PRESS RELEASES
State Rep. to Hold Press Conference with D.C. General Hospital Hunger Striker, Rev. Mildred King
These releases were issued May 16 by the Coalition to Save D.C. General Hospital. For further infomration, contact Lynne Speed, 202-544-7087.
What: Press conference and Rally
Where: In front of One Judiciary Square (441 4th Street NW)
When: Thursday, May 17, 2001, 12:00 noon
State Representative Catherine L. Barrett (District 31, Cincinnati, Ohio) will join District of Columbia Pastor Mildred King, who is currently conducting a hungerstrike/vigil at One Judiciary Square, for a press conference at 12:00 noon on Thursday, May 17, 2001.
Representative Barrett and other state legislators will be in Washington, D.C. for a day of Congressional meetings on the health care catastrophe facing our nation, exemplified by the recent takeover and ongoing dismantling of D.C. General Hospital.
She will present a resolution - To Save D.C. General - which was introduced into the Ohio State Legislature last week. The State Legislature of Alabama has passed a resolution in support of D.C. General and several other states, including South Carolina, Missouri, and Michigan have introduced similar resolutions.
Recent Congressional support for D.C. General Hospital will also be announced.
The national and international support for D.C. General has massively expanded in the wake of the illegal action by the D.C. Financial Control Board of April 30th, to dismantle the hospital. D.C. General is seen by elected officials, medical experts and citizens nationally as the front end of defending health care in the nation as a whole.
D.C. Pastor Mildred King Launches
Hunger Strike to Save D.C. General Hospital
Rev. Mildred King, pastor of Power of Prayer Church in Washington, D.C., and one of the key leaders of the fight to preserve D.C. General Hospital as a full service, fully funded public hospital, began a hunger strike on May 11th, in protest of the illegal actions by the D.C. Financial Control Board to dismantle D.C. General Hospital and jeopardize healthcare for the District's neediest residents. Pastor King is maintaining her fast/vigil at the entrance of One Judiciary Square (4th and D Street, NW), where the Mayor, Control Board and City Council offices are located. She has vowed to continue her hunger strike until God tells her to move on.
On April 30th, the Congressionally imposed Control Board violated its Congressional mandate by enacting 3 pieces of legislation (emergency, temporary, and permanent), which dissolved the Public Benefit Corporation, which had been operating D.C. General, and signed a 5 year, $500 million contract with Greater Southeast Community Hospital. Doctors Community Healthcare Corporation, the outfit which manages Greater Southeast, is currently facing legal suits in four different jurisdictions for fraud, embezzlement and racketeering, in connection with their looting and destruction of several other hospitals. The illegal legislative action by the Control Board, against the overwhelming opposition of the community, medical associations and the unanimous vote (13-0) by the duly elected D.C. City Council, is subject to a 30 legislative-days review by the U. S. Congress.
The death toll is already rising, and two avoidable deaths have already been documented, as a result of the temporary shut-down of DC General's trauma and inpatient services. Pastor King is calling on all Congressmen, clergy, community leaders and citizens to join her in taking the side of God and humanity, in saving D.C. General and the lives of "the least among us."
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton has unfortunately acted as a major obstacle in the effort to save the only public hospital in our nation's capitol. On May 9th, Del. Norton sent out an e-mail letter addressed to members of Congress in which she lies that, "the contract for a new health care system in the District, which has already been approved, is not subject to approval by the Congress." Norton also attacks the participation of LaRouche associates and Schiller Institute members in the Coalition to Save D.C. General Hospital. Pastor Mildred King issued the following statement in response to Del. Norton's interference in the efforts to Save D.C. General Hospital.
Rev. Mildred King's Reply to Rep. Norton
"This message is to Eleanor Holmes Norton. That's not true what you said. When we come to the Hill to visit you, we bring citizens of the community. I've been to your office on three occasions and we sit down, we talk, we discuss and I believe on one occasion you blessed (cursed) me out. I want you to know that we are not giving up on D.C. General Hospital. It's not true what you said about the LaRouche people; I believe what's really bothering you, is that they are picking up very important information and educating the community on what is really going on, so that kind of bothers your spirit, so you sent that message out to Congress, telling them that people are LaRouche. No, God didn't have LaRouche people, he had citizens, and we place no names on ourselves. If I were to say a name, I would say Eleanor Holmes Norton, you have failed, and you know it. At this point in your life, you are talking about what you used to do. We need to know what you are doing now, so we're not going by what you used to do. The citizens and senior citizens are misled by you and misrepresented, and I, as long as I have breath in my body, will let them know that you are a compulsive story teller. You said this about me, when I was in your office; what kind of pastor would come in here? A pastor that works for the Lord. A servant for God's poor people, to serve them and that's what I'm here for. So Eleanor Holmes Norton, take your hands off of it, and do what you're supposed to do, and tell Congress to let D.C. General stay as a full service, in-patient hospital. I guarantee you when the time comes for your re-election , if I'm living, you won't be in. Have a blessed day." (Quote courtesy of Joel Wishengrad, www.worldmediareports.com)
