FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Missouri Congressman Signs Purple America Pledge

Pledge Sees Common Ground in America’s Values

Cleveland, Ohio — October 6, 2011 — Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-Mo 5), chairman of the House Civility Caucus, has signed a pledge circulated by Purple America, a national initiative to support civil discourse centered around America’s widely-shared values.  Purple America is challenging political leaders to seek common ground for America’s greater good through a campaign to Re-Imagine America® around the non-partisan, core values Americans of all faiths and political parties share.

The Congressman was a guest in a televised Purple America Values Forum where he decried the constant pressure from party leaders to stay on their side of the aisle. “The thinking of (those of us) in Congress is flawed,” Rep. Cleaver said. “We have come to think about compromise as capitulation.” He added that the meaning of leadership today must be re-defined, pointing to the passage of the controversial Civil Rights Act in the 1960s as an example of leadership.  Though America was divided over civil rights at that time, Congress passed the bill because they believed it represented the values for which America stood, he said.

A recent editorial in the Kansas City Star lauded Rep. Cleaver for an 80-minute, public “level-headed conversation” with House Republican Kevin Yoder from Kansas that focused on areas of agreement.

Purple America Founder Stuart Muszynski says, “We’re extremely pleased that Congressman Cleaver, a leader in the House Civility movement, has made a commitment to finding common ground through civil dialog based on the values that unite us. We ask all elected officials to do the same. The American people deserve no less.”

The Purple America Pledge states, “I believe Americans from all walks of life value Equality, Family, Faith, Freedom, Love and Respect, Self-Expression, Community, Giving Back, The Good Life, Success, Opportunity and Doing the Right Thing.  These values unite us in a common bond that defines us as uniquely American, making us more similar than different. Our society benefits when we honor this bond, above our differences, in our conversations. I pledge to honor this bond, to practice these values and to celebrate them in others for the greater good of all.”

Congressman Cleaver also serves as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus of the 112th Congress.

For more information, go to www.purpleamerica.us.

About Purple America®

Purple America is a national initiative of Project Love® Remember the Children Foundation, a character-building program that has trained more than 50,000 American teens and 2,000 educators to build a culture of kindness, caring and respect in their schools. Purple America’s mission is to unite America around twelve values, neither red nor blue, that form our common ground: Equality, Faith, Family, Freedom, Love and Respect, Self-Expression, Doing the Right Thing, Community, Giving Back, the Good Life, Opportunity and Success. Project Love is a non-profit, 501c3 organization.

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