News Releases

  • Pinochet’s Release

    JOYCE HORMAN Joyce Horman is the widow of Charles Horman. Along with another U.S. citizen, Frank Teruggi, he was detained and murdered in September 1973 in the days following Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s bloody military coup backed by the U.S. government. She has worked to uncover the facts about his murder for more than 26 years. Today she said: “With this decision to allow Pinochet to go to Chile rather than face justice in Spain, it becomes even more important to press the U.S. intelligence agencies to release the remaining documents they have on the cases of Charles Horman and Frank…


  • Religion and Politics

    REV. JIM WALLIS Editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine, Rev. Wallis said: “Al Gore and George W. Bush have talked about how much Jesus influenced them. The question has been whether that’s an appropriate thing for a candidate to talk about. It is very appropriate for a candidate to speak of their personal faith — if they say what it means in relation to public policy issues. So what would Jesus say about poverty in the midst of prosperity? What would Jesus say about 44 million Americans without health insurance?…. Talking about whether Bush’s speech at Bob Jones University will affect how…


  • Bradley and McCain: Insurgents?

    MATTHEW ROTHSCHILD Editor of The Progressive, Rothschild said: “Bradley doesn’t represent a real alternative to Gore or McCain or Bush. He supports the death penalty. He favors tougher sanctions on Iraq. Along with Gore, he has been a leading proponent of NAFTA and the World Trade Organization; and he, like Gore, has carried water for the pharmaceutical companies. Bradley’s health plan is a far cry from universal care, and he leaves the insurance companies firmly in command. He voted for aiding the contras in 1986. Bradley — like Gore, McCain and Bush — is for bloated Pentagon spending and has…


  • Scientist’s Resignation Raises Questions About Nuclear Policy

    A month ago, Andreas Toupadakis held a classified position at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. But he resigned his post, voicing criticisms of U.S. nuclear policy. Interviews are available with Dr. Toupadakis and other nuclear policy analysts: ANDREAS TOUPADAKIS Prior to joining the staff at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s “Stockpile Stewardship” program on nuclear weapons, Toupadakis worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Shortly after resigning, he issued an open letter which reads in part: “I have seen how easy it is for nuclear contamination to occur, and how hard it is to clean it up…. Do nations possess nuclear, chemical…


  • Rising Cost of Oil… And Embargo

    WENONAH HAUTER During the last year, gasoline prices have gone up from about 90 cents a gallon to $1.36, while crude oil has gone from $12 to $30 a barrel. Hauter, director of Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy Project, said today: “Throughout the history of the oil industry, it has been plagued with sharp peaks and valleys in oil pricing. The recent rise in oil prices is completely predictable. Most of the time, oil interests are able to collude and keep prices high. But, occasionally, like last year, their cooperative — some would say non-competitive — efforts fail and prices…


  • Still “Missing”: Truth About Chile

    A front page New York Times story reported Sunday on passages of State Department documents which show that the U.S. government knew far more than it acknowledged about the murder of two U.S. citizens in Chile. Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi, who supported the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende, were detained and murdered in September 1973 in the days following Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s bloody military coup backed by the U.S. government. Their execution was the subject of the film “Missing.” The following people are available for interviews: PETER KORNBLUH National Security Archive senior analyst Kornbluh, who has led the…


  • Pharmaceutical Drugs: Mergers and Medicare

    Pfizer Inc. announced today that it plans to buy Warner-Lambert Co. for $90 billion in stock in a deal that creates the world’s second largest pharmaceutical company. Meanwhile President Clinton and others are putting out proposals on Medicare. The following analysts are available for interviews on these and other subjects related to the pharmaceutical industry: SIDNEY WOLFE, M.D. Director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, Dr. Wolfe said today: “This would be the 29th significant merger in the pharmaceutical industry in the last decade. There is no evidence that the economies of scale have resulted in price savings to consumers…


  • Major Foreign Policy Issues: Austrian Neo-Nazis, Sanctions on Iraq, NATO and War Crimes, Israeli Nukes

    MARTIN A. LEE The author of “The Beast Reawakens,” a recent book about neofascism and right-wing extremism in Europe and the U.S., Lee said today: “The inclusion of Jorg Haider’s Freedom Party, a movement with openly fascist roots, in the national governing coalition in Austria is one of the most dangerous developments in contemporary European politics. Holocaust-deniers and neofascist ideologues are influential figures within the Freedom Party, and its dramatic rise to power has coincided with a sharp increase in racist violence in Austria, where shocking levels of anti-Semitism persist. There is reason to be concerned about a spillover effect…


