Chellie and Hannah Pingree to Speak at UMaine Tuesday

Contact: Media contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571

ORONO — Chellie Pingree, president and CEO of Common Cause, and State Rep. Hannah Pingree (D-North Haven), will discuss “Common Causes: Two Generations of Maine Women in Progressive Politics” on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at the University of Maine.  The session is scheduled for12:15-1:30 p.m. in the Bangor Lounge, Memorial Union.  Chellie Pingree, a former state legislator and U.S. Senate candidate, is Hannah Pingree’s mother.

Founded in 1970 by John Gardner, Common Cause is a nonprofit citizens’ lobbying group which today has over 200,000 members nationwide.

Under Chellie Pingree’s leadership Common Cause is currently leading efforts to overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to relax ownership rules for media companies, co-sponsoring a 13-city “Tell the Truth” tour featuring acclaimed musicians working to draw attention to media consolidation and trade issues, working to ensure that all citizens have access to affordable prescription drugs and challenging the way that money is being spent in Iraq. 

“It is absolutely essential,” Chellie Pingree said in a recent Congressional hearing, “that the rebuilding of Iraq be accomplished with full transparency, that it involves the Iraqi people to the fullest extent possible and that contracts for work be truly competitively bid.”

Hannah Pingree is a first-term legislator representing District 129.

The UMaine Women in the Curriculum and Women’s Studies Program is sponsoring the event, which will be followed by a reception.