Congress

By Congressman John Conyers
http://www.conyersblog.us

I thought you might be interested in a radio story I appeared in today on KPFK discussing the Downing Street Minutes.

Click here for the radio segment

http://www.conyersblog.us

Some time back, we posted this account from Iraq War Vet John Bruhns. It's still important.

But we never posted this link to a video of Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur reading the same account on the floor of the House of Representatives. Check it out!

Brian Baird (D-WA) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) signed on today. What about YOUR Congress Member? Please ask them now!

Written by Kevin Zeese
Tuesday, 06 September 2005
Interview with Dennis Kucinich

Dennis Kucinich, along with fellow Democrat Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) and Republicans Walter Jones (R-NC) and Ron Paul (R-TX), introduced the first bi-partisan bill calling for an exit strategy from Iraq (H.J.Res. 55). Around this bill and other Iraq withdrawal efforts Republicans are quietly meeting behind closed doors and progressive Democrats have formed the "Out of Iraq Caucus" to push for an exit strategy. Rep. Kucinich is leading the Congress to a real consideration of an exit strategy from Iraq.

NEWS from CONGRESSWOMAN LYNN WOOLSEY, 6th District, California

For Information Contact:
Susannah Cernojevich (202) 225-5187

WOOLSEY CALLS ON DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS TO PLAN FUTURE OF IRAQ

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma) is calling on Members of Congress and the President to work together to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq, while helping the Iraqis regain control over their country and their future.

What: Hearing on the Future of Iraq

When: Thursday, September 15, 2005
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM (may change once location is determined)

Who: U.S. Representative Lynn Woolsey

Committee on Homeland Security Democrats Bennie G. Thompson, Ranking Member
www.house.gov/hsc/democrats/

For Immediate Release:

September 5, 2005

Contact: Jennifer Porter Gore
Nadra Harrison
202.226.2616

House Homeland Security Democrats Question the Coordination of the National
Guard's Response Efforts

WASHINGTON- Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the
House Homeland Security Committee along with Congressman Bill Pascrell
(D-NJ), Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on
Emergency Preparedness, Science and Technology, sent a letter today to

Is your Congress Member Co-Sponsoring?
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/902

If not, Call Them on Tuesday!!

9/5/2005 11:48:00 AM GMT
The claims of bringing stability to Iraq are just absurd
By: Kevin Zeese

Just as President Bush claimed in the build-up to war that the U.S. was threatened by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and Saddam's connection to Osama bin Laden and 9/11 plotters– we are now being told a new falsehood – U.S. troops are in Iraq to stabilize the country. Even the slightest scratching of the reality surface shows the absurdity of this wartime propaganda.

By Frank James and Andrew Martin
Washington Bureau
Published September 3, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Government disaster officials had an action plan if a major hurricane hit New Orleans. They simply didn't execute it when Hurricane Katrina struck.

Thirteen months before Katrina hit New Orleans, local, state and federal officials held a simulated hurricane drill that Ronald Castleman, then the regional director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, called "a very good exercise."

More than a million residents were "evacuated" in the table-top scenario as 120 m.p.h. winds and 20 inches of rain caused widespread flooding that supposedly trapped 300,000 people in the city.

"It was very much an eye-opener," said Castleman, a Republican appointee of President Bush who left FEMA in December for the private sector. "A number of things were identified that we had to deal with, not all of them were solved."

Still, Castleman found it hard to square the lessons he and others learned from the exercise with the frustratingly slow response to the disaster that has unfolded in the wake of Katrina. From the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans to the Mississippi and Alabama communities along the Gulf Coast, hurricane survivors have decried the lack of water, food and security and the slowness of the federal relief efforts.

Meanwhile...another recess appointment from Bush

While most of us were paying attention to Cindy Sheehan's efforts to get to the truth about why her son Casey died in Iraq, the impending Supreme Court appointment hearing on Roberts and the most devastating natural disaster in the century, Bush was making another sneaky recess appointment. The Associated Press:

President Bush has used a constitutional provision to bypass the Senate and fill a top Justice Department slot with an official whose nomination stalled over tactics at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval facility.
Bush used a "recess appointment" Wednesday to name Alice S. Fisher to lead the agency's criminal division. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., had blocked the nomination because he wants to talk to an agent who named Fisher in an e-mail about allegedly abusive interrogations at the U.S. military prison camp at Guantanamo.

From Gregory Robles

In a town hall meeting, held today in Fraser, (Grand County) Colorado
after being questioned on the Downing Street Memo(s) and Ms. Lee's
H.Res. 375, Mark Udall said that he will be signing on to the
Resolution on Tuesday September 6th upon his return to Congress. He
seemed quite sincere in his response. A round of applause rose from the
some 43 attendees (my early count of attendees).

MORE:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/902

FYI - still away from my computer, but in light of the awful disaster on the Gulf Coast I wanted to pass on these stories about how much of the federal government's tragic failures in the catastrophe were long ago the subject of serious concern in Congress. I remember these debates very well when I worked at the Appropriations Committee - Democrats repeatedly noted that serious budget cuts to critical Army Corps programs were coming AT THE VERY SAME TIME THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WAS PUSHING TRILLIONS IN TAX CUTS. Former GOP Congressman/Army Corps Chief Mike Parker's warnings in particular were very troubling back in 2002. Sadly, he was not only ignored by President Bush, but actually fired for having the guts to voice his concerns.

