Congress

By Josiah Ryan, CNSNews.com

(CNSNews.com) - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told Cybercast News Service Thursday that he does not think it would be "practical" to stop the war in Iraq simply by not allowing a war-funding bill to come up for a vote on the House floor, something that it is within his power as Majority Leader to do.

Hoyer also said that the troops in harm's way in Iraq need support from Congress.

"I don't personally believe it's a practical alternative not to put a bill on the floor and not to let the House of Representatives work its will on what it wants to do on this issue," Hoyer told Cybercast News Service .

"Secondly, of course, a significant majority of the votes on the floor believe that while the troops are in harm's way we will support them," he said. "But there is also a majority on the floor that wants to change the policy and redeploy them."

By Reuters

Washington - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff was subpoenaed on Wednesday to testify in a congressional probe of the administration's treatment and possible torture of enemy combatants.

House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, issued the subpoena to David Addington a day after it was authorized by a House panel.

The administration contends its aides can not be forced to testify. But Addington has indicated he may do so if subpoenaed, congressional staffers said.

Megan Mitchell, spokeswoman for the vice president's office, said, "I can confirm that we have received the subpoena. We are reviewing it and will respond accordingly."

The subpoena orders Addington to appear on June 26 before the House Judiciary's subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which is examining the administration's treatment of detainees.

By David Swanson

The Republican Party as a national mainstream organization began with Abraham Lincoln and ended with Lincoln Chafee. Before and after those Lincolns, the party was not something that most Americans could relate to, was not something that many people could imagine offered any sort of benefit to all people as opposed to particular types of people.

Former U.S. Senator from Rhode Island Lincoln Chafee served in Washington, D.C., from 1999 to 2006. He was the only Republican Senator who voted against authorizing Bush to attack Iraq. A lot of Democrats did not do as well that day, or on several other days, as Chafee did. But his party moved away from him, and from the nation, and from the state of Rhode Island, and voters showed Chafee the door in the 2006 elections that saw membership in the party of Cheney and Bush become the greatest liability for incumbents and challengers alike.

Dear Speaker Pelosi,

I write to you this Mother's Day as the mother of Lt. Ken Ballard, who was killed in Najaf, Iraq four years ago, fighting in a war that you have criticized but continue to fund.

I hope that this Mother's Day you are lucky enough to be surrounded by your children and grandchildren, to share thanks and hugs. But I also hope that you will think about the thousands of mothers of U.S. troops who will never see their children again -- and the tens of thousands of mothers of troops now serving in Iraq who live in fear every day of the phone call or the knock on the door telling them their child has been injured or killed.

Congress has heard from politicians, pundits, and generals, but not, up to this point, from the average boots-on-the-ground soldier.

On May 15th, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) begin the process of righting this imbalance with Winter Soldier on the Hill. Nine members of IVAW will testify under oath before the CPC about rules of engagement, the killing and abuse of civilians, the use of drop weapons, and the true consequences of the "surge."

Winter Soldier on the Hill will allow the US Congress to be more fully informed about the situation in Iraq through soldiers’ eyewitness accounts of the on-going military occupation, while they debate (more than likely for the last time during the Bush-Cheney administration) the funding for U.S. military operations in Iraq.

Who: Iraq Veterans Against the War & The Congressional Progressive Caucus
What: Winter Soldier on the Hill – An Open Forum
When: 15 May 2008 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Where: 2261 Rayburn House Office Building

LEARN MORE.

Paid for by Paul Richmond for U.S. Congress 1
Paul Richmond, Democratic Candidate for U.S. Congress
Washington’s 6th District
2023 East Sims Way, #263, Port Townsend, WA, 98368
Phone: (360) 379-5575, Fax: (360) 379-5116
www.richmond4congress.com

MEDIA RELASE, May 8, 2008

6tH District U.S. Congressional Candidate Paul Richmond calls on Incumbent Norm Dicks today to Vote against further funding for the Iraq War and Occupation

Today the Congress is asked to allocate 162 Billion to continue the useless Iraq
War and Occupation with no strings attached. Estimates are now that the war
will already cost us Six Trillion ($6,000,000,000,000) Dollars. That does not
include the more than thirty thousand (30,000) wounded veterans and their
families.

The rank and file of the Democratic Party has been asking for us to leave Iraq
for many years. At the 2004 National Convention the majority of the delegates

(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-9) delivered the following remarks during a press conference today regarding the upcoming House vote on the Iraq war Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008:

“Before Congress adjourns for the Memorial Day district work period, Members of the House will be called upon to consider President Bush’s request for additional funding to wage the preemptive war and occupation he launched in Iraq.

“I will vote against providing additional funding for the war and occupation in Iraq. I am unalterably opposed to giving a president – any president, but especially this president – $180 billion with no strings attached to continue this misguided, mismanaged, and misrepresented misadventure in the Middle East.

“Not another dime for this war and occupation!

By Erik Leaver, Foreign Policy in Focus

After weeks of backroom negotiations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) finally unveiled the latest plan for funding the Iraq War late Tuesday night. As the plan was unveiled, anti-war groups ranging from United for Peace and Justice to Win Without War to the Iraq Campaign 2008 joined voices for the first time in their call to urge members to vote no on the funding. But while their messages are clear on the funding, the actual content and implications of the other provisions in the bill needs careful examination.

