This week, registered nurses with National Nurses United (NNU) will converge in Atlanta to support Keith Ellison for chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), as over 400 members of the DNC gather for a final vote to select their new leader.

"U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison has been a tremendous ally to nurses across the nation. Together with Keith we can build on the incredible energy of the Bernie campaign and transform the Democratic Party in anticipation of the 2018 midterm elections,” said Jean Ross, RN, Co-President National Nurses United.

What: NNU Nurses Support Keith Ellison for DNC Chair
When: Thursday, February 23 through Saturday, February 25
Where: Westin Peachtree Plaza, 210 Peachtree St., Atlanta GA 30303

It is absolutely essential, NNU nurses say, that the DNC be led by a progressive that Sen. Bernie Sanders has described as someone “who understands the dire need to listen to working families, not the political establishment or the billionaire class."

Ellison is the author of the NNU-sponsored bill for a robust Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street speculation and a co-sponsor of the bill to win nurse-to-patient ratios at the federal level. He is the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and played an important role on the Democratic Party Platform Committee in the run-up to the Democratic Convention.

There he successfully fought for the inclusion of a number of progressive positions including: an improved and expanded Medicare for all, the robust Robin Hood tax on Wall Street to fund human needs, expansion of Social Security, a ban on fracking and moving our economy to 100% clean energy by 2050.

“Selecting Keith Ellison to chair the DNC is exactly the direction the Democratic Party needs to go to rebuild and strengthen its ties with working class Americans, young people, communities of color, and the full diversity of the 99 percent of Americans who should be the base of the Democratic Party,” said NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro, who is also a vice president of the AFL-CIO.

“With allies of the far right and corporate interests now in control of all the branches of the federal government and a majority of state governments, it could not be more clear that the Democratic Party needs a new path that represents a fundamental break with reliance on Wall Street donors and the corporate class,” said DeMoro.

“With his stellar record in Congress, which includes an uncompromised commitment to working people, and challenging corporate interests, Keith would be an outstanding leader who can lead the shift the Democratic Party needs,” DeMoro said.

National Nurses United is the largest union of registered nurses in the country, with over 150,000 members nationwide.