Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz to Bronx Ministers: Beware

August 15, 2011

For Immediate Release

New York State Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx) has a message for the Bronx Clergy Legislative Counsel: Be careful that you don’t let Senator Kirsten Gillibrand use you tomorrow for an early campaign stump.

“When Senator Kirsten Gillibrand meets with Bronx ministers tomorrow to discuss the unacceptable unemployment rate for our Bronx youth, I hope they ask her to explain her silence when Governor Andrew Cuomo rammed his budget through the legislature costing jobs for our youth, cuts in education for our children, and loss of the home care attendants for our seniors.

I hope the Bronx ministers who meet with Senator Gillibrand don’t outweigh the honor of her visit with the need to demand some form of accountability from Governor Cuomo for his budget mess. Among other things, his budget cuts have made it extremely difficult to heal the job crisis in our Bronx communities.

I would hate to think that Senator Gillibrand is coming to use Bronx ministers for her political gain, and I urge all of my fellow ministers to question her about where she was when our communities were being sacked by our Governor.”