Posted by Sadie from ? (160.129.202.186) on Thursday, April 10, 2003 at 5:05PM :
Pentagon Should Not Control Post-War Iraq
ACT NOW! URGE CONGRESS TO PREVENT PENTAGON FROM CONTROLLING POST-WAR IRAQ
[4/9/03] EPIC has learned that Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Representative Bill Young (R-FL), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, are caving into the administration’s demand to place Iraq funding under Pentagon control in the final version of the emergency supplemental appropriations bill.
Currently the House and Senate versions of the bill deny the President the flexibility he wants over post-war Iraq. If the current language remains in tact, President Bush's friends at the Pentagon (Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, etc.) would lose authority over U.S. funds related to humanitarian assistance and reconstruction in Iraq.
The House/Senate Conference Committee is expected to meet today and tomorrow!
If your Member of Congress is on the House/Senate Conference Committee (see the roster below), please call them immediately and urge them to ensure the emergency supplemental bill on Iraq retains a key provision that expressly forbids funds for Iraq relief and reconstruction from going to the Pentagon. Urge them NOT to reverse the expressed intent of both the House and the Senate. The State Department, in partnership with the UN and our allies, is the appropriate authority for U.S. funds related to post-war Iraq.
If your Member of Congress does not sit on the Conference Committee, call Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Urge them to exercise their leadership to preserve the intent of the language in the House and Senate bills to shift the money from the Pentagon to the State Dept. for Iraq relief and reconstruction.
Call CONGRESS now via the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121!
Roster of HOUSE/SENATE Conference Committee
SENATE
Chair Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Ranking Member Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA)
Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO)
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID)
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Sen. Christopher Bond (R-MO)
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT)
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM)
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)
Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH)
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Sen. Earnest Hollings (D-SC)
Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD)
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT)
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)*
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Sen. Herbert Kohl (D-WI)
* Ranking Member of Foreign Operations Subcommittee
HOUSE
Chair Bill Young (R-FL)
Ranking Member David Obey (D-WI)
Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ)
Rep. Jerry Lewis (D-CA)
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA)
Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-IN)
Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY)
Rep. Joseph Knollenberg (R-MI)
Rep. Martin Olav Sabo (D-MN)
Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC)
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ)
Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY)*
Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY)
Rep. James Walsh (R-NY)
Rep. David Hobson (R-OH)
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
Rep. Ralph Regula (R-OH)
Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK)
Rep. John Murtha (D-PA)
Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-TX)
Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX)
Rep. James Moran (D-VA)
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA)
Rep. Norman Dicks (D-WA)
Rep. Dave Obey (D-WI)
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV)
* Ranking Member of Foreign Operations Subcommittee
Additional Information for Members of Congress can be found at: http://www.congress.org
TALKING POINTS (only if necessary)
Both House and Senate versions of the supplemental appropriation to meet the costs of the war in Iraq and its humanitarian consequences mandate State Department management of humanitarian relief and reconstruction assistance policy and programs. I strongly support this provision. Although the White House has indicated opposition to any limitations on flexibility, I urge you to uphold the legislated lines of authority and Congressional oversight by retaining the language already passed by the House and Senate.
In addition to upholding our legislature’s constitutional role, honoring the principle of civilian control of humanitarian assistance and reconstruction efforts is essential to the ultimate success of the U.S. intervention in Iraq. Mandating State Department management of humanitarian policy and action in Iraq will greatly enhance the likelihood that this effort will minimize the suffering of Iraqi civilians and pave the way for a global effort to rebuild the country.
Help EPIC oppose the Pentagon's takeover of Iraq. To sign a Citizens' Humanitarian Pledge, go to: http://epic-usa.org/signon.php
-- Sadie
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