|
|
|
|
|
N
E W S November
16, 2003: Illinois, USA The following is a letter from U.S. Senate Candidate Dr. Chirinjeev Singh: My Fellow Sikhs, For those of you who do not know me, my life story began much the same way as yours or your family's. I came to this great country in 1965 with my family. My father is an engineer and my mother worked as a physician for over 30 years. When I was growing up, there were not many Sikhs in high school or college. My parents and their friends were my only role models. Now, because of the many strides that Sikhs in the U.S. have made, it is a lot easier for all of us. From my youth and onwards, I have tried to help as many Sikh kids as possible by helping them obtain internships, writing recommendation letters, organizing Gurmat camps, and being a mentor and role model. My parents have also been involved in the community ever since they came to the United States. As you may know, I am the first Sikh-American to run for the United States Senate. It is a very important seat. As a U.S. Senator, you can depend on me to be a just voice for the Sikh people. I have always been a practicing Sikh and I feel passionately about the issues that face Sikhs in the U.S. today. Since I announced my candidacy for the United States Senate from Illinois, I have received an overwhelming number of enthusiastic calls and e-mails from supporters in this state, in other parts of this great nation and indeed - as word of my candidacy spread via The Economist, CNN, BBC and Indian publications - from around the world. Your notes mean a lot to me and I am very grateful. Exemplifying the reason Illinois politics is known as a "blood sport" was the biased Chicago Tribune article about me that appeared in the paper's Sunday edition some weeks ago. The following week, however, the Sunday edition of the Chicago Sun-Times gave me a positive review when they called me one of the Goliaths's in the Senate race. We are now considered a serious threat by many to win the race. It is going to be a hard fought and difficult race. This is why I need your help. I need support from the Sikh community now more than ever. I have never asked for anything before; however, today I need your help. We have a good chance of winning the U.S. Senate seat. It is going to be a very expensive primary. It will cost roughly US $3 million to get our message out. To this end, I have contributed over US $650,000 of my personal money, which is the 3rd largest personal contribution amongst all of the 14 announced Democratic and Republican candidates. I need your help raising at least another US $2 million before December 31, 2003. I would be most grateful if you could contact your friends and family and contribute US $1,000. Any amount, viz. US $100, 500, 1,000, 2,000, or 6,000, would be really helpful. I have to prove that I have the ability to raise public money as this is one of the main tests of a viable candidacy. I also need volunteers / partners to help me win. Volunteers will be responsible for strategizing, working on issues, manning telephone banks, getting the vote out, fundraising, etc. You do not have to live in Illinois to be on a team. We have a passionate and highly talented group of people working with us, and each of you would be an invaluable asset to the campaign. Many people believe that if we win the primary on March 16, 2004, we have the best chance of winning the general election in November 2004. If in Illinois, please register to vote in the primary. The deadline for registration is February 17, 2004. I look forward with great eagerness to hearing from you. You can reach me at my office phone in Chicago, (312) 726-5700 - ext. 225, or by email at drkathuria@kathuriaforsenate.com. Should you wish to fax me, you can do so at (312) 726-1812. A brief version of my biography is as follows. For further information, kindly visit our website at www.kathuriaforsenate.com: Dr. Kathuria graduated valedictorian in 1983 from Downers Grove North High School. He earned undergraduate and medical degrees from Brown University and an M.B.A. from Stanford. Dr. Kathuria's group made a $55,000 investment in The X-Stream Networks, Inc: and he became a Director and major shareholder and helped pioneer the free ISP concept. The X-Stream Networks, Inc. was sold for US $75 million in cash and stock and merged with LibertySurf. Dr. Kathuria was also instrumental in building MirCorp and is a former founding director. MirCorp created world history on April 4, 2000 when it became the world's first company to privately launch and fund a manned space program and send the first "citizen explorer" to space. To contribute to the campaign, please visit my website: Best Wishes and Thank You, Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, M.D., M.B.A. Copyright
©The Sikh Sentinel 2003 |