Rep. Lew Frederick: An Eloquent Voice of Political Courage

Evan Manvel

I'm proud to have been a constituent of Rep. Lew Frederick, one of only two Democrats (Rep. Tomei the other) to have been willing to vote No, and speak truth to power about the polluting Columbia River Crossing mega-highway project.

Everyone understands the huge power of the lobbies pushing this project, but few were courageous enough to stand up to them.

In his floor speech, Rep. Frederick notes the neighbors opposed to this project, the deeply wrong process, the burden on those next to the massive freeways, the high pollution, the health problems caused by those freeways, the project's plan to increase congestion in the neighborhoods, and the freezing out of alternatives from analysis for "a pre-determined outcome."

"Frankly [the CRC] revictimizes residents in my district."

Watch the video.

Send Reps. Frederick, Tomei, and the nine Republicans who voted No today (Esquivel, Gilliam, Hanna, Hicks, Krieger, Sprenger, Thompson, Whitsett, and Whisnant) a thank-you note.

By Evan Manvel Feb. 25, 2013 Posted in Video.