Resolutions

The Patrick Henry Democratic Club

Resolutions

VENEZUELA

RESOLUTION FOR EXTRADITION OF POSADA (as passed by the CDP)
RESOLUTION TO END THE EMBARGO AGAINST

CUBA

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR BARBARA BOXER TO REPLACE HARRY REID AS SENATE MINORITY LEADER
RESOLUTION FOR AN IRAQI CHILDREN'S WAR MEMORIAL (as passed by the CDP)
RESOLUTION CALLING ON THE PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS OF THE CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO ACT...
Resolution in Support of Creation of a Progressive Caucus within the California Democratic Party...

RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP
Proposed by Natasha Hull-Richter

Whereas, on November 4, 2008, American voters decisively elected a Democratic President, a Democratic House of Representatives and a Democratic Senate, thereby establishing a mandate for traditional Democratic values, including promotion of peace, workers’ and immigrants’ rights, Social Security, freedom from government espionage, not-for-profit universal health care, affordable or free college, and an end to rendition, imperialism and torture, and

Whereas, the voters have earned the right to have their mandate carried out, and

Whereas, the Republicans have always treated all their victories as mandates for the opposite of Democratic principles, such as those listed above.

Therefore, be it resolved that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of American calls on President Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress to carry out the mandate of the voters and to refrain from compromising the goals and principles that elected them.

Passed unanimously on March 10, 2009

RIGHT OF MINORS TO BE FREE FROM CHILD ABUSE
Proposed by Natasha Hull-Richter

Whereas, George Miller’s hearings established that American teens and pre-teens have been tortured, starved, dehydrated, beaten, stripped, hog-tied or otherwise abused in American Gulag Schools, also known as behavior treatment facilities, boot camps, Christian boarding schools and by other names, and

Whereas, these abuses could have been stopped by the courts if teens and pre-teens had had the protection of Constitutional rights, including, but not limited to, the right of habeas corpus, and

Whereas, the number of child deaths and injuries from various forms of child abuse within the United States of America establishes a strong need to protect the human rights of minors,

Therefore, the Patrick Henry Democratic of America resolves that all young Americans are entitled to Constitutional and human rights protections, and calls on all public officials to take whatever action is necessary to end human rights abuses committed against minors in the United States of America.

Passed on March 10, 2009

Resolution for an Investigation of the 2008 Financial Collapse
Art Hoffmann

Whereas, the nation is quickly heading toward a new Great Depression due to irresponsible and possibly fraudulent financial transactions on the part of banks, investment houses, and hedge funds in an environment of little or no government regulation.

Whereas, in a democratic society the public is entitled to hold accountable the political leaders and financial managers who precipitate a financial crisis, such as the one we are experiencing, in order to end it and prevent a reoccurrence.

Whereas, during the last depression, the Pecora Commission put Wall Street managers and brokers under oath to investigate the 1929 stock market crash and its aftermath, recommending policies that resulted in passage of the Glass–Steagall Act and other financial regulations that protected the economy until they were dismantled over the past two decades.

Be it therefore resolved that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club demands a thorough investigation of the current economic crisis in order to determine what went wrong, hold responsible parties to account, and develop a strong regulatory regime for protecting the public from the effects of unbridled greed and speculation in the future.

Passed unanimously on January 27, 2009

RESOLUTION TO UPHOLD THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS
By Natasha Hull-Richter

Whereas, the use of weapons of mass destruction, such as depleted uranium and white phosphorus, are violations of the Geneva Conventions, and

Whereas, in Middle Eastern conflicts, innocent children have been killed in their homes, schools, places of worship and hospitals, places where they should have had an expectation of safety, and

Whereas, all people and children have the right to expect that the Geneva Conventions will be enforced, that innocent civilians will not be executed or sacrificed and that chemical, biological and nuclear weapons will not be used on civilian populations.

Therefore be it resolved, that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America calls for prosecution of all attacks by any and all leaders of countries that target civilian populations, involve the use of white phosphorus or depleted uranium or other chemical, biological or nuclear weapons or that otherwise violate the Geneva Conventions.

Passed unanimously on January 27, 2009

RESOLUTION TO PROTECT MAN'S BEST FRIEND FROM EXTINCTION
By Natasha Hull-Richter and Alexandar Hull-Richter

Whereas, the Humane Society estimates that 4 to 6 million dogs and cats are euthanized in America, annually, euthanasia kills more pets than disease, and over 56% of puppies and dogs entering American animal shelters are killed, and

Whereas, millions of Americans, including children, disabled persons and others are in need of dogs for friendship, services or security, and often have to wait years to acquire their needed companions, due to lack of availability, and

Whereas, since the balance of nature calls for the preservation of all species, the confiscation of animals creates in the confiscator a duty to preserve and protect the lives of animals confiscated.

Therefore, be it resolved that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America calls for the criminalization of and ban on any killing of dogs who are not proven, by clear and convincing evidence, to constitute an immediate and danger to society, for all shelters to work to save the lives of the animals they confiscate and for veterinarian licensing boards to require that all veterinarian professionals observe a code of conduct that makes saving the lives of animals their top priority.

Passed January 27, 2009

RESOLUTION FOR HONESTY IN POLITICS
Drafted by Natasha Hull-Richter

Whereas financial donors to the Democratic Party of Orange County believe their donations will be used to support Democratic candidates and Democratic causes, and

Whereas (1) the Democratic Party of Orange County is run behind and in front of the scenes by individuals who have acted to the detriment of Democratic candidates in Orange County and the actions of these individuals have resulted in losses to Republicans and (2) individuals getting their power from the Democratic Party of Orange County have used that power to conduct personal vendettas and attacks on and against progressive Democrats in Orange County, and

Whereas much of the money going into the Democratic Party goes to salaries and other purposes that do not assist with the elections of Democrats or the promotion of Democratic causes.

Therefore be it resolved that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America calls for an end to all vendettas, attacks on Orange County Democratic candidates or undercutting of Democratic causes by the individuals with power in the Democratic Party of Orange County, and for the suspension of all salaries and/or other payments to those running the Democratic Party of Orange County until the Democratic Party picks up additional Congressional, Assembly, State Senate or County Supervisorial seats from Orange County.

Be it further resolved that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America calls for the creation of a People’s Democratic Central Committee of Orange County for the purpose of promoting the interests of Democratic voters and of Orange County Democratic candidates.

Passed unanimously on May 27, 2008

RESOLUTION TO PROTECT FAIR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
Drafted by Natasha Hull-Richter

WHEREAS, the exclusion of Presidential candidates Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel from the January 31st debate, which has been endorsed by the California Democratic Party, eliminates from said debate all voices of opposition to the war in Iraq and possible war with Iran, all voices of opposition to the Patriot Act, all voices of opposition to the death penalty, all voices of opposition to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, all voices of opposition to the NAFTA and the WTO, and all voices of opposition to slave labor conditions for immigrant workers, and

WHEREAS, this exclusion in a debate, endorsed by the California Democratic Party, gives the appearance to voters that Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel are no longer running and are erroneously on the ballot, thereby deceiving voters into falsely believing their anti-war ballot choices valid and will not be counted, and

WHEREAS, this deception appears tantamount to voter fraud and election tampering.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America calls on Attorney General Edmund Gerald Brown, Jr., and Secretary of State Debra Bowen to conduct an investigation into all participants, sponsors, promoters, and networks connected to the January 31st Democratic debate to determine whether charges should be filed in connection with voter fraud, election tampering or other crimes.

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America calls on the Federal Elections Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct an investigation into all participants, sponsors, promoters and networks connected to the January 31st Democratic debate to determine whether charges should be filed in connection with voter fraud, election tampering or other crimes.

