Spotlight on South Dakota

Senator Tom Daschle, the Minority Leader of the Senate, just agreed to co-sponsor the Landmine Elimination and Victim Assistance Act of 2001. The activists in South Dakota have worked hard to raise the visibility of this issue at home and in Washington. In early March, USCBL and South Dakota Peace and Justice Center members Quadir Aware, Amela Piric, Leland Lillehaug, and Delpha and Robert Mattison met with Senator Daschle and his staff in Washington, D.C. during "Ban Landmines Week." They urged him to cosponsor the Landmine Elimination and Victim Assistance Act of 2001. They returned home to South Dakota and spoke out about the issue on two radio shows (including one that reached 35 stations!) and various churches and community centers where they encouraged citizens to write or call the South Dakota members of Congress. It seems as though they have demonstrated to many, including Senator Daschle, that this is an issue about which the state‚s residents care and to which they are paying attention.

Quadir, Amela, Leland, Delpha, and Robert are not resting on their laurels, however. Their next stop is the First Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls where they will be speaking on a landmines panel in front of area members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Indeed, South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson and Representative John Thune have still yet to cosponsor the legislation.