Finally a Vote on War Funding This Week

UPDATE: Vote expected Tuesday!  UPDATE PART B: Everybody please stop saying $33 B "to continue war" - it's to escalate it, and 162 congress members have pretended to want to de-escalate it.

On the House calendar for this week is a vote on a $33 billion supplemental bill to escalate the war in Afghanistan.  The Senate did not accept the House version (passed without a vote on July 1st).  The House will likely now vote on the Senate version or something close to it.  This will likely mean something quite unusual: a straightforward vote in which yes means yes more war, and no means no.

Whether we block the bill or not, we will now be able to identify clearly and unambiguously the war supporters and war opponents.  They will need to be punished and rewarded while they're home for August and at the polls in November.  If the majority of Democrats vote against the war funds, we will be able to point out that opposition from the President's own party.  And the closer we come to defeating the bill the more we will have to build on as the peace movement joins with the labor and civil rights movements this fall.

Our message is simple:

Vote no on funding this escalation of war, regardless of whether it's a procedural vote, and regardless of any good measures attached to it.

FCNL has a toll-free number to call your representative: 1-888-493-5443, or use the standard number (202) 224-3121.

Pull U.S. Troops Out of Pakistan

The House is expected to debate and vote on Tuesday on a privileged resolution (HCR 301) introduced by Congressmen Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul to remove U.S. forces from Pakistan. The resolution directs the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove the United States Armed Forces from Pakistan.  On this one we want to ask for Yes votes.

More info.

Call Congress (202) 224-3121.

Resources

Six Facts No War Supporter Knows

Video of Congressman Kucinich discussing both of the votes described above: http://pdamerica.org

David Swanson and Dennis Kucinich will be on Lila Garrett's radio show on Monday.

Get resources from http://defundwar.org

What Happened in Albany, Cleveland, Las Vegas

This weekend, many of you attended the peace conference in Albany or the PDA conference in Cleveland, if you weren't at the Netroots conference in Vegas.  They can all be watched online for those who missed them:
National Peace Conference
PDA Conference
Netroots Nation

Resolutions passed at the National Peace Conference will be posted ASAP at http://warisacrime.org

On August 28th the peace movement will join with the movements for jobs, economic justice, and civil rights to march in Detroit, Mich., and Washington, D.C., to launch campaigns for Jobs, Justice, and Peace that will build to a massive March on Washington on October 2nd.

Mark your calendars and get ready!

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