Passed unanimously January 22, 2008

Resolution in favor of ALL CANDIDATES of the major parties being included in nationally broadcast debates

Whereas the democracy of our country is dependent on the free and open exchange of ideas and information,

And, whereas the media conglomerates and corporate interests, driven by shareholder profits, are using the public air waves to limit access and monopolize the broadcasting commons,

And whereas these media conglomerates and corporate interests are undermining the public interest to be fully informed about critical issues, thus declaring themselves to be private entities who can limit debate through arbitrarily set conditions for participation ,

Be it resolved that Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles shall support this resolution to request that the Democratic National Committee REQUIRE that the broadcasting networks who use the public air waves include all presidential candidates in all nationally televised debates.

Co-sponsored by:

Linda Sutton, 41st AD Delegate, PDLA- Endorsements, Progressive Caucus- Media Reform
Dr. Bill Honigman, PDA California State Coordinator
Marcy Winograd, PDLA, President
Brad Parker, Officer, Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party
Lila Garrett, KPFK Host of "Connect the Dots"
Judy Alter, Director, Protect California Ballots, Delegate-At-Large, Election Defense Alliance
William Floyd, President, Santa Monica Peace Club
Dorothy Reik, President, Progressive Democrats of the Santa Monica Mts.
Barbara Gluck, Director, Global Light Network
Peter Thottam, Esq., Executive Director, Los Angeles Impeachment Center
Robin Gibson, Co-Founder, L.A. Election Protection Taskforce
Ann Hiller, Treasurer, PDLA
Barbara Levin, Secretary PDLA and Founder of PDA-Ch334
Mervis Reissig, PDLA Endorsement Chair, PDA National Coord Congressional Districts
Michael Jay, Delegate, 42nd AD, PDLA
Lauren Steiner, SoCalGrassroots, PDLA
Lillian Laskin, Democratic Club of Westside Progressives,PLDA Endorsements
Maureen Cruise, 41st AD Delegate, Pacific Palisades Dems,LA County DP Alternate,PDLA
Ahjamu Makalani, Progressive Caucus, PDLA
Bruce Campbell, West LA Democratic Club, PDLA, 47th AD
Marilyn Noyes, PDLA, Michael Millman, PDLA, Tom Williams, PDLA, Laurette Healey, PDLA, Kim Kaufman, PDLA, Margery Epstein, PDLA, Sylvia Moore, PDLA, Rochelle Laur, PDLA
Susan B. Haskell, Delegate, 41st AD, Pacific Palisades Democratic Club
Margie Murray, PDLA, Valley Democrats United, 41st AD delegate

Passed unanimously January 22, 2008

RESOLUTION FOR PATIENT PROTECTION
By Alexandar and Natasha Hull-Richter

WHEREAS, patients going to doctors have no way to ensure that they get proper treatment other than through the likelihood they or their families can sue for medical malpractice in the event of injury or death through malpractice, and

WHEREAS, insurance companies, hospitals and medical practices often use the likelihood of malpractice suits in determining the most cost effective way of minimizing medical costs versus the damages from lawsuits, often resulting in more complete treatment where medical malpractice limits are high or non-existent, and less complete treatment where the caps are low.

WHEREAS, certain groups of individuals, such as seniors, receive a lower standard of medical due to a belief that they will receive little or no recovery,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls for an end to all capping of damages in medical malpractice cases and for the prosecution of hospital officials, doctors and insurance executives in cases where patients receive substandard care that results in injury or death to those patients.

Passed unanimously on October 23, 2007

RESOLUTION TO RESPECT AMERICA'S IMMIGRANTS
By Natasha and Alex Hull-Richter

Whereas (1) America is a nation of immigrants, (2) the right to work for a living wage is one of many human rights due to all people, (3) poor immigrants are as worthy as rich immigrants, (4) immigrants are not the source of America's problems, and (5) in the words of Congressman Dennis Kucinich, "There are no illegal humans,"

Whereas S 1639 (the Immigration Reform Bill) (1) unfairly makes wealth an issue determinative of the right to immigrate, (2) jeopardizes the freedom, health, safety and welfare of immigrants, (3) sets up the apparatus for a slave class, (4) separates families and (5) institutionalizes bigotry and potentially massive numbers of human rights violations, and

Whereas the wall being built along the border between the United States and Mexico resembles the Berlin Wall and endangers the lives of immigrants, from newborn age to the elderly.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America calls on all members of Congress to actively oppose S 1639 and to support full and complete equal rights and benefits for all workers in the United States without regard to their country of origin, and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America calls for the discontinuation of all funding and work on the proposed wall between the border of the United States and Mexico and, as to any portions of the wall already built, calls on the U.S. Government to "tear down that wall."

Passed on June 26, 2007

RESOLUTION TO CALL FOR AN END TO IMMIGRATION REFORM BILLS SUCH AS S. 1348 AND FOR HUMANE AND RATIONAL IMMIGRATION REFORMS
submitted by Christina Avalos

Whereas humane and rational immigration reforms would include temporary visas with a realistic path to permanent visas,, fees immigrants could afford, with reasonable confidentiality, and family reunification, etc., which bills such as S. 1348 willfully ignores or disregards, and

Whereas humane and rational immigration reforms take into consideration family-based immiration and unification issues, and would include a new guest worker program with a path to legalization, which bills such as S. 1348 willfully ignore or disregard, and

Whereas humane and rational immigration reforms would not include police, sheriff and other non-immigration authorities to implement immigration processes and activities, which bills such as S. 1348 suggest willful intentions,

Therefore be it resolved that the Patrick Henry Democatic Club calls for an end to immigration reform bills such as S, 1348 and calls for humane and rational immigration reforms.

Passed on June 26, 2007

RESOLUTION OF IMPEACHMENT FOR HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS

Whereas, there is clear evidence in the public record that the Bush administration has denied due process to American citizens, operated secret prisons, delivered detainees to foreign countries for outsourced torture, and wiretapped telephone conversations of American citizens without a court order,

Whereas, these actions are in willful defiance of the U.S. Constitution, federal laws, international treaty obligations, the Geneva and Hague Conventions, and the United Nations Charter,

Whereas, every member of Congress takes a solemn oath to uphold the laws of the United States and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic,

Therefore, it is resolved by the Patrick Henry Democratic Club that members of Congress, in accordance with their oath of office, must immediately act to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for high crimes and misdemeanors,

It is further resolved, that any member of Congress who fails to fulfill their duty to defend the Constitution and laws of the United States is in violation of their oath of office and subject to impeachment and removal from office.

Passed on November 22, 2006

RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE ENTITLEMENT OF ALL AMERICANS TO HUMAN RIGHTS, CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND TREATMENT WITH DIGNITY
Drafted by Alexandar and Natasha Hull-Richter

WHEREAS, all Americans, regardless of age, are human beings who are entitled to equal protection of the laws, due process, the protections of the Bill of Rights and of the Constitution, the right to be treated with dignity, the right to receive equal quality medical care, the right to job security, and the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and

WHEREAS, older Americans are too often treated with a lesser standard of medical care than younger Americans and often lose their livelihood, income or lives through ageism, and

WHEREAS, younger Americans are often subjected to human rights violations, civil rights violations, Constitutional Rights violations and to humiliation, violence and abuse that is not practiced on those of other ages.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club declares that all Americans, regardless of age, are entitled to all human rights, civil rights, Constitutional Rights, treatment with dignity and the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club will work to end all age-related discrimination against older and younger Americans.

