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News release

Moms and Doctors Come to Capitol Hill to Support Surgeon General Nominee, Tell Senators to Listen to Moms, Not NRA

June 2, 2014
Gun Control

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

MomsRising.org, MoveOn, CREDO and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence to Deliver 220,000 Petition Signatures to Senators in Support of Vivek Murthy
WASHINGTON, DC ̶ MomsRising members and their children will join doctors and other public health experts to support President Obama’s nominee for US Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy. Murthy has been under attack by the gun lobby, most notably the NRA, for publicly expressing his opinion that gun violence is a public health issue.
       
WHAT: Rally and Petition Delivery in support of Dr. Vivek Murthy
 
WHO: Speakers will include Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, CEO and Executive Director of MomsRising; Gloria Pan, Senior Campaign Director for MomsRising; Jeanette Richardson, co-founder of the Virginia chapter of Parents of Murdered Children whose son was shot and killed outside the family home; Anne Haynes, MomsRising member and public health educator whose husband was shot and killed by an intruder; Dr. Chris Lillis, an internist in Fredericksburg, Virginia; and Dr. Sanjeev Sriram, a pediatrician who treats children in southeast Washington, D.C.
 
WHEN: Kickoff Rally:Tuesday, June 3, 10:00am; Petition Delivery to begin at approximately 11:15 on Capitol Hill.
 
WHERE: Kickoff Rally: Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC; Petition Delivery: Senate Office Buildings
 
Following the rally, the group will head to the U.S. Senate to deliver petitions with the signatures of more 220,000 individuals who support Dr. Murthy’s nomination to serve as Surgeon General. The children in the group will be dressed in doctor's scrubs, lab coats and stethoscopes to reinforce the message that gun violence is a public health issue.
 
Media note: Media are welcome to attend the kickoff rally and the petition delivery. For more information or to coordinate interviews with participants, please contact Gretchen Wright or Kim Hayes, (202) 371-1999.
 
* Please note that MomsRising’s use of space at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation does not indicate endorsement or sponsorship by the church.
 

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.