MELLOW BLASTS BUSH FOR VETOING DOMESTIC SPENDING BILL Says Veto Would Hurt Important Local Projects HARRISBURG, November 16, 2007 – Senate Democratic Leader Robert J. Mellow (D-Lackawanna) is calling on Pennsylvania’s federal lawmakers to work toward an override of President George W. Bush’s veto of spending bills for the Departments of Education, Labor and Health and Human Services. In a letter to the federal lawmakers, Mellow said it was “disgraceful” for Bush to cut funding for domestic programs while approving a nearly $459 billion bill to hike non-war funding for the Pentagon. Mellow added that the Bush veto would jeopardize programs vital to northeastern Pennsylvania. “From $850,000 for the proposed Commonwealth Medical College to $90,000 to support cancer research by our Regional Cancer Institute, as well as many other initiatives pertinent to our region, President Bush has further ignored the needs of Americans at home,” Mellow stated in his letter. Mellow urged the federal lawmaker to restore the funding that both chambers of Congress had approved. The letter was sent to U.S. Senators Arlen Specter and Robert P. Casey, Jr., as well as Congressmen Christopher Carney and Paul Kanjorski. # # #