Rep. Perry:
On Tuesday, we had a Q&A session with Republican nominee for Congress Jeff Perry, and STAND co-President Amanda de Oliviera asked him how we can prevent civil war in South Sudan and support a broad anti-genocide strategy. While he did not advocate for a direct U.S. role in preventing conflict in Sudan (which we may have hoped), he cited the success of the Massachusetts divestment bill (that Harwich STAND testified to support in 2007), and he asserted the importance of our participation and support in U.N. efforts in this regard. This is probably a stronger answer than we might get from most Republican candidates.
Perry answers our question:
On Wednesday, we hosted two debates - one for the state representative candidates, and one for the state senate race. In both debates, we featured a question about the Teach Against Genocide bill that died in the House Ways and Means Committee this term - specifically would they sponsor and support its reintroduction next term. For the state representative candidates, Republican David Dunford, after admitting to be unfamiliar with the bill, gave a strong statement about the importance of teaching about genocides. Democratic incumbent Sarah Peake gave a strong statement of support, also citing our successful advocacy for the divestment bill.
Dunford, Peake answer our question:
In the senate debate, Republican Jim Crocker, like his colleague, acknowledge his lack of background on the issue, but stated that he would be open to meet with any constituents who wanted to advocate for a particular bill. Democrat Dan Wolf emphatically endorsed TAG and STAND's anti-genocide activities having attended our rally last summer in Hyannis, and having relatives who experienced the Holocaust.
Crocker, Wolf answer our question
These events are examples of how student groups can get candidates to respond to questions on genocide issues. Whoever wins, we can expect that when we go to lobby them, they will be familiar and hopefully sympathetic with our advocacy.
