PublicPublic CitizenCitizen SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY ISSUE Vol. 26, No. 1, 2006 Public Citizen 1600 20th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009 (202) 588-1000 PublicPublic THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE e-mail: [email protected] www.citizen.org ublic Citizen is a national nonprofit CONTENTS Pmembership organization based in CitizenCitizen Washington, D.C. Since its founding by Ralph Nader in 1971, Public Citizen has fought for corporate and government accountability in order to guarantee the individual’s right to safe products, a healthy environment and workplace, fair trade, and clean and safe energy sources. Public Citizen is active in Congress, the courts, government agencies and the news media. Welcome to the Birthday Party By Joan Claybrook, President Public Citizen does not accept government 2 or corporate grants. Our funding comes from our thousands of individual supporters throughout the country who believe there should be full-time advocates of democratic principles working on their The People of Public Citizen behalf; from foundations; and from the sale of our publications. Public Citizen is an Raiders of the Lost Democracy equal opportunity employer. A look at the amazing people who have To become a member of Public Citizen and 3 receive Public Citizen News, please call made Public Citizen a force for good for (202) 588-1000 or send a check payable 35 years to Public Citizen for $20 (or $35 to add one year of Health Letter) to Public Citizen Membership Services at the address Meet the Directors above. Introducing the dedicated individuals who Public Citizen News (ISSN 0738-5927), 7 entire contents copyrighted 2006. Vol. 26, serve on Public Citizen’s two boards Illustration by Matt Wuerker no. 1, 2006. Postmaster: send address changes to Public Citizen News at the address above. Q&A With Joan Claybrook 8 Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook talks about her life’s work as well as Public Citizen’s past, present and future Public Citizen Inc. Board of Directors Adolph L. Reed, Jr., Chair The Accomplishments of Public Citizen Joan Claybrook • David Bonior Howard Metzenbaum • Joseph Page 35 Years of Saving Lives 10 From drug safety to vehicle air bags to campaign finance, Public Citizen Foundation Public Citizen’s efforts have produced real results Board of Directors Robert C. Fellmeth, Chair Public Citizen’s Hidden Hits Lisa A. Blue • Joan Claybrook You know Red Dye No. 2 was banned; read about other major victories Joseph W. Cotchett • Morris Dees 14 Jim Hightower President Public Citizen Year by Year Joan Claybrook 16 A timeline of milestones and accomplishments Directors Joseph A. Zillo Chief Operating Officer The Tools of Public Citizen Booth Gunter Fighting on All Fronts Communications 20 From the courts to the streets to obscure federal agencies, Public Citizen takes Frank Clemente the struggle to every conceivable venue Congress Watch Tyson Slocum Public Investigators Critical Mass Energy Program Digging deep for the truth and making the facts public has been a powerful tool Lane Brooks 23 Development & Marketing Lori Wallach We Court Change . and We Win Global Trade Watch In 51 cases argued before the Supreme Court, Public Citizen’s litigators have amassed Sidney M. Wolfe, M.D. 24 an impressive record of wins Health Research Group Brian Wolfman Litigation Group The Future A Vision for the Future The articles in this special 35th anniversary Public Citizen looks toward the next 35 years magazine were written by Angela Bradbery, 28 Valerie Collins, Bob Guldin and Booth Gunter. Parts of the issue were adapted from a forthcoming book about Public Citizen‚’s history, written by Brian Dooley and Booth Gunter. The magazine was designed by Kristy I. Jackson. Cover illustration and design by Matt Wuerker Dear Member, This year marks a special occasion for Public Citizen – our 35th anniversary. It is a time of reminiscence as we, in this special issue, reflect upon our rich history and our many accomplishments on behalf of consumers. Photo by Brendan Hoffman ut as I look back to 1971, when we first opened our Public Citizen has been doing just that – on your behalf – for doors, I am sobered by the reality of our present the past 35 years, and we will continue fighting for what’s Bpolitical situation and struck by the parallels to that era right. of Watergate, when President Nixon’s abuses of power were first being exposed to the American people. In the Watergate era, when our founder, Ralph Nader, was on Nixon’s “enemies list,” we supported the articles of Then, as now, our country was mired in an unpopular war – impeachment drafted by Rep. John Conyers Jr., and we marked by the deception of our political leaders – that helped generate public support for impeachment, the seemed to have no legitimate