Why? Because I knew that PDA would fight hard to pass single-payer health care for all, to end the occupations in the Middle East, and to elect real progressive House candidates who would join me in the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC).

And today I am endorsing just such a progressive candidate, Norman Solomon.

I worked closely with my good friends Norman Solomon and Donna Smith back in 2008, when they served as the co-chairs of PDA's Healthcare NOT Warfare campaign.

Working together at the DNC Platform Committee hearings in Pittsburgh that summer, we were able against great odds to force into the Democratic Party platform serious language changes concerning health care for all, including the phrase "guaranteed healthcare for every man, woman and child in America" and the phrase "everybody in and no one left out." Without Norman and Donna, those changes would not have happened.

Click here to donate to thank Norman and Donna and PDA for their single-payer health care work.

And Norman has always been at the forefront of fighting to stop the invasion of Iraq, the occupation of Afghanistan, and now, the threatened attack on Iran.

No one has spoken out more forcefully, organized more effectively, and risked his reputation and even his own body on these peace issues than Norman Solomon.

We need Norman's leadership on these antiwar issues by my side in the U.S. House.

We especially need Norman's leadership now because my colleague Lynn Woolsey, a great fighter for peace, is retiring. And Lynn Woolsey now holds the seat for which Norman Solomon is running.

Join me in supporting PDA's work to add more real progressive voices to the Congressional Progressive Caucus. We need Norman Solomon and other PDA-endorsed progressive candidates to join me to make real change possible in the House of Representatives.

Peace and Justice,

Rep. John Conyers, Jr.

Click here to support PDA as it organizes to elect real progressives like Norman in 2012.