THE GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES

MEDIA ADVISORY
For immediate release:
Tuesday, July 9, 2002

Contacts:
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576,
 nallen@acadia.net
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
 scottmclarty@yahoo.com


GREENS TO BUSH: OBEY THE NATION'S LAWS

On the eve of the party's Midterm Convention
(July 18-21 in Philadelphia), Greens warn of
damage to rights, security, and the economy in
Bush's protection of corporate and government
criminals

Greens cite Enron abuses in Harken and
Halliburton, rollback of 'Whistleblower'
protection, and noncompliance with the
International Criminal Court


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As Greens prepare for the
Midterm Convention of the Green Party of the
United States, party candidates and activists are
calling on Americans to hold the Bush
Administration responsible for coddling corporate
criminal activity and governmental malfeasance.

"With George W. Bush in the White House, our
federal government is fast becoming a gangster
operation, as all sorts of criminal behavior go
uninvestigated and unpunished," said David Cobb,
Green candidate for Texas Attorney General.
"Even in the case of Enron, which is now in
court, the links of corporate criminals to the
Bush and Clinton Administrations and to both
Democrats and Republicans in Congress have evaded
investigation. If I am elected, my first act
will be to haul the officers and directors of
Enron before a grand jury to face criminal
indictment."

Greens urge American voters and the media to hold
President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney
directly responsible for relaxed law enforcement,
corporate cover-ups, and secret government
policies and operations:

*** The sale of Harken stock by former executive
George W. Bush, who cashed in to the tune of
$848,560 just before the stock price fell
drastically and Harken reported a $23 million
loss, is in every way comparable to the actions
of Enron executives who dumped their shares just
before their value plummeted. In both cases,
wealthy corporate execs made a killing, while
smaller investors and employees lost their
savings.

"Before we believe Bush's flimsy excuses about
failing to disclose his huge stock sale to the
Security and Exchange Commission in a timely
manner, we need an independent investigation --
just as we need one for the Enron scandal, for
WorldCom, and other corporations that exercise
enormous influence over both Democrats and
Republicans," said Linda Schade, Green candidate
for the Maryland State House of Delegates,
District 20.

*** Halliburton Inc. faces seven lawsuits on
behalf of investors claiming violations of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The lawsuits
cite fraud by Halliburton for false and
misleading statements to the market, and for
reporting fraudulent revenues of $98 million for
Fiscal Year 1999 and $113 million for FY 2000 --
when Dick Cheney was CEO. Also, the Financial
Times of London has reported that between
September 1998 and early 2000, CEO Cheney oversaw
$23.8 million in deals for the sale of
oil-industry equipment and services to Saddam
Hussein, thanks to legal loopholes in US
sanctions against Iraq. The contracts were
negotatiated through Halliburton subsidiaries
Dresser Rand and Ingersoll-Dresser Pump.

*** A provision in the bill to President Bush's
proposed Homeland Security Department will exempt
its employees from the Whistleblower Protection
Act, preventing the exposure of intelligence
errors that led up to September 11. Homeland
Security personnel would escape accountability
for the kind of mismanagement that FBI agent
Colleen Rowley revealed, since employees with
evidence of wrongdoing would face harassment and
loss of their jobs.

*** President Bush asserts (as did President
Clinton) that the US will not participate or
comply with the International Criminal Court.
Congress and the White House reacted hysterically
to the establishment of the ICC, vetoing further
UN operations in Bosnia. US officials have
threatened to send in US forces to rescue any
American soldiers held at ICC headquarters in the
Hague, in the name of US sovereignty and fear
over anti-American sentiment around the world.

"The President's refusal to cooperate with
international law is notorious -- and
inconsistent," said Dr. Jonathan Farley, a
congressional candidate in Tennessee. "While
NAFTA and other free trade pacts allow secret
international authorities to override US labor,
human rights, and environmental laws on behalf of
powerful corporations, neither Bush nor Congress
will allow an open international court to hold
any US official responsible for war crimes,
genocide, or serious human rights abuses. It
shows that Democrats and Republicans alike fear
international cooperation that's based on justice
rather than on military or economic power."

The Green Party of the United States will hold
its Midterm Convention in Philadelphia from July
18-21 at the Holiday Inn, a few blocks from the
historic sites of one of America's early
capitols. The Green Party will also hold a large
political rally on Friday night, July 19, at the
Irvine Auditorium, featuring 2000 Presidential
candidate Ralph Nader, 2000 California Senatorial
candidate Medea Benjamin, and Georgia Rep.
Cynthia McKinney.


MORE INFORMATION

The Green Party of the United States
 http://gpus.org
 http://www.greenpartyus.org
National office: 1314 18th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-296-7755, 866-41GREEN

Convention information
 http://gpus.org/convention.html

Press credentialing for the convention: download
an application
 http://gpus.org/documents/credentials3.pdf

Index of Green Party candidates in 2002
 http://www.greens.org/elections


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