For Immediate Release
June 22, 2004
For more information, please contact Colin Durrant (617)722-1650 or
Dalié Jiménez, 617-722-1650 

Romney "Putting His Own Political Ambitions Before the Interests of Massachusetts" Say Seniors, Health Leaders, and Legislators

As Romney spends day in Washington trying to amend the Constitution, the ‘people’s priorities’ in Massachusetts are neglected

(Boston, MA) Seniors, health care leaders and legislators said today that Governor Mitt Romney ‘is putting his own political ambitions before the interests of Massachusetts’ as the Governor spends the day in Washington lobbying for a discriminatory Constitutional amendment that would take basic rights away from tax-paying, law-abiding American citizens.

At a State House press conference, the Governor was criticized for having the ‘wrong priorities’ as he testified in favor of a Federal Marriage Amendment, which would amend the constitution to deny marriage rights recently granted to same-sex couples in Massachusetts and prohibit any state from offering other couples the legal rights and protections of marriage.

State Senator Jarrett Barrios (D-Cambridge) said that the Governor was neglecting the issues important to Massachusetts families.

“Governor Romney is putting his own political ambitions before the interests of the people of Massachusetts,” said Barrios. “Rather than lobbying to take rights away from people, the Governor should be lobbying the federal government to support seniors, families and public schools.

“If Romney has his way, the country will be dragged through a divisive, expensive political debate over changing the Constitution as state legislatures across the country vote on the issue. Changing the Constitution requires the approval of ¾ of state legislatures.

“We have a lot of challenges in Massachusetts,” said Barrios. “The Governor should be working with us to finalize a budget that addresses those problems, not in Washington trying to appeal to right-wing Republicans.”

Jack Boesen of the Massachusetts Senior Action Council said that seniors are facing spiraling prescription drug costs and a Medicare benefit that is unaffordable and confusing for most Massachusetts seniors.

“We hoped that Governor Romney would be lobbying Congress to fix the Medicare prescription drug benefit,” said Boesen. “That he’s down in Washington working to take rights away from people just shows how wrong his priorities are. It tells Massachusetts that his political ambitions come before our seniors.”

State Representative Michael Festa (D-Melrose) a leading advocate for the importation of prescription drugs from Canada, said that seniors need a Governor who is working on reducing prescription costs.

“Governor Romney should be pushing his friends in the Bush administration to let seniors buy safe, quality and affordable prescription drugs from Canada, not in Washington supporting a proposal to deny rights to American families.” said Festa.

Galen Nelson of the Commonwealth Coalition said that families were struggling to find jobs and make ends meet while the Governor was out of town.

“As new figures show that unemployment jumped to 5.2% in our state in May the Governor won’t be working to create new jobs,” said Nelson. “Instead he is in Washington working to take protections away from working families in Massachusetts.”

Diana Mora, a Junior at UMass Amherst, said that students and families were finding the higher education increasingly out of reach.

“The future of the Massachusetts economy needs a well educated and skilled workforce, but the costs of higher education make college increasingly out of reach for many young people,” said Mora. “We need Governor Romney to be securing research dollars for our universities and working to make higher education more affordable for Massachusetts families.”

In the past, amendments to the Constitution have expanded the rights and liberties of Americans. Since the passage of the Bill of Rights, there have been only 17 amendments to the Constitution, including the abolition of slavery and extending voting rights to women and African Americans.

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