GW’s College Democrats welcomed U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich to campus Tuesday night, where nearly 300 students from both ends of the political spectrum showed up to hear one the country’s most liberal leaders.

Kucinich spoke about issues ranging from his opposition to the war in Iraq to his proposal for a U.S. Department of Peace to promote non-violence in domestic and foreign policies.

“Politics should be here to work for everyone, but today it is only working for a few,” Kucinich said. “It is not working the mass of American people.”

In his half-hour speech, Kucinich criticized the Bush administration for rewarding Halliburton, the construction company formerly headed by
Vice President Dick Cheney, with contracts to rebuild damaged areas of New Orleans. Kucinich called for construction contracts to instead be rewarded to Gulf Coast businesses.

“We could be using Katrina as a rebuilding time for better schools,
housing, employment and healthcare, but the administration isn’t,” he
said. “Instead (the government) is using Katrina to push its own
agenda and ideology.”

Kucinich called on the young voters in Tuesday’s audience to help change the face of American government to create a society of peace rather then one based on war and violence.

Kucinich was met by a contingent of College Republicans who questioned the congressman and expressed disagreement with his stance on the war with Iraq as well as his pro-abortion rights position.

Senior Jeff Holth, chairman of the College Republicans, said, “I can admire him for saying what he firmly believes in, even though I disagree with him.”