To the Editor: Why money for China?

Vermont Law School has received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. State Department to support a three-year project designed to improve environmental and public health in China.

The project’s goal is help legal advocates, citizen groups, NGOs and government agencies to act individually and together within Yunnan Province to create a model for advancing environmental governance for the entire region.

Vermont’s congressional delegation – U.S. Rep. Peter Welch and Sens. Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders – supported Vermont Law’s grant proposal to the State Department. “This project will empower China’s citizens to participate in and use legal avenues to address local environmental issues and to strengthen their communities,” Welch said. “Vermont Law School continues to positively and practically influence the impact of the law on the environment in China.”

Once again Vermont’s three representatives in Washington are showing just how poorly they are representing our citizens. Suppose that there aren’t people going hungry in this country, nobody struggling to stay warm during the winters and the federal government is flush with money. Imagine they aren’t constrained by budget shortfalls nor having to worry about making sure Americans are taken care of. So if this were true, is it really their place to send American taxpayer dollars to China? They are supposed to be representing We, The People.

Check their websites to see if they mention that instead of improving Vermonters’ lives, they decided to spend very limited funds on China.

Is this representation Vermonters can be satisfied with? Vote for change Nov. 6.