503-986-1428
Friends,
This is an extremely difficult letter to write because so many have worked
so hard and the cost of losing this round will be paid in lives. On Monday
we held a fantastic rally at the Capitol and then went in and crushed the
opposition at the hearing on the bill. And I mean crushed. It was not even
close. The opposition came from the ACLU and the Oregon Defense Attorney’s Assoc. They did not even have an argument other than mistakes might be made.
WOW!
Today I found out that the bill will not come up for a vote because there is not enough support to get it out of committee. That means 5 out of 9 electedofficials choose to not protect your children. Over and done…… for now.
I am told that the Oregon Defense Attorney’s Association threw all their. muscle into defeating this bill. I am also told they give generously to election campaigns. To the best of my ability I plan on finding out exactly how much and to whom.
This week the Oregon State Legislature chose to place perpetrators over thesafety of our children. It is truly a dark day in Oregon, but it not thelast day.
I want to thank each of you for your support and all the brave survivors who
spoke up and worked hard to pass this bill and protect children. I also want
to give a huge shout out to Rep Jeff Barker from Beaverton. Without his his help we would not have gotten as far as we did.
A call or email to thank him would be appropriate. 503-986-1428
There will more you can do soon. We need to take a short step back and catch
our breath and then move forward. We will need your voice and the voice of every Oregonian who cares about protecting kids.
I promise you that I will use my spirit, strength and skills to lead this
fight until we prevail and prevail we will. We will not let the defenders of
child rapists have the last word.
For today, thank you and hold your children tight.
With much appreciation,
Randy
Randy Ellison