New Congress To Mark Change With 100 Hour Agenda

WASHINGTON - In the three weeks before the president's State of the Union address, the new Congress will put down a clear marker that the conservative era is over, according to Campaign for America's Future co-director Robert Borosage.

"Common sense is no longer exiled from the nation's capital," said Borosage. "Much will take place in first 100 hours, before the beleaguered president gives his State of the Union address. The slim new Democratic majority in the House will demonstrate that they heard what voters were saying. They will take immediate steps to clean up Washington, and turn the agenda from the dictates of corporate lobbies to the concerns that Americans worry about over their kitchen tables at night."

Borosage noted that the measures in the 100 hour agenda are a down payment before the Congress turns to the staggering challenges facing the country - unsustainable global deficits, broken health care system, utter budget mess and the debacle in Iraq.

"These measures represent a dramatic turn from the Congress of Tom Delay, where none of this legislation would have been allowed to come to a vote," said Borosage.

Borosage also said that progressives should support this effort, not scorn it, by mobilizing to hold their legislators accountable.

"Once these measures pass the House, we should be putting real pressure to get them through the Senate, where the corporate lobbies are already concentrating their forces, certain that delay, diversion and dollars can frustrate common sense reform," said Borosage. "This is a fight worth having. After years of folly, this 100 hour agenda will mark a stark change from conservative misrule. 

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**NOTE: To schedule an interview with Robert Borosage, please contact Noreen Nielsen at 202-955-5665 or nnielsen@ourfuture.org [1].**