For Immediate Release
House Ethics Committee Dismisses Ethics Complaint to Remove Rep. Dolores Mertz as House Ag Chair
Monday, March 2, 2009, Des Moines, Iowa – Members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI) call the House Ethics Committee’s decision to dismiss with prejudice their ethics complaint a travesty. This ethics complaint was filed last Tuesday, Feb. 24 against Rep. Dolores Mertz due to her family and financial ties to the factory farm industry and calls for her removal as chair of the House Agriculture Committee. This complaint was dismissed at a meeting this morning at which more than 30 CCI members attended.
“This decision is a travesty and an embarrassment to Iowans,” said CCI member and family farmer Larry Ginter from Rhodes, Iowa. “Everyday Iowans should be outraged [by this decision]. The record of factory farm abuse is long in this state…our legislators have failed us. This is about justice, clean air and clean water that we all deserve.”
“We are not going to stand by and let this happen,” said CCI Executive Director Hugh Espey. “House leaders want to sweep this under the rug, but we deserve a full and open process. We want Rep. Mertz to respond to our complaint and to be given the chance to respond to her.”
Following this decision, members of Iowa CCI will continue to put pressure on key leaders in the legislature and push for policies that put people first at the State Capitol tomorrow, March 3, at their rally and lobby day.
“The fight is far from over,” Espey added. “House Speaker Murphy should replace Rep. Mertz immediately. We will continue to call for a chair who does not have financial or family ties to the factory farm industry, and we will continue to push for policies that put people ahead of profits and politics. We deserve policies that put people first.”
Factory farms pollute our air and water and ruin our quality of life. Iowa has had over 700 illegal manure spills in the past 16 years and DNR’s list of impaired waterways has grown to 441 – an increase of 162 in just two years. CCI members call for a House Ag Chair who puts people before profits, politics and polluters and who does not have family or financial ties to the factory farm industry.
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement is a group of everyday people who talk, act and get things done on issues that matter most. With thousands of members from all walks of life – urban and rural, black and white, immigrants and lifelong Iowans – CCI has been tackling tough issues and getting things done for more than 30 years.
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