STAND UP! FOR DEMOCRACY IN DC COALITION

1715 4^th St. NW Washington, DC 20001 (202) 232-2500 freedc.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bill Mosley

Friday, August 22, 2008 Tel.: (202) 360-5414 Contact: Anise Jenkins

Tel.: (202) 361-9739

Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition

Sponsors "Statehood Now" Candidate Forum for Delegate, U.S. Representative and Senator

The Stand Up for Democracy in DC Coalition will present a "Statehood Now" forum for candidates for Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. "Shadow" Representative and U.S. "Shadow" Senator from District of Columbia on Friday, Sept. 5, 7-9 p.m. at the University of the District of Columbia Van Ness Campus, Building 39, room 201. The candidates will be asked to address how they intend to use their offices to achieve statehood for DC.

The organization is holding the forum for candidates for Delegate, Representative and Senator because these positions were established specifically to advocate for the District -- and, in the case of the US Senator and Representative, expressly to lobby for statehood, the path chosen by DC voters in a 1980 referendum.

The public is invited to participate and admission is free. Candidates will be questioned by a panel of activists and members of the news media (in formation) as well as the audience. Askia Muhammad, news director for WPFW-FM, will be moderator.

Invitations have been extended to all incumbents and challengers for the three offices who have qualified for the ballot for the Sept. 9 party primaries or who have submitted petitions to be on the Nov. 4 ballot.

The Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition was founded in 1997 to demand full democratic rights for the District of Columbia - including full voting representation in Congress and local control over the District's budgets, laws and criminal justice system, with the ultimate goal of making the District the 51^st U.S. state.

-51-