EVAN CARAVELLI/Arizona Daily Wildcat Pre-pharmacy sophomore Steven Gerner, a member of the UA Young Democrats, claims he was not allowed to enter President Bush's speech at the TCC in March.

The mystery surrounding why a UA Young Democrat was denied entry last month to a public forum on Social Security may get a new set of detectives: the U.S. House of Representatives.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona, and Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., sent a letter to the Committee on Government Reform asking for an official investigation into why UAYD's Steven Gerner and others in Colorado and North Dakota were not allowed into public forums on Social Security hosted by President George W. Bush.

In a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and the chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, Tom Davis, R-Va., Grijalva and Degette said the exclusion of several citizens from public forums appear to be part of a "coordinated campaign penalizing Americans for their political beliefs."

The Associated Press reported, on the same day Gerner was denied entry in Tucson, three people were profiled in Denver and forcibly removed because a bumper sticker on their car said "No more blood for oil."

The Fargo Forum reported in February the existence of a "do-not-admit" list containing the names of 42 people who were not supposed to be given tickets to one of President Bush's public discussions on Social Security. Thirty-three of the names on the list belong to members of the Fargo progressive group Democracy for America.

The paper reported North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven blamed the existence of the list on the machinations of "an overzealous volunteer."

Colorado resident Leslie Weiss, one of the three removed from the Denver town hall, told reporters she wanted to see Congress investigate and said, "I am confident it is no rogue volunteer."

"We want congress to confirm First Amendment violations are happening," Weiss said.

Weiss said the man who forcibly removed her and her friends from the event posed as a member of the Secret Service.

The following day, Weiss and the others pressed for answers about their removal. A representative for the Secret Service accused Weiss and others being associated with a protest group that shared a name similar to the "No blood for oil" bumper sticker, because the car she rode in had the bumper sticker displayed.

Gerner said he was singled out of the crowd for wearing a UAYD T-shirt and hoped Congress could "pinpoint who is denying people rights."

Pete Seat, state chairman for the College Republicans, attended the same Social Security forum in March where Gerner was thrown out of and said the incident was blown out of proportion.

Seat said he was not fazed by Grijalva's call for and investigation, and said "it's pretty comical."

"It smacks of partisan politics," Seat said. "They have done the same things at their events."

Seat said he was kicked out of a Kerry event last September.

"They are trying to nitpick about issues," Seat said.

Seat said the forum was not a taxpayer event, and it was paid for by the Tucson Chamber of Commerce.