Passed November 22, 2006

RESOLUTION CALLING UPON THE CALIFORNIA STATE LEGISLATURE TO ENACT LEGISLATION TO HOLD LAW ENFORCEMENT ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PUBLIC

Whereas, our nation is founded on rights and responsibilities, civil and criminal systems of justice and a Constitution that includes a Bill of Rights, and

Whereas, under the guarantees of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, no person is to be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, a process that takes place through the courts with judges and juries determining the merits of evidence to assure maximum diligence and fairness, and

Whereas , empowerment of law enforcement agencies to protect the public welfare, health and safety under both The US and California Constitutions and other provisions of law derives from the people, and there is increasing evidence of abuse of discretion and cover-ups of such conduct. Although the majority of law enforcement personnel are dedicated and honorable representatives of their profession and despite the existence of police review boards, increasingly law enforcement officers are assigning to themselves the authority to make determinations with impunity, that result in summary execution of those thereby denied constitutional guarantees of due process and because the commonplace occurrences of false arrests, fabrication of evidence, and use of excessive force resulting in serious injuries and wrongful deaths are in conflict with the duty of the government to protect the health, safety and welfare of its citizens,

Therefore Be It Resolved that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls upon the California State Legislature to enact such laws as are necessary to ensure an open and transparent process of oversight of the conduct of law enforcement, their standard operating policies and procedures and reporting logs, in order to ensure accountability to the people from whom their authority derives by imposing a closer look at use of deadly force in the field through obligatory review by permanent citizen commissions that have the power to review complaints and the authority to take action when excessive force, wrongful deaths or other harm to the public has occurred.

Passed unanimously October 24, 2006

RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE RULE OF LAW AND THE GUARANTEES OF THE CONSTITUTION

Whereas, the state of California abides by the principles of the Constitution of the United States including the Bill of Rights and the guarantees of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, that no person is to be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, a process that takes place through the courts with judges and juries determining the merits of evidence to assure maximum diligence and fairness, and

Whereas, no person is placed above this law or given leave to vacate these guarantees,

Be it Therefore Resolved that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls upon the legislature of the great state of California to refute any specious and pernicious attacks upon the principles of our guarantees of freedom and liberty as members of a state in this republic, and furthermore rebukes any agent or entity that by crafting or signing bills, laws or signing statements that purport to threaten these guarantees.

Passed unanimously October 24, 2006

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF NATURAL PERSONS BY NULLIFYING THE FICTION OF CORPORATE PERSONHOOD
Drafted by Natasha and Alexandar Hull-Richter

Whereas, corporations claim to be persons, possessing the rights of personhood, including free speech and other constitutional freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and, have used their claim of corporate personhood to (1) prevent safety inspections, avoid prosecution for crimes, (2) present false or misleading information to the public about candidates and public officials, referendums, initiatives and propositions, (3) interfere with the democratic process through lobbying and pressuring our democratic bodies, (4) make the determination as to which issues and candidates will dominate election news coverage, (5) regularly engage in conduct with respect to other corporations or subsidiaries, which, if done by a person on another person, would often receive a sentence that would remove the person from society for life or for a long time or a sentence of death , (6) get away with taking tax dollars without accountability, (7) buy, sell and own other corporations (which they call persons) while escaping laws prohibiting slavery and (6) otherwise cause harm to and crimes against the American people while avoiding prosecution because of the reality that they are not in fact real people,

Whereas, (1) corporations are not mentioned in the Constitution, (2) The people have never granted constitutional rights to corporations, nor have we decreed that corporations have authority that exceeds the authority of the people of the United States, (3)Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black in his 1938 opinion in which he stated, "I do not believe the word 'person' in the 14th Amendment includes corporation,." (4) were originally only intended only to last for a limited time and to do what was authorized under law, and (8) unlike human beings, corporations are creations of law, artificial entities separate and apart from natural persons that are not naturally endowed with consciousness or the rights of natural persons, and

Whereas, Rejecting the concept of corporate personhood will advance meaningful campaign finance reform and will help to protect the rights of natural persons over those of artificial entities and will not hinder business as natural persons behind the corporations will still have the rights of natural persons

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls for the nullification or dissolution of the fictional doctrine of corporate personhood and for the legal status of corporations to be restored to that status corporations received at the time of the founding of the United States of America.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club, until such time as the fiction of corporate personhood has been eliminated from law and practice, further calls for each corporation to be subject to criminal prosecution as if each corporation or subsidiary were a person and for the government to seek the same type of or equivalent punishment (such as losing its charter with all the corporation’s officers and directors being banned from running or directing other corporations for life when a corporation is convicted of a crime carrying the death penalty) that would be sought against a person committing the same kind of actions.

Passed unanimously October 24, 2006

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR EFFECTIVE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHP IN CONGRESS

WHEREAS Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly voted for war appropriations to keep the killing going on in Iraq, has repeatedly voted for resolutions leading towards war with Iran, voted for a resolution in support of the mass bombing of the Lebanese people and children, voted for a resolution supporting the overthrow of the elected Palestinian leadership, has repeatedly voted for bills to fund Yucca Mountain, voted for a bill designed to ban minors from organizing on the Internet, and allowed a 2/3rds voice vote for strip-searching children (allowing herself and all supporters of the bill to avoid being on record for their support of strip-searching children), and

WHEREAS Pelosi's leadership has caused the majority of Democrats to frequently vote with the Republicans for bad bills destroying the economy, continuing the war in Iraq, leading towards future wars, jeopardizing the rights, privacy and modesty of minors, declaring a need to continue the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, and

WHEREAS Pelosi's leadership in support of war funding and in support of future wars and in opposition to the rights, modesty and privacy of minors is contrary wishes of the majority of Democrats outside of Congress and makes the Democratic Party look like Republican-light,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America and the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of Orange County call upon Nancy step aside as House Democratic leader and support new Democratic leaders in the House who understand the need to stop all war funding, to support human rights for all Americans (including those under 18) and for all detainees of the U.S., and to support world peace and a non-violent process of dealing with national and international issues.

Passed September 26, 2006

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR SUPPORT OF ORANGE COUNTY'S DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES

WHEREAS liberal Democratic congressional candidates Steve Young, Florice Hoffman, Jim Brandt, Louis Vandenberg and Mark Hull-Richter (if the chairman of the Democratic Party of Orange County follows the unanimous wishes of the membership of the DPOC and seeks an order to place write-in candidate Mark Hull-Richter on the November ballot in the 42nd Congressional District where there is now a vacancy, or if the CDP chairman seeks such an order) are all excellent candidates who could easily win against vulnerable Republicans, such as John Campbell, Ed Royce, Dana Rohrabacher, Ken Calvert and Gary Miller with the support of the DPOC leadership, and

WHEREAS certain high ranking officers of the DPOC (past and present) and certain of their friends on the DPOC central committee have acted to the detriment of the Orange County Democratic congressional candidates through making statements that hinder the chances of these liberal Orange County Democratic candidates, who got the highest number of votes in their respective primary elections, of being elected in November to Congress and because these high ranking officers of the DPOC have failed to provide any real support (financial or otherwise) to the campaigns of these liberal candidates; and

WHEREAS the DPOC chairman claims to be able to raise $70,000 to hire an unelected executive director to do the chairman's job while that same chairman cannot provide any real funding or other real support to candidates who would have a much easier time in attaining their victories with funding and support.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America and the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of Orange County call on the officers and members of the DPOC to stop trashing Democratic candidates and their chances, and to admit to the high quality of current Democratic candidates and to acknowledge the tremendous likelihood of success that those candidates have in the November election.

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America and the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of Orange County call on the DPOC to provide financial and other support to their Democratic Congressional candidates.

Passed September 26, 2006

RESOLUTION FOR AN INVESTIGATION INTO POTENTIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AIPAC DONATIONS AND VOTES

WHEREAS, AIPAC (an organization seeking to lobby leaders on behalf of Israel) has given a great deal of money to members of Congress who have voted for war or removal of governments they believe are hostile to the interests of Israel, and

WHEREAS, members of Congress, in supporting the positions of AIPAC, have often voted against the interests of their constituents and those votes have sometimes resulted in the deaths of thousands, including innocent children and Americans, and

WHEREAS, giving or receiving a bribe in exchange for a vote is illegal,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls for an investigation into whether there is a relationship between Congressional votes and receipt of AIPAC or other donations by members of Congress.

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls for the prosecution and removal from Congress of anyone who has received AIPAC or other donations in exchange for votes.

