 Hello, Bruno and Tony. Tonight is a very important night for me, and I know for many of us here in this room. Because tonight we have an opportunity to play a part in one of the most exciting and significant political developments in the modern history of the United States. Tonight, many of us are going to give our support to a candidate for president who has done more than any other candidate in living memory to bring together the disenfranchised, the hungry, the poor, the workers who are being thrown out of their decent paying jobs, and the farmers who are being thrown off of their land. Tonight, we have come together to support a candidate who is creating an historic coalition of working people, of poor people, of women, of minorities, of students, of farmers, of peace activists, of environmentalists. Tonight, we are here to endorse the candidate who is saying loud and clear that enough is enough that it's time that this nation was returned to the real people of America, the vast majority of us, and that power no longer should rest solely with a handful of banks and corporations who presently dominate the economic and political life of this nation. Tonight, we are here to support a man who, when elected president, will move boldly to end the growing disparity between the rich and the poor. It is not acceptable to him, to me, or to most Americans, that 10% of the population of this nation is able to own 83% of the wealth, and the other 90% of us share 17% of the wealth. Ladies and gentlemen, when our candidate becomes president, and we believe that he will, we will see a movement toward the establishment of a national health care system which, once and for all in this country, will guarantee health care as a right of all citizens and not just the privilege of the wealthy. When our candidate is elected president, we will see a fundamental change in the national priorities of our nation. We will build fewer bombs and more affordable housing, less nerve gas and more child care centers. We will stop the Star Wars madness in its tracks and spend our wealth to save the family farm, to protect our environment, to increase federal aid to education so that every young person who has the capabilities can go to college. We will utilize the best minds of this nation, not for research into new and more sophisticated ways to kill people, but to rebuild our industrial base, to prevent acid rain and the destruction of the ozone layer, and to bind the solution to AIDS and other killer diseases. Our nation is a great nation with unlimited potentiality. What we need is leadership which will tap our innate strengths so that we can improve the quality of life for all of our people and not concentrate on how to destroy life. When our candidate is elected president, we will finally have a foreign policy which says to the people of Nicaragua, to the people of Latin America and the third world that we are your allies and your friends, natural presence. We will stop, once and for all, supporting every right-wing dictatorship in the world that serves the needs of corporate greed. Ladies and gentlemen, and fellow growing colleagues, the candidate we are supporting tonight has stood for us and fought for us for the last 25 years of his life. Along with Martin Luther King Jr., he put his life on the line so that all Americans, regardless of color, could receive their basic democratic rights. He was there when we needed him. Our candidate has stood with the farmers being thrown off of the land. He has stood with the workers on the picket lights being thrown out of their cars. He was there when we needed him. Fellow growing colleagues, our candidate has stood with us when we needed him. Tonight, he needs us. Let us be there for him. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to place a nomination this evening, the name of one of the great leaders of our time and a man who has waged the most courageous and exciting political campaign in the modern history of this nation. I place a nomination with a great deal of personal pride, the name of Jesse Jackson. Let me begin by saying that I think most people in Vermont know that I am not a Democrat, I am not a Republican, and in fact I am the only non-Democrat, non-Republican, independent progressive mayor in the United States of America. And in fact, the city of Burlington is the only strong three-party city in the United States. And that's the fact that I am extremely proud of, because as I've said for many years, I happen not to believe that within the framework of the two-party system, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, that we're going to be able to bring about the real changes in this country that I needed to benefit the vast majority of our people. Essentially, it's my view that the leadership of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are tied to big-money interests, and that neither of these parties will ever represent the people in this country who are demanding the real changes that have to take place. I think also that many people in Vermont know that I and many of us in the progressive movement here in Burlington are strongly supporting and actively working for Jesse Jackson to become the next President of the United States. We are supporting Jackson because he uniquely and alone of the major party candidates has shown the courage to tackle the most important and basic issues facing working-class America, poor people, elderly people, environmentalists, peace activists, women, and America's minorities. Jackson, alone of all the candidates, has raised the issue of the grossly unfair distribution of wealth and power in this country, which