From: Gael and Rusti, Co-Conveners of the Legislative Working Group
As we reported last week the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the final version of the 2010 Defense budget, which contained another $128 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Only a handful of antiwar House members voted “Nay”. To see the roll-call: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll770.xml. On the Senate side, the lone antiwar vote on the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill was Senator Feingold.
Despite these dismal results, many House members and Senators insist that they are opposed to an escalation of the troop levels in Afghanistan. Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s excellent new bill HR 3699 which would prohibit the funding of additional troops-has only 22 co-sponsors. To see the list: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-3699.
NEXT STEPS: THIS WEEK.
Call the DC office of your member of Congress and ask to speak to the Legislative Director. Let them know how disappointed you are that your Congressional Representative has voted a blank check for war until September 2010. Unless your Representative is already a co-sponsor of HR 3699, ask if they intend to sign-on. And if not, why not? Congressional Switchboard is 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121. If there is nobody available in the Washington office, who can answer your question then call the local office and ask to speak to the Community Coordinator.
This is not a typical call-in day, where the aim is to maximize the number of calls. Instead the aim is to get real answers about where your member of Congress stands on the immediate question of increasing the troop levels in Afghanistan and whether they will promote effective Congressional action to stop this. If the person you speak with can’t answer the question, urge them to get back to you. If they don’t follow through, keep calling. Consider sharing the results and your opinion in a letter to the editor of your local paper.
Please get back to us with the answer you obtain. We will compile the results and make them available to everyone working on this bill. Send to rustiandgael@unitedforpeace.org