Passed unanimously on August 22, 2006 (also passed by the 69th ADC August 16, 2006).

RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF EVEN ENFORCEMENT OF BYLAWS AND FREE SPEECH

WHEREAS, the refusal to allow Kucinich supporters and other groups of reliable Democrats to work in opposition to the recall of Gray Davis in Orange County resulted in a failure to conduct an effective campaign in opposition to the recall and a landslide victory (more than the Republican percentage of registration) in Orange County in 2003, and

WHEREAS, elected individuals of liberal persuasion have been removed from the Orange County Democratic Central Committee through uneven enforcement of the bylaws regarding attendance while others with worse attendance have been allowed to remain on the Orange County Democratic Central Committee, and

WHEREAS, the right of Democratic Clubs to endorse in races where no Democrats are running has also been subjected to disparate treatment and uneven use of the bylaws and thus free speech under the First Amendment and the ability to speak the truth without repercussions have been placed in question,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on all members of the Democratic Party of Orange County to work to ensure that the bylaws are not misused for personal reasons.

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on all members of the Democratic Party of Orange County to ensure that all party members and clubs are protected in their use of free speech under the First Amendment.

Passed unanimously on August 22, 2006 (also passed by the 69th ADC August 16, 2006).

RESOLUTION TO END ARMS SALES TO ISRAEL (AND ANY OTHER GOVERNMENTS OR NGOS) USED AGAINST CIVILIANS

WHEREAS the United States has sold billions of dollars of weapons and military equipment to Israel and, despite current events, the United States continues to sell weapons to Israel, and

WHEREAS, the bombing of Lebanon and Gaza, and the killing of a great many innocent civilians, mostly children, has been done and continues to be done with the use of weapons and military equipment supplied to Israel by the United States, and

WHEREAS, the current government of Israel has shown a willingness to continue the killing of innocent civilians, including children, in retribution for crimes committed by others, and to continue using U.S. weapons to kill these innocent civilians

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on the United States Government to end the sale of arms and military equipment to Israel until they agree to cease and desist permanently from using such weapons against civilians.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls for the immediate prosecution of all individuals, corporations or any other non-governmental organizations involved and/or engaged in the sale of arms and military equipment to Israel (or any other countries or non-governmental entities anywhere in the world) used against civilians, and for the enactment of all necessary legislation to prosecute these crimes.

Passed unanimously July 25, 2006

DEMOCRATIC PARTY SUPPORT FOR A CEASE-FIRE IN LEBANON, ISRAEL AND GAZA

(RESOLUTION AS WRITTEN BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE PATRICK HENRY DEMOCRATIC CLUB AND ADOPTED BY THE DPOC)

WHEREAS the current Middle East crisis has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent children and people in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza; and

WHEREAS each day that the crisis continues, more and more innocent civilians are killed, and

WHEREAS the only peaceful solution is a cease-fire wherein all parties to the conflict are required to discontinue all use of force;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza; and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls for the United States government to back the cease-fire and for the United Nations to enforce it and for this resolution to be sent to all Democratic members of the Congress.

Passed unanimously July 25, 2006

RESOLUTION TO PROTECT CIVILIANS IN ISRAEL AND LEBANON
(from the 69th AD)

WHEREAS, the Israeli military and the Hezbollah guerilla organization are currently engaged in heavy bombardment of residential neighborhoods and infrastructure critical to the well-being of the civilian populations such as power plants and food production facilities;

WHEREAS, such destruction and endangerment of civilians is a violation of international law and long-standing conventions and rises to the level of crimes against humanity;

WHEREAS, Israel's use of military equipment provided by the United States for operations that go far beyond defensive purposes is a violation of U.S. statutes;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls upon all Democratic members of Congress to read the text of this resolution into the Congressional Record and lead other representatives in the Congress to demand that all military operations on both sides that threaten the lives of civilians cease immediately.

Passed unanimously July 25, 2006

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR INSTITUTING EMINENT DOMAIN PROCEEDINGS TO ENSURE THE RESTORATION OF THE URBAN FARM

WHEREAS the citizens of South Central Los Angeles have a public need to continue using the land at 41st Street and Alameda for an Urban Farm and the City of Los Angeles has a public need to make sure that the citizens of Los Angeles have healthy food, such as that grown by those farming on the urban farm, and have access to land where they can grow such healthy food for themselves, and

WHEREAS the purpose of eminent domain is to ensure that the government has the ability to confiscate private land for public needs, such as the Urban Farm at 41st and Alameda, and to give in exchange to the owner of the property the fair market value of the property minus the cost of restoring the property to the condition it was in prior to the owner's destruction of the Urban Farm and the losses to the farmers caused by the destruction of the farm, and

WHEREAS (1) irreparable harm to the residents of Los Angeles will result if Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the members of the Los Angeles City Council fail to exercise the power of eminent domain by confiscating the land currently being used as an Urban Farm at 41st and Alameda in Los Angeles to ensure that public needs that were met by the urban farm at said location will again be met and (2) it is therefore their obligation and duty as public servants to immediately start eminent domain proceedings with respect to said property and to restore the land to the condition it was in prior to the destruction of the farm and to provide any funds or assistance necessary to the farmers to compensate them for the delays and losses caused by the destruction of the farm.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls upon Los Angles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the members of the Los Angeles City Council to perform the duties for which they were elected by immediately starting eminent domain proceedings against the land Los Angeles residents have utilized as an Urban Farm at 41st and Alameda in Los Angeles and guaranteeing to the farmers its continued public use as an Urban Farm.

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls upon Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the members of the Los Angeles City Council to provide the funding to restore the Farm to the condition it was in prior to its destruction and reimburse the farmers for any losses caused by the destruction of the farm and interruption of its usage.

Pass unanimously June 20, 2006.

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR AN END TO ALL MANDATORY ATTENDANCE LAWS
by Alexandar & Natasha Hull-Richter

WHEREAS (1) learning best takes place where it is freely engaged in and (2) mandatory attendance laws turn schools from places of learning into prison settings where students (a) have no choice about the manner and timing of their learning and (b) are pressured to refrain from engaging in educational activities (such as immigration and peace marches) that take them outside the boundaries of the institutions and allow them to participate in democracy and the real world, and

WHEREAS too many school children, including Anthony Soltero, have committed suicide or otherwise harmed themselves or others (such as happened in Columbine) as a result of the pressures of forced schooling, and

WHEREAS the elimination of mandatory attendance laws will allow students to engage in learning because they are benefiting from it rather than because they are forced to do it and will make education more joyous and desirable and a better learning experience for those who now consider themselves prisoners of an arbitrary and uncaring educational system.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls for the elimination of all mandatory attendance laws throughout California and throughout the

United States of America

.

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club further calls for the compensation of losses suffered by the families of all students who have committed suicide or been killed or injured as a result of the pressures of schooling in places where mandatory attendance laws have been in effect.

Passed unanimously June 20, 2006

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR NON-VIOLENCE AGAINST PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS

WHEREAS violence and killing done by a government is the coldest and most inhuman type of violence and killing that can be done, and

WHEREAS the government of Israel has repeatedly bombed or shelled areas containing Palestinian civilians and has thereby, through official planned acts, killed innocent Palestinians (including children), and

WHEREAS the killing of civilians through planned government actions involves crimes against humanity.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls upon the government of Israel immediately and permanently to discontinue its practice of bombing or shelling places within the Palestinian areas and to admit to the past civilian deaths resulting from its official actions.

