The Bush administration has denied use of public facilities to a group critical of its version of Social Security reform, while using federal resources to pay for propaganda and promotion of its agenda. It refused to allow a women's group to hold a conference on Social Security at the National Archives because they did not have a speaker supporting private accounts. The same week three people were ejected from a federal government supported town hall meeting on Social Security in Colorado because their car had an anti-war bumper sticker. On March 31, the National Archives and Records Administration told a coalition of women's organizations that it could not hold a forum on Social Security at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, NY, because the coalition opposes Bush's proposal for private accounts and did not have a speaker supporting the administration's view. The library's director claimed the forum would violate the Hatch Act because it would not present both sides of the debate and "may be perceived as being partisan." However, the Hatch Act only prohibits use of federal funds for partisan electioneering and does not address issue advocacy or debate on legislative proposals. The government agency responsible for enforcement of the Hatch Act, the Office of Special Counsel, told the Washington Post that the Hatch Act does not apply to the meeting because it "does not seem to involve a partisan campaign or activity." The National Archives moved to correct the error after the issue became public by telling the press it would re-invite the groups, but the groups were unaware of any re-invitation and had already made alternative plans. The forum sponsors were the Older Women's League, the American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters. They had invited two Republican members of Congress from New York, Reps. Sue Kelly and John Sweeney, to attend the forum, but both declined. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) accepted. The National Council of Women's Organizations objected to the National Archives' action, issuing a statement that said, "In keeping with the Bush administration's determination to quash anyone who disagrees with them, federal agencies now consider it 'partisan' to hold any opinion that is not identical to the president's." The statement noted that Bush was touting his plan for Social Security at the Bureau of Public Debt, a federal facility in West Virginia, without providing for any speakers opposed to the personal account proposal. Although the National Archives backed off its assertion that the planned forum would violate the Hatch Act, groups wishing to use federal facilities may face pressure to alter the content of their meetings in the future. Archives spokeswoman Susan Cooper said groups would be "urged" to include dissenting voices in meetings, although not required to do so. Ejections from Town Hall Meetings On March 28, three people ejected from a Social Security town hall meeting in Colorado met with Secret Service officials to find out why. In an e-mail circulated by the National Coalition Against Censorship, three Denver residents described their experience, saying they had obtained tickets to the event from Rep. Bob Beauprey's (R-CO) office. When they entered, "we were told that we had been 'ID'ed' and were warned that any disruption would get us arrested. After being seated in the audience we were forcibly removed before the President [Bush] arrived, even though we had not been disruptive." The Secret Service told the three it was a private event. In a subsequent meeting the Secret Service told them and their attorney that they were identified by a Republican staffer who saw a bumper sticker on their car that said, "No Blood for Oil." The Secret Service also said that the Republican Party was in charge of ticket distribution and staffing for the event. However, the White House communications office set up the event. The group also reported that a person wearing a Democratic T-shirt was ejected from a similar event in Arizona on the same day. Federal Resources Used for Social Security War Room The Associated Press reports that a 'war room' to sell Bush's Social Security plan has been established at the Treasury Department's public affairs office. Called the Social Security Information Center, the project has hired three full-time former Bush-Cheney and Republican National Committee campaign workers to use television ads, grassroots organizing, and other means to push the president's plan. The project is also coordinating travel for town hall meetings for Bush, Vice President Cheney, Treasury Secretary Snowe, and other cabinet members. The project also has a program for rapid response to negative editorials and news coverage. While it is not uncommon for a president to use the resources of the office to promote a policy agenda, the use of government funds for this project has been questioned. Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, said, "They have the right to say their piece and to respond, but to create a whole team of PR experts to try and influence the media, I think, is an excessive use of taxpayer money."