On May 5, Mark Wellstone appeared at a press briefing in Washington, D.C., along with Senators Joe Biden, Arlen Specter, and Orrin Hatch, and a group of other prominent men who have made a commitment to speaking out against domestic violence. The St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune ran the following articles about Mark's role in the domestic violence prevention effort:
Another Wellstone takes up the cause
By RUBÉN ROSARIO, St. Paul Pioneer Press Columnist
He remembers well the anguished, worried look on his mother's face following her trips to area shelters.
And at first, Mark Wellstone could not truly comprehend the substance of what Sheila Wellstone was sharing with him and other family members at the dinner table.
"I had grown up in a loving and nurturing environment,'' the former St. Paul schoolteacher recounted this week. "I grew up oblivious to the issue.''
The gut-wrenching stories about battered women and traumatized children needing escape from the one place and the one person that should define safety and security "really devastated her,'' Wellstone said of his mother.
Shortly after his mother and father, U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, tragically perished in a plane crash two years ago, Mark pledged to pick up the baton and carry through his parents' goal of eradicating family domestic violence.
That's why Mark Wellstone will stand today for both his parents and himself at the nation's capital, alongside more than 50 influential men from all backgrounds and experiences.
The group of men are making a public pledge against domestic violence as part of a "Founding Fathers'' campaign launched by the Family Violence Prevention Fund. Through a series of national ads featuring New York Yankees skipper Joe Torre and other celebrities, the San Francisco-based nonprofit is seeking to spread the message through male role models, such as coaches and mentors, that relationship violence is wrong.
The campaign also is an attempt to raise awareness about the need to re-authorize the Violence Against Women Act next year, which has provided significant federal funding for shelters, law enforcement training and public awareness.
Physical or sexual abuse, a perennial albatross of cultural dysfunction, affects nearly one of every three American women during their lifetime. Also, an estimated 10 million children annually witness such abuse - a teaching moment that leaves an indelible imprint.
"Children who witnessed such violence are more likely to keep that cycle of violence going," Mark Wellstone said Tuesday before boarding a flight for Washington from northern California, where he moved in recent months.
He will have some impressive company sharing the podium.
One is Oliver Williams, executive director of the University of Minnesota's Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community and a researcher.
"It's an attempt to try to get men to take more responsibility on the issue,'' said Williams, whose son, Samuel Jose, 13, is also taking part in the event and has spoken out about domestic violence at the school level.
Williams said the endorsement of hip hop fashion mogul Russell Simmons and Bill Cosby to the national effort is a much needed boost to the idea that men can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines or turn a deaf ear to the issue of domestic violence.
Others include actor Matt Dillon, film producer Steven Fisher, and Steve Hansen, a former Iowa state legislator whose mother was murdered by his stepfather during a domestic dispute in 1966.
Mark Wellstone hopes the legislative lobbying and public wake-up call taking place today serves as a springboard for funding support of early intervention programs targeted at potential abusers.
"Hopefully, these are the kinds of things that will make a difference,'' said Wellstone, who remains active in the St. Paul-based Sheila Wellstone Institute.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of the work of both of my parents on this.''
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To learn about the "'Founding Fathers '' campaign, call 415-252-8900 or visit the online site: www.endabuse.org
Mark Wellstone launches fight vs. domestic violence
By Emily Johns, Star Tribune
Washington, D.C. -- Mark Wellstone, the son of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone and Sheila Wellstone, said on Wednesday that he wants to help get the prevention of domestic violence on the top of Congress' agenda.
Speaking in the U.S. Capitol building at the launch of a nationwide campaign to encourage men to help in the fight against domestic violence, Wellstone said that 10 million children witness domestic violence in the United States every year. Providing support to these children would help prevent domestic violence, he said.
"I'm here to honor my parents' memory," said Wellstone, whose mother had made it a special cause of hers. "My mom and dad understood that if we were going to stop violence in our communities and stop family violence that we need to go directly to the source, which is our children."
Wellstone appeared at the briefing with Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
The briefing, organized by the Family Violence Prevention Fund, was aimed at bringing attention to the issue because the Violence Against Women Act, which guarantees federal funding for shelters and public awareness campaigns, is set for renewal next year.