Passed unanimously June 20, 2006

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR THE RE-OPENING OF THE 9/11 INVESTIGATION

WHEREAS the physical, scientific and eye witness accounts and other evidence are inconsistent with George Bush's conspiracy theory that 19 Arabs with minimal flight training hijacked four planes on 9/11/01, flying two of those planes into the World Trade Center in New York and causing (for the only time in history) steel-framed buildings to fall to the ground as a result of fire, flying one of those planes into the Pentagon and crashing the fourth in Pennsylvania, and

WHEREAS any government that has nothing to hide from its people should be eager to fully investigate the events of such a day and to open up its files to public inspection, and

WHEREAS failure of the U.S. Government to be forthcoming with all available information as to what actually occurred on 9/11/01 has led to widespread speculation, whether accurate or not, on the part of the American people that members of the U.S. Government may have been involved in the commission of the events of 9/11/01 and are covering for themselves.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls for a new, open and honest 9/11 investigation, wherein scientists, other experts, witnesses, survivors, families of victims and all those will relevant information on the events of that day will be allowed to fully present their testimony, documents and information.

Passed unanimously June 20, 2006

RESOLUTION OPPOSING ANY MILITARY ACTION AGAINST IRAN

WHEREAS the nation with the most weapons of mass destruction, the only nation ever to have used weapons of mass destruction on another county, the nation which is currently engaged in the highest level of research and development of new weapons of mass destruction and the sole super-power to unilaterally pull out of signed non-proliferation agreement is the United States, and

WHEREAS the nation with the most weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East is Israel and in view of the fact that the government of Iran has never attacked the United States or Israel, and

WEHREAS any military strike or other use of force against the nation of Iran would result in the killing (by the attacking nation) of countless innocent people, children, babies and fetuses, and would unite the Middle East against the attacking nation,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on the United States to decrease its anti-Iran rhetoric, find a peaceful solution to resolving any differences with Iran and to refrain from the use of any military force against the country or government of Iran.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on the International Criminal Court to prosecute, as a war criminal, the leader of any nation that launches any kind of pre-emptive strike against the nation of Iran.

Passed unanimously February 28, 2006.

RESOLUTION FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

WHEREAS the United States of America claims to support democracy, and

WHEREAS the Hamas Party won an overwhelming victory in the 2006 Palestinian election, and

WHEREAS it would be hypocritical for members of the United States government to claim to support democracy and to fail to recognize and work with the democratically-elected leadership of the Palestinian peoples, and counter-productive for the U.S. Government to claim to support peace between the Palestinians and Israelis while calling the leadership of the Palestinians "terrorists" before even giving their newly elected-leadership a chance to lead,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the Patrick Henry Democratic Club call on the U.S. Government to work with the Palestinians' elected leaders in a quest for peace in the Middle East.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the Patrick Henry Democratic Club call on the U.S. Government to take Hamas off the terrorist list unless and until the new Palestinian leadership commits any acts of terrorism which can be proven in a court of law.

Passed unanimously February 28, 2006.

RESOLUTION TO IMPEACH BUSH AND INVESTIGATE CHENEY, ET AL.

WHEREAS, (1) the Downing Street Memos show that President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, and various others began planning and executing the illegal war against and occupation of Iraq months before seeking Congressional and UN approval; (2) in furtherance of this planning, (a) intelligence was shaped to fit these plans, (b) illegal bombing runs were made against Iraq and various other potentially illegal operations and actions were taken with the express intent to provoke Saddam Hussein to take military action and decline to cooperate with the UN and other international entities, and (c) false statements to the American people were made by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, and others with the apparent intent to deceive Congress and the American public in order to allow the Bush Adminstration to carry out its plan for an unnecessary war; (3) as a direct result of the above actions, the U.S. and U.K. began an unapproved war of aggression against Iraq, killing thousands of American and Iraqi military forces, wounding tens of thousands more, and killing or wounding potentially hundreds of thousands of civilians, women, children and other innocents; (4) that the U.S. has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in this potentially illegal war, to the detriment of the national debt, all citizens of the U.S. and all government programs for which this money might otherwise have been appropriated, and to the benefit solely of the military contractors and supplier corporations who have been shown to be overcharging and otherwise cheating the people and the government of the U.S, and (5) these actions on the part of the Bush Administration fit the definition of high crimes and misdemeanors, and

WHEREAS, the treasonous leaking of the name of Valerie Plame by Bush administration officials for the apparent purpose of revenge threatened the lives of a whole network of CIA operatives and obstructed official operations of the United States Government and decreased the amount of information available to U.S. operatives fits the definition of high crimes and misdemeanors, and

WHEREAS, (1) the advocacy and carrying out of torture in violation of the Geneva conventions, (2) the defunding of the infrastructure and signing of an executive order removing a wetland protecting New Orleans and the delayed FEMA response to hurricane Katrina resulted in the deaths of a great many residents of New Orleans, (3) the giving of no-bid contracts in New Orleans, Iraq and elsewhere to monetary contributors to Bush’s campaign and (4) the extended attacks on the civil liberties of all Americans, including the authorization of illegal surveillance on American citizens, all fit within the definition of high crimes and misdemeanors,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club urges Congress to immediately begin impeachment proceedings against President Bush.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club asks that all fifty states and a federal grand jury immediately begin investigations into criminal actions by Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, Former FEMA Director Michael Brown, Karl Rove, I. Lewis Libby, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, John Bolton, Jay Bybee and any and all other members and former members of the administration in connection with the above noted past and present actions and any other crimes they may have committed.

Passed unanimously on June 28, 2005. Amended September 30, 2005. Amended December 20, 2005.

RESOLUTION CONDEMNING ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER'S EXECUTION OF A PEACEMAKER

Whereas, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Stanley Tookie Williams used the last twenty-five years of his life to write and teach against gang violence and to encourage children to solve their problems peaceably, thus earning him six Nobel Nominations for his work, saving the lives of countless children and resulting in his former enemies offering to lay down all their arms and turn to peace if he were allowed to live, and

Whereas no innocent man should be required to lie about being guilty in order to be spared from the death penalty and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has never been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, used Stanley Tookie Williams’s insistence upon his innocence as a reason to execute Stanley Tookie Williams, and

Whereas, while the Western World with the exception of the United States and Cuba has abolished the death penalty as barbaric and inhuman, poor Americans and minorities are disproportionately executed in American death chambers, thereby giving the use of the death penalty, an appearance of genocide aimed at specific groups of people.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club condemns the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams as a senseless act of killing on the part of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on all Californians who support life and human rights to oppose the re-election of Arnold Schwarzenegger and to actively work to ensure that all Americans are treated with compassion and dignity, regardless of their creed, color, sex, age, religion or economic status.

Passed unanimously December 20, 2005.

RESOLUTION TO PROVIDE FUNDING TO DEMOCRATS

WHEREAS the California Democratic Party, under its current leadership, has for several election cycles only provided funding for those candidates in "safe" districts without regard for talented and qualified candidates who could run competitive campaigns in "challenging" districts; and

WHEREAS the California demographics shows that the fastest growing areas of California are overwhelmingly Republican, yet in districts where Democrats have captured over 40% of the vote without any significant financial support, the California Democratic Party still refuses to provide the support that could win a new seat; and

WHEREAS the only way to assure a Democratic majority in California, to assure that the average person has hope for the future of his family and his community, is to fight for the hearts and minds of all voters by running an 80 Assembly District campaign to beat back the Republican onslaught of hate and greed;

BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls for the California Democratic Party to provide meaningful financial support for all Democratic Candidates by reducing funding to those candidates who are assured of election by their running in Democratic super-majority districts; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club requests the Democratic Party of Orange County, and the California Democratic Party to support the intent of this resolution and to notify the news media of their support.

