January 29, 2008 (LPAC)--As of the evening of January 28th, 2008, the City of Bell Gardens, CA has passed a resolution calling on the Federal Congress to support LaRouche's Homeowners' and Bank Protection Act., making itself the 57th city to so. This victory has been the work of an ongoing dialog for nearly three months between the LaRouche Youth Movement and City Councilor Mario Beltran, after LYM organizers first testified on the HBPA at a City Council meeting in early November.

Councilman Beltran gave testimony on why he was bringing the HBPA forth to the council. He began by saying that it all started when members of the LaRouche PAC came to testify some months ago and raised the situation with the mortgage crisis before anybody else made mention of it. He went on to say, "sadly, their predictions came true," and made mention of the fact that the city councilors' constituents have come to them with concerns about the very topic the LaRouche PAC had brought forth. He followed up by stating that the HBPA is a piece of legislation which requires the Federal Congress to act, and "the LaRouche PAC is asking us to give an endorsement to the Federal Congress to pass such legislation. We have a representative of the LaRouche PAC here for testimony, who can answer any of your questions."

No questions were asked, and the city manager called the HBPA up for a vote. Councilor Beltran set the first motion, and the mayor pro-tem seconded it. Immediately afterward, the mayor struck her gavel and stated that the resolution had been adopted.

An LYM organizer happened to be sitting right next to representatives for State Senator Calderon and Assemblyman De La Torre. Once the resolution passed, the organizer turned around and gave them both copies of the HBPA, telling them, "I would like you to tell your Representatives that the City of Bell Gardens, in your district, has just passed the HBPA".

As Councilor Beltran happily told LYM organizers in a discussion after the meeting, "you know, this is only the beginning of many things to come..."