Dr. Jill Stein
Formation of Exploratory Committee for 2016 Presidential Bid
The National Press Club
Washington, DC
February 6, 2015

Good morning. Thank you for being here today in this historic moment, as a movement for democracy and justice is sweeping the planet.  People are rising up, calling for an America and a world that works for all of us. We’re told we are in a recovery, when in fact we are in an emergency. And the political parties that got us into this mess are utterly incapable of getting us out. 

So the American people are leading the way forward, and the demand for deep change has grown to a fevered pitch.

Young people are leading the courageous Black Lives Matter movement to end police militarization and racist violence, and calling for an end to the extrajudicial murders of so many African American children and parents – like Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and more.  Families and teachers are mobilizing to keep schools from closing and to simply keep public education in existence. Momentum is growing against abusive high stakes testing that forces poor kids down the deadly school to prison pipeline. The fight is building against predatory mass incarceration, that holds one in three African American men hostage to our vast prison state. Workers are fighting for living wages and the right to a union. Students are demanding an end to college debt that’s crippled a generation. Hard-working immigrants are standing up for a humane path to citizenship, not simply a 3 year deferral of deportation. Frontline and Indigenous communities are leading the resistance to toxic fossil fuels that threaten to disrupt civilization as we know it in our lifetime. And the list goes on. 

Because this movement is alive and well in our communities and in the street. It marks the coming of age of a new generation. So it’s time for a generational shift in our national vision. We’ve had enough of rule by the economic elite, with their cult of cut throat competition and their religion of greed. We’ve had enough of corporate capitalism that puts profits ahead of people, planet and peace. These deranged values have dominated media, politics and the economy for decades. It’s now clear for all to see where they lead - to extreme inequality, to economic despair, to racism, endless war and climate catastrophe. 

It’s time for a new way forward with a new society, a new economy and new energy and food systems. The old politics is collapsing, and the political vacuum is begging to be filled. That vacuum was plainly seen in the 2014 midterm election, which was not a victory for Republicans but a defeat for Democrats. 2014’s record low turnout reflected profound disillusionment with both parties. 2016 provides an incredible opportunity to fill that political vacuum and surge forward.  

The voices of resistance and transformation deserve to be heard loud and clear in this election. That’s why I am announcing today the formation of an exploratory committee for the 2016 presidential election. 

We will use this exploratory campaign to reach out to young people, to workers, employed, underemployed and discouraged, and to front line communities, immigrants, and communities of color. Our campaign will reach out to women, seniors, Indigenous nations, LGBTs and all who’ve been abandoned and betrayed by the Democratic and Republican parties. We will offer a campaign in service of the justice they deserve.  

The Green Party can do this because we’re the only national party that isn’t poisoned by corporate money. In 2012, we emerged as the nation’s leading progressive party challenging the status quo. Now we are building on that.

We will lift up the bold solutions the American people are calling for:  

20 million living-wage jobs, in an emergency Green New Deal to enrich communities not corporations, end climate change and make wars for oil obsolete;

Health care as a human right, not a means tested entitlement like Medicare, not a subsidized profit center for predatory insurance like Obamacare, but a Medicare for All system to provide quality care for all while saving trillions by streamlining the massive health insurance bureaucracy;

Quality free public education as a human right, and an end to runaway school privatizations and closings, to high stakes testing, and student loan debt.

An emergency transition to a green economy powered by 100% wind, water and sun by 2030;

A welcoming path to citizenship for immigrant residents, and an end to predatory trade deals and political interventions that created the surge of immigration to start with;  

An end to the racist war on drugs and school to prison pipeline. And a end to the militarized police, surveillance and prison state, and radical reduction of America’s prison population;   

An end to Wall Street bail outs and “too big to fail’ banks ;

And foreign policy based on diplomacy, international law and human rights, rather than global military and economic domination;

As we test the waters, we can plan the campaign of a lifetime, for this moment of historic transformation. 

In closing, I invite you to visit jill2016.com. Connect with us. Volunteer. Make a donation to make this work.

This is the time to come together. Solutions are in our hands. Justice is in our hands. Democracy is in our hands. Together we can create a world that works for all of us, and ensure that People, Planet and Peace will prevail. It’s in our hands.