Passed unanimously on November 22, 2005

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR NULLIFICATION OF CORPORATE PERSONHOOD
Drafted by Natasha and Alexandar Hull-Richter (based on resolutions adopted by the City Councils of Point Arena and Arcata)

Whereas, (1) the Democratic Party hopes to nurture and expand democracy in our communities and our nation, (2) democracy means governance by the people, (3) only natural persons should be able to participate in the democratic process, (4) interference in the democratic process by corporations frequently usurps the rights of citizens to govern, (5) corporations are not mentioned in the Constitution (6) The people have never granted constitutional rights to corporations, nor have we decreed that corporations have authority that exceeds the authority of the people of the United States, (7)Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black in his 1938 opinion in which he stated, "I do not believe the word 'person' in the 14th Amendment includes corporation,." And (8) unlike human beings, corporations are creations of law, are only permitted to do what is authorized under law, are artificial entities separate and apart from natural persons and are not naturally endowed with consciousness or the rights of natural persons, and

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club believes that no corporation should be deemed a person and therefore that no corporation should be entitled to the same rights and protections as those guaranteed only to persons under the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights and calls for legislation and a Constitutional Amendment nullifying the legal fiction of corporate personhood and specifically stating that corporations are not persons and do not possess the rights of persons under the Constitutions of California and the United States of America.

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls for public meetings and education to increase public awareness of the threats to our democracy posed by corporate personhood.

Passed unanimously on November 22, 2005

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION OF CORPORATION CRIMINALS
By Alex Hull-Richter

WHEREAS corporations regularly engage in conduct with respect to other corporations or subsidiaries, which, if done by a person on another person, would often receive a sentence that would remove the person from society for life or for a long time or a sentence of death, and

WHEREAS, corporations claim to have the rights of persons and as there are laws prohibiting certain acts by persons, such as buying or owning another person (slavery), dissolving a person (murder), breaking off or selling part of another person (battery or possibly mayhem) and relocating another person without consent (kidnapping), and

WHEREAS, the only reason that corporations are not punished as persons is that they are not real persons and, in view of the fact, that real persons cannot take the good of being real persons and leave the bad behind (as corporations have done),

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls (1) for each corporation to be subject to criminal prosecution as if each corporation or subsidiary were a person and for the government to seek the same type of punishment (such as being cut off from society, death penalty, etc) that would be sought against a person committing the same kind of actions or (2) in the alternative, for the corporate personhood fiction to be dissolved by state and national laws and/or Constitutional Amendments and for corporations to no longer have the rights of persons.

Passed unanimously on November 22, 2005.

RESOLUTION TO BOYCOTT GROUPS WHO SUPPORT REPUBLICANS OVER DEMOCRATS

WHEREAS, Democrats (and not Republicans) donate to single interest progressive groups, such as Planned Parenthood and the California Teachers Association, and without donations from Democrats, many of these progressive single interest groups would not be able to continue to operate, and

WHEREAS, despite being kept afloat by Democratic donations, at least one of these progressive single interest groups has a policy that allows it to back Republicans over Democrats who will better back their interests, and whereas more than one of these groups has backed a Republican over Democrats in the October 4, 2005 race for the 48^th Congressional District from California, who agree with the groups’ goals and who will better serve the interests of these groups in Congress, and

WHEREAS, Democrats need to focus their money on individuals and groups who will support Democrats who back their causes,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on all Democrats to boycott and refuse to contribute funds to progressive single interest groups who back Republicans over Democrats until such time as those organizations issue a public apology for backing the Republican or Republicans and until such time as those organizations develop policies which will ensure that they will not back Republicans over Democrats supporting their cause in the future.

Passed unanimously on October 25, 2005.

RESOLUTION CALLING ON GEORGE W. BUSH TO MEET WITH CINDY SHEEHAN

WHEREAS, Cindy Sheehan has lost her son, who died fighting as an American serviceman in Iraq, and other Gold Star Families for Peace have lost children serving in the U.S. military in Iraq, and

WHEREAS, false statements made by the Bush Administration resulted in American troops going into war in Iraq and resulted in Cindy Sheehan’s son being sent to die in Iraq, and

WHEREAS, a person’s life has an infinite value, and no other President in recent history has used false statements to send Americans to their deaths in foreign lands,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on George W. Bush to meet with Cindy Sheehan and the members of the Gold Star Families for Peace to explain why he and members of his administration made false statements that resulted in a long-term war in Iraq and the deaths of their loved ones, and to tell the truth about the real reasons that he sent Casey Sheehan and other servicemen and women to their deaths in Iraq.

Passed unanimously on August 23, 2005.

RESOLUTION IN OPPOSITION TO JOHN ROBERTS

WHEREAS, John Roberts (1) helped with the planning of the disenfranchisement of thousands of Florida voters in 2000 and will not even state his position on the ruling on Bush v. Gore, stating that he might have to rule on a similar question in the future (meaning that his confirmation could result in another stolen election), (2) has opposed portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, (3) ruled in favor of military tribunals in Guantanamo, a place that has held and continues to hold innocent children and people sold to the military, without a trial, or any rights, (4) ruled that the police acted correctly in dragging away a 12-year-old girl, in handcuffs, for an infraction, (5) has shown opposition to Freedoms and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, (6) has shown opposition to the due process rights of the Sixth Amendment, (7) has expressed opposition to equal pay for women, (8) has questioned the constitutionality of the Endangered Species Act and whether Congress has a right to pass regulations for the protection of the environment, (9) has indicated in his confirmation hearing that he might rule that Congress does not have the power to override the President on important issues, (10) has questioned the constitutionality of the Violence Against Women Act, (11) has always supported corporate rights over the rights of individuals and (12) has expressed the belief that Roe v. Wade is unconstitutional, and

WHEREAS, Roberts has expressed support for the executive branch to have a right to conduct secret meetings with the heads of corporations, thus strongly shifting the balance of power in favor of the executive branch and the balance of power in American away from the interests of the American people and away from the interests of preserving life on Earth and towards corporate control of America (a trend that has resulted in major loss of life and destruction of homes in New Orleans), and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Supreme Court is already weighted away from the rights of the American people and against the environment and towards the rights of the corporations, and since Supreme Court justices are appointed for life and impact America for generations (especially in the case of John Roberts who could be on the court for 40 or more years),

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on all members of the U.S. Senate to take any and all necessary steps, including filibustering Roberts, refusing to participate in any consent agreements and refusing to cooperate on other Congressional matters, to block the nomination of John Roberts and to encourage the withdrawing of the nomination.

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on any member of U.S. Senate, who fails to do whatever it takes to block the nomination of John Roberts, never again to seek election to public office.

Passed unanimously on August 23, 2005; amended September 13, 2005.

RESOLUTION TO ALLOW ALL AMERICANS WHO MAY DIE FOR AMERICA TO VOTE FOR AMERICA’S LEADERS
Drafted by Natasha and Alexandar Hull-Richter

WHEREAS, (1) more than 300 American servicemen have died in Iraq without having had their first opportunity to vote for President of the United States, (2) all of these more than 300 servicemen were under the age of 18 at the time of the last Presidential election prior to their deaths and were, therefore, too young to vote for President in any Presidential election which occurred during their lifetimes, (3) almost all servicemen who have died in Iraq would have been of voting age in a presidential election prior to their deaths if the voting age had been lowered to 15 in 2000, and (4) no one who has not had an opportunity to vote for President because of his age should be sent to die for his country, and

WHEREAS, most 15 year olds will be more seriously impacted for a longer period by the policies of the Administration regarding education, war, conscription, the environment and outsourcing than those over the age of 18, and

WHEREAS, (1) the Civil Rights Act of 1964 required states to accept a sixth grade education (in English) as functional literacy for all voters, (2) 15 year olds may be sentenced as adults to lifetime prison sentences and (3) a great many Americans, 15 years of age and under, work and pay taxes, attend college, have piloted airplanes, and are often much better informed about American and state government, economics, and matters affecting legislation than individuals over the age of 18,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on all members of the State Legislature of California to draft, introduce and pass legislation lowering the voting age in California to fifteen years of age and to work towards the passage of a national amendment requiring all states to lower their voting age to fifteen.

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on all political parties to open their doors to their youth volunteers by allowing full youth participation in conventions, caucuses, committees and other meetings and events in those political parties’ organizations.

Passed on July 26, 2005. Partially passed by the CDP.