TO: Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

Dear Members and Friends,

The United States Senate Armed Services Committee with the
Democratic majority, led by the esteemed Senator Carl Levin from
Michigan, fully authorized funding for the third site in the
Czech Republic and Poland for $712 million, increasing the total
amount of funding for Missile Defense by $189 million from last
year. This amounts to 2.02% of the Department of Defense budget,
with $10.389 billion allocated for missile defense. This is a
clear, unequivocal statement by the Democratic controlled United
States Senate that reflects endorsement of Missile Defense
deployment, development and the third Missile Defense site to be
placed in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), Senator Joe
Lieberman (I-CT), and Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) are to be
praised and congratulated for their critical support and

Opposition growing to Bush's Proposed "Merida Initiative"

Opposition to the President's ebbing "Merida Initiative", a scheme to give $1.4 Billion in military aid to Mexico's police and military forces implicated in widespread human rights violations, has led to an extraordinary 3rd oversight hearing by Congress. Yet critics questioned the witnesses called to testify before the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere as being uncritical boosters or vaguely indicating support under a pretense of concern and questions.

By Matthew Hay Brown, Chicago Tribune

House Democrats are preparing another emergency war spending bill, and the antiwar movement is growing restive.

"In 2006, the voters of this country gave Congress a clear mandate to end the occupation of Iraq through a stunning Democratic electoral victory," Tim Carpenter, executive director of Progressive Democrats of America, said Wednesday.

"But now, in 2008, we're still waiting for the war to end, while conditions get worse both here and in Iraq," he said. "To put it bluntly, if this Congress won't stand up and put an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq, and start addressing our needs at home beginning with a national single payer healthcare system, then we'll elect Democratic candidates who will."

By Josiah Ryan, CNSNews.com

(CNSNews.com) - The Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives could halt funding for the war in Iraq simply by omitting any war-funding bill from the floor schedule, experts told Cybercast News Service on Wednesday.

But rather than do that, the Democrats on Thursday plan to bring up a $195-billion bill to fund the war through the middle of next year. Republicans object to the bill for a number of reasons; President Bush has threatened to veto it because it includes a troop-pullout provision; and even some moderate Democrats don't like the bill because it includes benefit programs but no way to pay for them.

Defensive Strategy is Behind House Leaders’ Plan for War Funding Bill
By Alan K. Ota, CQ

To understand the House leadership’s plan for action on the war spending bill, begin by recognizing that the last thing the majority wants is a deadlock exposing Democrats to charges of abandoning the troops.

Then come to grips with the fact that Democratic leaders are not aiming to force a troop withdrawal with the latest supplemental spending bill, nor are they determined to use the bill as a vehicle for domestic spending.

In other words, the leadership’s strategy for the spending bill headed to floor on Thursday is defensive in nature and designed to frustrate the desires of most Democrats.

Brought to you by Corporate Democrats
By Cindy Sheehan

The Democrats are working diligently to put a war funding bill on George's desk that will give him two cycles of money for the illegal and obscene occupations in the Middle East connecting anti-poverty programs and VA educational benefits to the appropriation's bill to exploit the horrible condition of poor families and vets who have risked life and limb because Congress is too worried about their political stakes than our children's lives.

Rep. Bob Filner Goes After the V.A.'s Ira Katz, Deputy Chief Patient Care Services Officer for Mental Health: mp3.

www.unitedforpeace.org

The House of Representatives will vote as soon as tomorrow -- Thursday, May 8 -- on an additional $162.6 billion for the war and occupation in Iraq! Amazingly, the bill includes $66 billion for fiscal year 2009. This means the funds for the occupation will keep flowing well into the next
administration, allowing the new president a free hand to continue the war and occupation with little or no accountability to Congress until next spring. This is an appalling abdication of responsibility.

At a time when money is urgently needed in our communities, the new bill would bring the total for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to an unimaginable $860 billion. By including FY09 funding, the Democratic Party House leadership is effectively taking the war off the congressional agenda for the rest of this year. This might be our last opportunity to fight a war funding bill before the next president takes office and the new Congress is seated.

*YOUR CALL TODAY IS CRUCIAL.*
Call your representative NOW: 202-224-3121
Tell them to vote "NO" on the $162.6 billion war funding measure.
Tell them it's long past time to bring all the troops home and end the war.
Tell them to stop playing political games while lives are being lost.

If you're keeping score at home, you may have seen that UFPJ is not alone in promoting a No vote today, and has been joined by AfterDowningStreet, Democrats.com, US Labor Against the War, American Friends Service Committee, Peace Action, Code Pink, and many others. Meanwhile Democracy for America is off on election nonsense, True Majority is building a True Minority, and Moveon.org has sent out a vaguely worded Email suggesting that Yes votes on the other amendments are at least as important as No votes on the war $. Win Without War, on the other hand, sent out a clear Email, but has made comments in the press suggesting we should all just give up. WATCH what these organizations do, and what your representative does.