is clearly the most single important issue which has got to be raised for the future of this country. And he has not been ashamed to stand up and declare himself the candidate of the have-nots, the disenfranchised, and the ordinary Americans who have for so long been left out of the political process. Jackson alone has had the courage to indicate that he is prepared to take on the multinational corporations and the banks who presently own and control America. As all Americans know, Jackson's candidacy has been doing far better than the brilliant political experts have thought possible. And in this respect, I want to congratulate all of the people in the state of Vermont who on March 1st got out and worked for Jackson and brought in the vote for Jackson and got him 26 percent of the vote in the state. Because I think the result of that vote, that election day, had an impact on primaries that followed and in fact indicated that white people were prepared to vote for Jackson. Today, Jackson is in a neck and neck race with Governor Michael Dukakis for the Democratic nomination. And while no one can predict the outcome of future primaries, whether in Wisconsin, New York, or California, knowledgeable people now believe that it is a real possibility that Jackson will go into the Democratic convention in Atlanta with the most delegates. Not the majority of delegates, but with more delegates than anybody else. On December 30th, 1987, when I introduced Jesse Jackson to a large crowd in Montpelier on a bit of cold night, and there were about a thousand people there, I introduced him to Vermont as the next president of the United States. And I think it's fair to say that while many people in that room on December 30th hoped in their hearts that that might be a possibility, in fact, they really did not think it was a reality. They didn't think it would happen. Today, that view has changed and all political observers, regardless of their affiliation, now believe that Jesse Jackson, in fact, has a fighting chance to become the nominee of the Democratic Party and has a fighting chance to become the next president of the United States. He's still an underdog, but I think now the reality of that occurring is a much greater likelihood than people previously believed. And what is absolutely remarkable about this entire process, and I think a point not emphasized enough, is that Jackson is now a front-runner despite the fact that he is being outspent in some instances 10 to 1, in some instances 20 to 1. And some people may recall that even here in Vermont during the primary, there were 15 paid Dukakis workers in the state that was not one paid Jackson worker. In my view, Jackson, Jesse Jackson, is making history throughout this campaign. And when lose or draw, his candidacy will be remembered as the most significant presidential campaign in at least 50 years in this nation, in attempting to bring working people and poor people and elderly people and people of all colors together to begin to stand up and fight for their rights and to fight for their dignity. Sometimes we lose the knowledge that history is being made when it's being made in front of us. That is in fact what is happening right now. For me personally and for many of us in the progressive movement who are not Democrats, Jackson's candidacy has raised an awkward question. What role should we take? How far should we go, given the fact that we are not Democrats? As many people know, there has been within the National Rainbow Coalition a serious debate over whether Jesse Jackson should in fact run within the Democratic Party or whether he should have begun his campaign outside of the Democratic Party running as a third party individual. I am not active in that rainbow coalition. My own preference would have been and I would have rather have seen Jesse Jackson run independently third party outside of the Democratic Party. However, Jackson and the majority of the people in the Rainbow Coalition chose otherwise. They are running within the Democratic Party and Jackson is now on the verge of perhaps becoming that party's nominee. On Tuesday evening, April 19th, the Democratic and Republican parties are holding caucuses all over the state in order to elect delegates to the party's state conventions and ultimately representatives to the National Political Conventions. As someone who is not a Democrat or a Republican, I personally have never attended a caucus of either major political party. I am announcing today, however, that I and many of us within the progressive movement here in Burlington and I hope and expect elsewhere throughout the state of Vermont will be attending the Democratic caucuses that will be held on April 19th. While we are not members of the Democratic Party, we are strongly supporting Jackson's historic candidacy and have got to do everything in our power to see that he wins that party's nomination. Clearly in a convention which may come down to a few votes in Atlanta, it would be irresponsible for us not to do our best to attend these caucuses to elect the delegates and to give Jackson as much strength and as many votes as he can have in that convention. My understanding is that in addition to the five already determined statewide delegates, there are 14 delegate positions that will be decided upon throughout that Democratic caucus process. My hope is that as many Jackson supporters all over the state of Vermont, including people in the progressive coalition, people of progressive mind all over the state will come out to these caucuses, will work as hard as they can and will get as many of those 14 delegates as possible for Jesse Jackson. Thank you.