Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2001 11:21:14 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <200110261521.LAA07322@mattababy.mit.edu>
From: belmonte@mit.edu (Matthew Belmonte)
To: senator@kennedy.senate.gov, john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov
Subject: oppose amendments to S. 1543

As your constituent, I urge you to oppose any amendments to the District of
Columbia Appropriations Bill (S. 1543) that would prevent the District from
using its own money to implement its domestic partnership law or to establish
needle exchange programs for drug users.  In recent years, Congress has
intervened to block the District's self-government in both of these matters.
Implementation of the domestic partnership law is essential to reducing unfair
treatment of homosexual couples, and needle-exchange programs are one of the
most effective ways to prevent the spread of HIV.

Matthew Belmonte