ACTION NEEDED TODAY! Congress to vote on War Funding Thursday

Action Alert: House Leadership to Give War Funding to Bush Successor!

The House of Representatives will vote as soon as tomorrow - Thursday, May 8 - on an additional $178 Billion for the war and occupation in Iraq!

Amazingly, the bill includes $70 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 $874 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 - 202-224-3121

Tell them to vote "No!" on this funding bill.

Tell them its 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.

Don't let the House Democratic leadership take us for granted. If this funding bill passes, Congress will have handed Bush $874 billion for the illegal war and occupation of Iraq. With this funding bill, they are laying the groundwork for the next president to continue the occupation. We must send them a message that the voters will remember in November!

BackgroundHouse leadership met behind closed doors on Monday evening to concoct a plan that will keep the war going into the next President's first term. They plan to bring a $178 billion war funding bill to the floor for a vote on Thursday, May 8. In addition to the funding bill, they will vote separately on two other measures. One will provide billions for unemployment benefits and veterans education benefits; the other measure addresses war policy including a goal for troop withdrawal by December 2009, troop readiness requirements and a ban on permanent bases in Iraq and a ban on torture . It is an open secret that the Senate will drop the measure on war policy -- leaving only the war funding with no strings attached.

Impact of War on the Iraqi PeopleThe U.S. war/occupation in Iraq has taken hundreds of thousands of lives, devastated families and ripped apart the infrastructure of Iraq. One striking fact is that more than 4.7 million Iraqis (in a nation of 27 million people) have been displaced by war and occupation. It is the world's fastest growing refugee crisis, and represents the largest refugee flow in the Middle East since the displacement of Palestinians in 1948. For more information go to http://www.afsc.org/iraq/refugee-crisis.htm

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Last Updated: May 6, 2008