mainers will leave from Portland and Bangor Maine, Friday January 26^th to take part in the January 27^th March on Washington to end the war in Iraq. With four buses, and many others traveling on their own, communities in Maine are traveling to Washington, DC, in unprecedented numbers. Others will join them for a rally and send off for the buses from 8:15-8:45 PM at the Park & Ride on Marginal Way in Portland (across from Bally?s Fitness).

On January 27, hundreds of thousands of people will march in Washington, DC to demand an end to the war. This march is expected to be among the largest since the war in Iraq began.

"There are many citizens who have expressed the fear that the formal channels of redress in America are not ensuring justice. Arising out of those concerns, there are plans for demonstrations, marches, public gatherings and even nonviolent civil disobedience that were so effective during the civil rights and Vietnam War periods", states Dexter Kamilewicz, a supporter and recent candidate for Congress. "Our politicians must understand that there are penalties for ignoring the clear direction provided by the 2006 election and the consistent, long-standing positions of all opinion polls calling for a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq."

The war in Iraq has cost the state of Maine the lives of its soldiers and over $970 million dollars. Participants traveling to DC are Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are demanding that American troops in Iraq are brought home now. They represent the majority of Americans who are demanding an immediate end to the war in Iraq, with plans to engage in lobbying their elected officials upon their return from DC.

Bus Rallies: 1/26: 5 PM at the Peace & Justice Center, 170 Park St, Bangor

8:15PM at the Park & Ride at Franklin Art/ Marginal Way, Portland