  • New Hampshire: Battle of the Big Bucks

    On the eve of the New Hampshire primary, some analysts argue that money has largely determined the front runners. GEORGE W. BUSH Raised in this race: $57,120,597. Top career patrons: Enron Corporation (natural gas), $555,275; Sanchez family (banking, oil and gas), $322,400; Vinson & Elkins (law firm), $316,950; Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst (a leverage buyout firm; its founder bought the Texas Rangers from Bush and his partners in 1998), $305,150; Bass family (financed Harken Energy’s drilling in Bahrain in 1990 when Bush was a Harken director), $273,927; The Sterling Group (merchant bank), $259,000; MBNA Corporation, $244,416; Pilgrim’s Pride (poultry),…


  • State of the Issues

    The following analysts are available to comment on President Clinton’s policies and his State of the Union address: KAREN DOLAN Coordinator of the Progressive Challenge project, Dolan said: “The economic boom has bypassed millions of Americans; there’s been a widening of the gap between rich and poor. We need more progressive taxation… Clinton has missed an incredible historic opportunity to reduce the military budget and shift spending to pressing human needs.” More Information EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON Author of “The Crisis in Black and Black,” Hutchinson said: “The government has not lived up to its promises in ’empowerment zones.’ You see…


  • RFK Jr. Abandons Long COVID Patients

    Though Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged to tackle Long COVID during his HHS confirmation hearings, he has abandoned the plight of Long COVID patients by dismantling federal COVID prevention programs and the research infrastructure invested in researching and treating the condition. So far, RFK Jr. has fired key officials at CDC, created barriers to accessing…

  • Census Figures Show Flat Uninsured and Poverty Rates for Kids

    U.S. Census figures released on Sept. 9 show that the U.S. has made little progress on poverty and healthcare coverage for children. Though child poverty plummeted in 2021 to 5.2 percent thanks to the passage of the Expanded Child Tax Credit, that rate more than doubled between 2021 and 2023. The new figures show no…

  • U.S. Jews Oppose Trump’s Targeting of Colleges and Students

    More than 120 prominent Jewish Americans signed a statement released today voicing opposition to the Trump administration’s policy of “disingenuously” using accusations of antisemitism to facilitate attacks on colleges and the detention and deportation of campus activists. The statement reaffirms the signers’ support for free speech and independent scholarship and condemns the “heinous and anti-democratic policies of…

  • Israel Obliterating Gaza City; Qatar, Tunisia, Lebanon and Syria Bombed

    “The Israeli military on Tuesday ordered the full evacuation of Gaza City, where famine is taking place, as it continues to escalate its offensive with the goal of cleansing the city of its Palestinian population and razing every building to the ground.”Drop Site News reports: “Israel Bombs Hamas Office in Doha, Issues Displacement Order for 1 Million in Gaza…

  • Trump Backs Israel’s Peace-Killing Efforts

    “Three weeks ago, Hamas agreed to a U.S.-Israeli-drafted ceasefire, but its offer was ignored. Now, the movement says it will accept a comprehensive deal in a renewed bid to end the genocide.”

  • Activists Call out EU and Türkiye on “Pieties” on Gaza

      “The Republic of Türkiye must take action for an immediate ceasefire and urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, by immediately imposing unilateral economic sanctions on Israel, beginning with an immediate withholding of oil. Why has the Government of Türkiye not done this yet?”

  • Abbas Urged to Use U.N. “Uniting for Peace” to Get Protection Force for Gaza

    “It is imperative that you act immediately to formally request the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to mandate the deployment of a multilateral protection force in Gaza, pursuant to a ‘Uniting for Peace’ resolution secured in an Emergency Special Session. This force should have a specific mandate to protect civilians, facilitate aid distribution throughout Gaza,…

  • Taxpayers Take Legal Action Against the U.S. Government for Funding the Gaza Genocide

    “This initial phase of the legal action involves filing a historic legal complaint against the U.S. government with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IAHCR), the official human rights body in the Western Hemisphere established by the Organization of American States (OAS). This is the only legal complaint in the world that directly takes on…

  • Palestinian and Global Civil Society Call for UN and Global Action

    “The member nations of the UNGA have the power and obligation to stop the genocide, given that the Security Council has repeatedly failed to do so because of the US veto. Using mechanisms available to them, in particular the Uniting for Peace Resolution and non-recognition of Israel’s credentials, the state members of the General Assembly could act…

  • The Economic Impacts of Science Funding Cuts

    According to the Science and Community Impacts Mapping Project (SCIMaP), the White House FY 2026 budget proposal cuts NIH research funding by $18 billion compared to FY 2024. The budget cuts are projected to lead to widespread economic and job losses in counties across the country. Upwards of 200,000 high-quality jobs in medical research are…

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