purpose and no end in sight. process that ultimately led to Nixon’s resignation. We also took Nixon to court repeatedly to uphold the law and Then, as now, we had a president who was obsessed with constitutional principles, to hold illegal his firing of the secrecy and who put himself above the law. Watergate special prosecutor and, finally, to require the Then, as now, we had secret surveillance of U.S. citizens in disclosure of his secret White House tapes. the name of national security. Just as we challenged Nixon, we have been working to hold The difference is that in the 1970s we had a Congress the Bush administration to account across an array of issues willing to stand up to an imperial president and exercise its – from secrecy to corporate cronyism to the wholesale duty to hold him accountable through meaningful oversight elimination of health, safety and environmental standards. hearings and, eventually, the impeachment process. Sadly, And we have launched a major campaign to clean up the we do not have that today. Rather, we have one of the sleaze in Congress. most shamefully venal Congresses in history. The cabal that It is easy to be lulled into thinking that the worst atrocities runs this Congress has institutionalized corrupt and and abuses of the past cannot be repeated – but they can. unethical practices that are inimical to democracy. And that’s why a democracy must have organizations like This Congress is overseeing the virtual merger of the Public Citizen. As you know, we maintain our independence government and big business, with calamitous by refusing to accept funding from government or business consequences for citizens. And while congressional leaders sources. collect their lavish free vacations, meals and campaign cash Democracy demands vigilance and unflinching courage in from the corporate lobbyists they serve, President Bush gets the face of adversity. Your support has enabled us to uphold away with authorizing torture, secret imprisonment of these principles for the past 35 years, to fight for our rights suspects, illegal wire-tapping, gross incompetence and and for a government responsive to the needs of all of us, lying his way into a disastrous war of choice. not the privileged few. With your continued backing, we But, as we saw with Nixon, even the mightiest can fall – will now take this fight into the next 35 years – and and fall hard. beyond. I The power of citizens to overcome great odds is one of the defining hallmarks of a democracy. Our democratic rights Sincerely, give us the power to repair our government and reorder its priorities. But we must exercise our rights or we will lose them. We must hold our leaders accountable to democratic principles or we will lose our democracy. 2 Public Citizen The People of Public Citizen Raiders of the Lost Democracy rowing up in the small town of Winsted, Conn., Ralph Nader Gwould listen to the jurors and lawyers when they came to eat lunch Photo from American Program Bureau at his father’s restaurant, just a block Ralph Nader, president of Public Citizen, 1971-1980 from the courthouse. He was so book and resulting congressional investigations led to the first laws subjecting motor vehicles to federal safety enamored that at times he would go standards. to the courthouse to watch the action. Nader took his newfound fame, propelled by publicity about GM’s secret surveillance of him, and used it to “I grew up identifying lawyers as investigate and expose other corporate and government fighters against injustice,” he says. abuses. He recruited idealistic young lawyers and students and in 1969 published an expose of the ineffectiveness of the Federal Trade Commission. Other startling Pursuing his dream of becoming a lawyer, he went to investigations followed. A Washington Post reporter Princeton and then to Harvard Law School. But at Harvard dubbed the band of muckrakers “Nader’s Raiders,” and the in the 1950s, the son of Lebanese immigrants became name stuck. disillusioned. “I realized it was like a high-priced tool One of Nader’s earliest recruits was Bob Fellmeth, who factory. They were basically grooming lawyers to service today chairs the board of Public Citizen Foundation. He and broker corporate power.” recalls that the Nader activists were an unusual crowd in the That wasn’t the path Nader had in mind. His was the turbulent 1960s and ‘70s. Unlike the hippies who sought to heart of a crusader. drop out or the radicals who wanted to tear down the And that crusade for democracy and justice led him to system, the Naderites wanted America to be the principled establish Public Citizen to represent the interests of citizens democracy they had been taught about in high school and serve as a counterweight to the power that corporate civics. “We said, ‘Damn it, we want what we were America wielded over the government. promised.