Monday, August 25, 2008

Report from the Rules Committee, Part 1

Chairman, at this time, it is my pleasure to present the Rules Committee report. The procedural rules of our convention are based upon years of precedence and more than three decades of commitment to inclusiveness of an open party reflecting, the spirit of our party and our country.

When the Rules Committee met in Denver on Saturday, we reviewed the convention’s agenda and procedural rules. These items are contained in the Rules Committee section of the standing committee reports booklets, which were distributed to all delegates today. The committee adopted the convention’s procedural rules, as printed in your booklets.

The chair does note the addition of a few items of the committee’s report that were not printed in the booklet but were still considered and approved by the committee at our meeting on Saturday. These items have been printed as addenda to the booklet. The agenda and rules are recommended by the Rules Committee, in our support for Barack Obama.

The Rules Committee also recommends this convention establish the Democratic Change Commission, which will be appointed in early 2009 to examine and to recommend improvements to the 2012 presidential nominating process. This commission will focus on timing, the role of unpledged delegates in the nominating process and improvements in states that use caucuses.

It has been an honor to serve on the Rules Committee. Through our report and nomination of our permanent officers, the members of the Rules Committee have put together a foundation for our convention that reflects our party and our candidates. Our vision will help to lead us to victory in November.

It is now my pleasure to introduce the woman who will announce our nominations for the convention co-chairs. Mary Rose Oakar represented western Cleveland in Congress from 1977 to 1993. She is currently president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the largest Arab-American grassroots civil rights organization in the country.

Please welcome Mary Rose Oakar.