RESOLUTION REGARDING DEPLETED URANIUM

WHEREAS, (a) through four wars (Gulf War I, Sarajevo, Afghanistan and Gulf War II), the U.S. military has deployed tons of nuclear tank missiles of depleted uranium (which are solid 10-pound uranium bullets made from radioactive waste from the U.S. Department of Energy's uranium enrichment process and which has a half-life of 4.5 billion years), (b) 250 tons of solid radioactive uranium remains in Iraq from Gulf War I and about 2,000 more tons of radioactive rubble has been added from Gulf War II, (c) according to Pentagon experts, approximately 13,000 Gulf War I Veterans are now dead as a result of injuries and illnesses incurred while participating in military operations between August 1990 and October, 1991, as of May 2002, at least 221,000 veterans were on disability as a result of injuries and illnesses incurred during military operations in the Persian Gulf combat theater, (d) all of our troops currently in Iraq are continually being exposed to this depleted uranium contamination and other sources of disease, (e) a current study shows that U.S. Gulf War Veterans' children have a much higher likelihood of having three specific types of birth defects: two types of heart valve abnormality occurring to children of male veterans, and genital-urinary defects to children born of female veterans, (f) a Canadian medical research facility recently found the urine of Afghani people living near the area where the United States carried out military operations contained levels of radioactive isotopes 100 to 400 times as high as Gulf War veterans from the United Kingdom who were tested in 1999, (g) a study of British veterans of the Gulf War, Bosnia and Kosovo reveals that they have 10 to 14 times the usual level of chromosomal abnormalities, (h) many people, including physicists and physicians believe that uranium-oxide dust is the cause, or a contributing cause, of Gulf War Syndrome, (i) in Yugoslavia, the current number of depleted uranium rounds that the United States government admits to firing is 31,000, (j) the United Nations announced on January 5, 2001 that it had found evidence of radioactivity at 8 of the 11 sites hit by deleted uranium rounds tested in Kosovo, (k) a United Nations report in May, 2000 warned that Kosovo's water could be so contaminated as to be unfit to drink, and (l) various European governments have launched heath studies of their soldiers who have been in the Balkans and contracted "Balkan Syndrome and why so many soldiers have died from leukemia"*, and

WHEREAS, (a) the use of depleted uranium weapons results in the release of air-borne depleted uranium particles, which can travel far off the battlefield to neighboring countries, houses, schools, hospitals, etc., (b) depleted uranium particles possess a half life of billions of years, and can injure and kill non-combatants years after the dispute has ended, (c) depleted uranium violates the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 in that it injures and kills in inhumane ways, causing damage to vital organs and the gene pool to unborn children and future generations, raising the possibility that use of this weaponry is
tantamount to genocide and (d) contaminates the environment, agricultural land and water necessary for sustenance*, and

WHEREAS, the Department of Energy has actively pressed the EPA to let them use high amounts (such as 1,250,000,000 pounds of depleted uranium, according to one report) of depleted uranium in consumer products, such as dental products, cars, furniture, building material, cooking utensils and other items, with no notice, and has allowed depleted uranium to be used in airplanes and, in view of the fact that, exposure to ionizing radiation can cause leukemia, other diseases and genetic damage and birth defects, and developing embryos and growing children are in the most danger from the use of depleted uranium in consumer products,**

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry democratic Club calls on all federal and state representatives and senators to take all steps necessary to (1) ban the of use of depleted uranium in weapons, (2) destroy all stocks currently on hand, (3) ban the sale of depleted uranium weapons, (4) ban and criminalize the use of depleted uranium in consumer products and airplanes, (5) provide medical testing for veterans and others suffering from contamination, and (6) provide for the clean up of contamination in Kosovo, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq.***

*Footnote: the information in (a) through (g) of the first whereas clause and the information in the second whereas clause were taken from http://kucinich.us/issues/depleted_uranium.php as Dennis Kucinich's research is concise and is consistent with other research on the subject of depleted uranium. Sections (h) through (l) in the first Whereas clause was taken from or based on the report at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/duban.htm.

**Footnote: this information was derived from a variety of sources, including http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/Depleted-Uranium-DU-Consumer.htm (which had the 1,250,000,000 figure).

***Footnote: The resolved clause is, in large part, based on the resolution passed by the City of Arcata. http://www.nukewatch.com/du/20030117arcata.html

Passed July 8, 2005, without opposition.

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR THE LOWERING OF THE VOTING AGE TO SIXTEEN

Drafted by Natasha and Alexandar Hull-Richter

WHEREAS, 16 year olds are allowed to drive cars, pilot airplanes solo and sometimes attend college and can be tried as adults and sentenced to prison as adults, and

WHEREAS, most 16 year olds will be more seriously impacted for a longer period by the policies of the Administration regarding education, war, conscription, the environment and outsourcing than those over the age of 18, and

WHEREAS, a great many Americans, 16 years and under, work and pay taxes and are often much better informed about American and state government, economics, and matters affecting legislation than individuals over the age of 18,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on all members of the State Legislature of California to draft, introduce and pass legislation lowering the voting age in California to sixteen years of age and to work towards the passage of a national amendment lowering the national voting age to 16.

Passed unanimously on June 28, 2005.

RESOLUTION TO OPPOSE MILITARY RECRUITMENT
By Natasha Hull-Richter

WHEREAS, the Pentagon has begun work with a private firm to collect a database of high school students between the ages of 16 and 18 for recruitment purposes, and

WHEREAS, military recruiters are allowed on high school campuses and are allowed to recruit teenagers and, under No Child Left Behind, high schools regularly give out personal information (without notice) on students to recruiters, and

WHEREAS, the Presidential election only occurs every four years, more than three-quarters of the American population do not in reality have their first opportunity to vote in a presidential election at the age of 18 and more than 5/6ths of those born on every other odd number year will not be eligible and/or have their first opportunity to vote in a Presidential election prior to the age of twenty-one, and these and a great many other individuals born in other years may die on the front lines of war zones years before they have their first opportunity to vote in a Presidential election and have their first say in who will lead they country that has sent them to the front lines of a war,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on the state legislature of California and on Congress to bar all recruiters from public or government-funded high school and colleges and to ban all recruitment of individuals until those individuals have had an opportunity to vote in a Presidential election, and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on the state legislature of California and on Congress to require all public or government-funded high schools and colleges to obtain written consent from a potential recruit and his or her family before turning any information about that individual over to a recruiting or selective service office or employee or agent of such office.

Passed unanimously on June 28, 2005.

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR INSTANT RUN-OFF VOTING

WHEREAS, in an election with more than two candidates, the least favorite candidate of most voters could win under the current method which allows the candidate with the highest plurality to beat other candidates who, though acceptable to the majority of voters, split the majority of votes, and

WHEREAS, instant runoff voting would allow those who have difficulty deciding between two or more good candidates to rank their choices and thereby give their votes to the one of the two with the best chance of defeating a candidate that the majority of voters dislike, and

WHEREAS, instant runoff voting would have no impact in a situation where one candidate was popular enough to receive a majority of the vote,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls upon the State of California and the U.S. Government to institute Instant Run-off voting to ensure maximum voter satisfaction with the results.

Passed unanimously on July 1, 2005.

RESOLUTION FOR WITHDRAWAL FROM THE WTO AND CANCELLATION OF NAFTA

WHEREAS, the United State's participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is responsible for a loss of a great many American jobs to foreign laborers, who earn significantly less for their work than U.S. minimum wage laws would allow U.S. workers to earn and who are not protected by the higher labor standards present in the

United States

, and

WHEREAS, countries are prevented from and can be sued for enforcing their own environmental laws under the terms of NAFTA and the WTO, and

WHEREAS, NAFTA and the WTO both place the rights of corporations above the rights of governments and people,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls upon all members of Congress to create and pass all legislation necessary to provide for cancellation of NAFTA and for withdrawal from the agreement establishing the WTO.