Exclusive Interview With ABC News Followed By Press Conference

Washington, DC- National Press Club

At a Press Conference this morning, Dr. Jill Stein told the assembled media, guests, and a live TV audience tuning into C-Span that she is “testing the waters” and forming an exploratory committee to seek the Green Party nomination for President of the United States. More information about the exploratory committee can be found at Jill2016.com.

The declaration came just hours after Dr. Stein’s exclusive interview with ABC News made a splash on the Yahoo News homepage. (Watch the full ABC News video here.)

In her prepared remarks, Stein noted that the “demand for deep change has grown to a fevered pitch. Workers are fighting for living wages and the right to a union. Students are demanding an end to college debt that’s crippled a generation. Young people are leading the courageous Black Lives Matter movement to end police militarization and racist violence,” she said. “Momentum is growing against abusive high stakes testing that forces poor kids down the deadly school to prison pipeline. The fight is building against predatory mass incarceration. Hard-working immigrants are standing up for a humane path to citizenship, not simply a 3-year deferral of deportation. Frontline and Indigenous communities are leading the resistance to toxic fossil fuels that threaten to disrupt civilization as we know it in our lifetime.”

Stein was the Green Party’s 2012 candidate for President of the United States. She is an organizer, physician, and pioneering environmental-health advocate. She has helped lead initiatives promoting healthy communities, local green economies and stronger democracy – including campaign finance reform, green jobs, racially-just redistricting, and the cleanup of incinerators, coal plants, and toxic-pesticides.

Speaking to the potential that Dr. Stein represents to the groups traditionally tied to the Democratic Party, such as the Labor Movement, Richard Monje, a Union leader with the group Chicago and Mid-West Regional Joint Board of Workers Unite, issued the following statement:

"Jill Stein will be a voice in the electoral arena that will represent all workers and will fight for our right to unionize. As long as the Union movement allies itself with the Democratic Party only, the power of workers in general, and Unions specifically, will continue to decline.”

And Dr. Margaret Flowers, an organizer with Popular Resistance, said of Dr. Stein: 

"I am glad to see that she has the energy and persistence to consider running for President again in 2016. She has great integrity, a deep understanding of the root causes of the many crises we face and the courage to challenge the system so that we can create a healthier and more sustainable society and planet."

Also urging Dr. Stein to run for President in 2016 were Anita Rios, the 2014 Green Party nominee for Governor of Ohio, along with local recording artist Head Roc, know worldwide as the “Mayor of DC Hip Hop.” Both Rios and Head Roc spoke at the news conference today; video of their remarks will be available for the press at Jill2016.com by late Friday afternoon.

In closing, Dr. Stein told the assembled media and guests, “This is the time to come together. Solutions are in our hands. Justice is in our hands. Democracy is in our hands. Together we can create a world that works for all of us, and ensure that People, Planet and Peace will prevail. It’s in our hands.”

More information at Jill2016.com

February 5, 2015

Jill2016 Exploratory Committee
Press Contact: Dennis Trainor, Jr.

Press Advisory - Jill Stein, Green Party 2012 presidential nominee, will make an announcement regarding the 2016 Presidential race.

ADVISORY: Jill Stein, Green Party 2012 presidential nominee, will make an announcement regarding the 2016 Presidential race.

WHO:             Dr. Jill Stein, 2012 Green Party presidential nominee.

WHAT:           Dr. Stein will make an announcement regarding the 2016 Presidential Election and her intentions.

WHEN:  10 am, Friday, February 6

WHERE: National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor

WHY: We’ve been told we are in a recovery, when in fact we are in an emergency. More and more people realize that the corporate-sponsored political parties that got us into this mess are incapable of getting us out. The Green Party is poised to have a major impact on the 2016 presidential race. In 2012 the Green Party appeared 85% of the ballots nationwide, winning over 10 times as many votes as the next national progressive party and emerging as the nation's leading progressive challenger to the parties of the economic elite.

Dr. Stein will make an announcement regarding her intentions for 2016.

In addition, she will provide her perspective on this historic moment, and on how a Green Party Presidential Campaign can both elevate and amplify the voices in the movement for democracy and justice that is sweeping the nation.

INTERVIEWS/ PHOTOGRAPHS /VIDEO:

Dr. Stein will be available after the announcement for questions and photographs.


WEB: Jill2016.com (note: this goes live Friday, February 6 at 7am )

CONTACT:  Dennis Trainor, Jr.

978.727.4433

Press@Jill2016.com