Political Leaders, Students Re-Imagine America® in Televised Forum Sept. 11th
CLEVELAND, Sept. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Compromise must be celebrated, and Congress must lead the country to unity, not follow party leaders into discord, concluded House leaders today in a panel discussion held at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by the non-profit group Purple America. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo 5), chairman of the House Civility Caucus, and Congressman Timothy Johnson (R-Il 15), co-chair and co-founder of the Center Aisle Caucus, along with four high school students, took on the tough question of whether a divided America can find common ground.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110907/CL64555 )
The discussion will air in several major markets this Sunday on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Asked how we can shift America's focus from winning to making things work, both House members said they are under constant pressure from party leaders to stay on their side of the aisle and agreed that media attention fuels negative rather than conciliatory dialog.
"The thinking of (those of us) in Congress is flawed," Rep. Cleaver said. "We have come to think about compromise as capitulation." Instead, the meaning of leadership today must be re-defined, he added, recalling that while America was divided over civil rights in the 1960s, Congress took a leadership position by passing the Civil Rights Act because they believed it represented the values for which America stood.
Rep. Johnson said the American people expect their representatives to refrain from bashing, even when they disagree. "With the election process, each of us is taking an enormous risk by even coming on this show with a member of the opposite party," he noted. Despite the risks, Johnson noted that he and other like-minded House members continue on their quest to influence others to collaborate.
The program, "Getting to Common Ground and Greater Good," challenges Americans to remember and re-create the national unity experienced immediately after 9/11. It kicks off Purple America's national Re-Imagine America® campaign to foster civility and the non-partisan, core values Americans of all faiths and political parties share.
Program moderators are Roger Sidoti, former principal of one of the 2010 "Best High Schools" in the United States according to U.S. News & World Report; and Stuart Muszynski, CEO of Purple America-Project Love® Remember the Children Foundation. A broadcast schedule is available at www.purpleamerica.us. Streaming video of the program will be posted on the website September 12, 2011.
The television broadcast is made possible by a partnership between Purple America, an initiative devoted to supporting civil discourse by exploring the common ground of values widely shared across America, and the National Education Association, which is supporting teachers in preparing the next generation with the skills to collaborate in imagining and building America's future.
For more information, go to www.purpleamerica.us.
About Purple America®
Purple America is a national initiative of Project Love® Remember the Children Foundation, a character-building program that has trained more than 50,000 American teens and 2,000 educators to build a culture of kindness, caring and respect in their schools. Purple America's mission is to unite America around twelve values, neither red nor blue, that form our common ground: Equality, Faith, Family, Freedom, Love and Respect, Self-Expression, Doing the Right Thing, Community, Giving Back, the Good Life, Opportunity and Success. Project Love is a non-profit, 501c3 organization.
http://www.facebook.com/PurpleAmerica.us
http://twitter.com/purpleamericaus
SOURCE Purple America
Share this article