Passed unanimously on June 28, 2005.

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT TO RESPECT THE GOVERNMENT OF VENEZUELA

WHEREAS, Hugo Chavez Frias was democratically elected by a strong majority of the people of the Venezuela and was repeatedly chosen by the vast majority of people of Venezuela in subsequent referendums, and

WHEREAS, Hugo Chavez Frias has a right to economically reform Venezuela in a way which pleases the majority of people of Venezuela, and

WHEREAS, there is a great concern that over whether the U.S. Government will respect the sovereignty of Venezuela,

THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls upon the U.S. Government to respect the sovereignty of Venezuela and the choice of the people of Venezuela to have Hugo Chavez Frias as their President.

THEREFORE, be it further resolved that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls upon the U.S. Government to refrain from any attempts to interfere with the Presidency of Hugo Chavez Frias.

Passed unanimously on June 28, 2005.

RESOLUTION FOR EXTRADITION OF POSADA

WHEREAS, the United States Government claims to oppose terrorism and has asked other countries to turn over terror suspects, linked to crimes committed within or against the United States, to the United States Government despite the use of the death penalty by the United States Government, and

WHEREAS, an official Venezuelan investigation determined that a plan, hatched in Caracas, Venezuela, under the direction of Luis Posada Carriles (a Cuban-Venezuelan) and Oralando Bosch, was successful when, on October 6, 1976, a Cubana de Avacion airplane exploded in mid-air, killing 73 passengers, including 27 Cuban Nationals who had just won the Fencing Championship in Caracas, Venezuela., 11 Guyanese students and 4 Korean students, and in view of the fact that Luis Posada Carriles escaped prison in Venezuela after conviction for his certain of his crimes, and

WHEREAS, American authorities, who have Luis Posada Carriles in custody, have failed and continue to fail to turn Posada over to Venezuelan authorities, even though Venezuela has jurisdiction over the crimes committed in Venezuela and even though Venezuela abolished the death penalty long ago,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOVLED, that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on the United States government to take all action necessary to ensure and to expedite the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela.

Passed unanimously on June 28, 2005. As passed by the California Democratic Party

RESOLUTION TO END THE EMBARGO AGAINST CUBA

WHEREAS, all nations have a right to choose their own form of government and all governments have the right of sovereignty, and no nation should be required to have a form of government demanded by foreign governments, organized crime syndicates or corporations, and

WHEREAS, Cuba has committed NO acts of aggression against the United States, and

WHEREAS, the United States Government, in 1960, in retaliation for Cuba’s decision to have a government based on socialism rather than capitalism and in retaliation for the Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s expulsion of organized crime syndicate from Cuba and to help Nixon’s 1960 election bid, an embargo was placed on Cuba, which embargo was strengthened in 1962, and since then, this embargo, which is opposed by a majority of members of the United Nations, has lasted through the present and has severely punished the Cuban people for having a different form of government and economic system than that desired by American corporations;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls upon Congress to take all action necessary to remove the Cuban embargo and restore normal (pre-embargo) trading relations with Cuba.

Passed unanimously on June 28, 2005.

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR BARBARA BOXER TO REPLACE HARRY REID AS SENATE MINORITY LEADER

WHEREAS, Harry Reid voted for Bush’s Ohio electors on 1/6/05, for Condoleezza Rice for Secretary of State on 1/26/05, for Michael Chertoff for Secretary of Homeland Security on 2/15/05, for the bankruptcy reform bill on 3/10/05, for John “Death Squad” Negroponte for National Intelligence Director on 4/21/05, for appropriations to continue an unwanted occupation in Iraq on 4/21/05, for the Real ID (AKA the Real Death Camp) Act on 5/10/05, for appropriations to continue an unwanted occupation in Iraq on 5/10/05 and for cloture on Priscilla “Enron” Owen for the U.S. 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals on 5/24/05, all in opposition to the wishes of the members of the Democratic Party and in opposition to the wishes of the American people and

WHEREAS Harry Reid’s leadership has led the Senate Democrats to enter into numerous unanimous consent agreements against the interests of the Democratic Party and against the interests of the American people and has gotten the Democrats to accept a deal that allowed three extremely bad justices to be guaranteed placement on Courts of Appeals for life, and

WHEREAS, Barbara Boxer currently has the best 2005 human rights voting record in the U. S. Senate and votes more often in accordance with the wishes of the American people than any other U.S. Senator,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on all Democratic U.S. Senators to replace Harry Reid with Barbara Boxer as Senate Minority Leader.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club wishes to thank Harry Reid for his efforts and asks him to act in the interests of the American people and the members of the Democratic Party by resigning as Senate Minority Leader, supporting the promotion of Barbara Boxer to the position of Senate Minority Leader, and following the lead of Barbara Boxer and the wishes of the American people for the remainder of his term in office.

Passed unanimously on May 24, 2005

RESOLUTION FOR AN IRAQI CHILDREN'S WAR MEMORIAL
Drafted and proposed by Natasha Hull-Richter

Whereas, it is the duty of society to protect children from harm, destruction and death, and

Whereas, while children the world over have the right to live in health and grow into adulthood, a great many children have been injured and/or killed during the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, and

Whereas, Americans owe a duty to honor and remember the Iraqi children who were the innocent victims of America's invasion and occupation of Iraq,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls for the erection of an Iraqi Children's War Memorial to honor those children who lost their lives or were injured during the invasion and/or occupation of Iraq.

Passed unanimously on February 15, 2005. As passed by the California Democratic Party.

RESOLUTION CALLING ON THE PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS OF THE CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO ACT HONESTLY AND WITHOUT FRAUD AND TO ACCEPT THE RESULTS OF THE CAUCUS ELECTION WHICH TOOK PLACE ON APRIL 15, 2005

WHEREAS, on April 15, 2005, the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party had it’s first meeting where a set of by-laws allowing for the inclusion of minors and non-citizen immigrants as members and officers was unanimously adopted and officer elections took place which included the election (by a decisive margin) of a minor to an officer position by individuals who knew the candidate was a minor and since the body of the caucus will not meet again before July 29, 2005, and

WHEREAS, among the issues that most Democrats and progressives agree on and consider important are (1) that the results of legitimate elections be upheld and that voters have a right to have their will followed and to not have their vote disregarded, (2) discrimination is wrong, and (3) that those who seek to disregard elections and substitute their will for the will of the people are wrong, and

WHEREAS, it is important to deal with the Democratic Party honestly and without the use of fraud and tricks,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls on the executive board of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party (a) to accept the results of the April 15, 2005 election, (b) to discontinue any efforts to overturn the will of the members of the Progressive Caucus, and (c) to discontinue any efforts to discriminate against, intimidate and/or exclude individuals who are eligible for membership and officer positions under the by-laws as voted upon on April 15, 2005, and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Patrick Henry Democratic Club calls upon the executive board of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party to deal openly and honestly with the members of the California Democratic Party and it’s subcommittees and to avoid fraud at all times in its dealings with the California Democratic Party and with the membership of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party.

Passed unanimously on May 24, 2005.

Resolution in Support of Creation of a Progressive Caucus within the California Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee
Proposed and Drafted by Natasha Hull-Richter and Alexandar Hull-Richter

WHEREAS Democratic progressives stand for the progressive visions of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and other great Democratic leaders whose dreams for the Democratic Party and America should not be forgotten, and

WHEREAS Democratic progressives are feeling left behind by members of the Democratic leadership who have worked to get the Republicans on their side by supporting Republican agendas as opposed to Democratic agendas, and

WHEREAS Democratic progressives want to continue to work within the Democratic Party, to continue supporting the Democratic Party and to continue encouraging others to join the Democratic Party,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the PATRICK HENRY DEMOCRATIC CLUB calls for the creation of a progressive caucus within the California Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee and for that caucus to have a voice in official California Democratic Party and national Democratic Party policy.

Passed June 21, 2004, unanimously.

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