Floor Statement of Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich:
The Supplemental for Hurricane Katrina

WASHINGTON - September 2 - Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) gave the following speech today on the House floor during a special session to provide relief money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina:
“This amount of money is only a fraction of what is needed and everyone here knows it. Let it go forward quickly with heart-felt thanks to those who are helping to save lives with necessary food, water, shelter, medical care and security. Congress must also demand accountability with the appropriations. Because until there are basic changes in the direction of this government, this tragedy will multiply to apocalyptic proportions.

National Guard Delay Likely to Be Examined
Saturday September 3, 2005 7:46 AM
By SHARON THEIMER
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Several states ready and willing to send National Guard troops to the rescue in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans didn't get the go-ahead until days after the storm struck - a delay nearly certain to be investigated by Congress.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard on Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday.

National Guard Delay (no approval by WH til Thurs!) Likely to Be Examined
LINK TO ORIGINAL

WASHINGTON - Several states ready and willing to send National Guard troops to the rescue in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans didn't get the go-ahead until days after the storm struck — a delay nearly certain to be investigated by Congress.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard on Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday.

t r u t h o u t | Press Release

Friday 02 September 2005

Oakland, CA - In a statement issued Friday September 2nd, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) lambasted the Administration's slow response and lack of action to help the Gulf Coast communities destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

"The slow response to the needs of the people in the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina is inexcusable. We had several days advance notice that the Hurricane was coming, but where was the preparedness? Why weren't the hospitals, schools, and seniors evacuated immediately? Is this is an example of the Administration's idea of homeland security? If so, we are in trouble.

by Rep Brad Miller [Subscribe]
Fri Sep 2nd, 2005 at 14:22:08 PDT
The Bush crowd says now is not the time for finger pointing. How distasteful it would be for partisanship to intrude in this tragic time.

What pious, hypocritical crap.

I really don't just take press releases and post them here as diaries. I won't do this again (well, not often) but this topic has been much discussed here during in last few days.

Here's what I said on the floor an hour ago:

"I know that today's session was a formality, that there would be no votes other than a voice vote, but I thought it was important to be here to show my support for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in whatever way I could, however modest.

(Editor's note: Some lawmakers have asked for the National Guard to be pulled out of Iraq and return back to the States where they're needed at home. Are we stretched to thin? Are there enough members in Congress to support bringing the troops home to help recover from this tragedy? What do you think?)

US can handle Iraq, Katrina: Bush
From correspondents in Biloxi
September 03, 2005

US President George W. Bush has rejected calls to pull resources from the war in Iraq to handle Hurricane Katrina, saying: "We've got plenty of resources to do both."

"The people (have) just got to know, we've got what it takes to do more than one thing. And we'll secure our country from the terrorists and we'll help rebuild this part of the world," he said after touring this devastated town.

Some US lawmakers have asked that Washington call home members of the National Guard whose homes were devastated by the storm, others worry about the multi-billion-dollar pricetag of funding both ventures.

Bipartisan investigation into Katrina failures
by kos
Fri Sep 2nd, 2005 at 16:29:16 PDT
This might be a good thing, if done right.

Two key U.S. senators said on Friday they will open a bipartisan investigation into what they described as an "immense failure" of the government response to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who heads the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, and Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, the panel's top Democrat, said they plan to begin an oversight investigation next week when the full Senate returns from a summer recess.

No whitewashes. Find out who fucked up. Republicans, Democrats, I don't care. Anyone who screwed up should be tarred and feathered.

(Funny thing is, given the two names on this effort, I trust Collins to get at the truth more than I trust Lieberman.)

LINK TO ORIGINAL

Contributing Editor - TvNewsLIES.org
August 15, 2005

Suppose you were an idiot... And suppose you were a member of Congress...
But I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain

THE DIALOGUE

What shameful toads you are! Yes you, our elected lawmakers. Yes you, the folks we sent to Washington in our names. Yes you, the most spineless, cowardly and craven Congress people in history. Yes you, the most bullied, gutless and shameful herd of legislators ever elected. And you know exactly who you are.

Where in hell is your integrity? Where in hell is your self-respect? You’ve been led by your submissive noses to do the bidding of liars and warmongers. You’ve been suckered into applauding some of the most egregious crimes ever committed by a US government. You’ve become such a pitiful collection of sniveling sycophants. And you know damn well who you are.

Congressional Progressive Caucus
“61 Strong and Growing

That makes 60 co-sponsors! Do I hear 61?
What about YOUR Congress Member?

(As of August 31, 2005)

Rep. Maxine Waters, Chair, Co-Founder
Rep. Lynn Woolsey, Co-Founder
Rep. John Conyers, Co-Founder
Rep. Charlie Rangel, Co-Founder
Rep. Barbara Lee, Co-Founder
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Co-Founder
Rep. William Delahunt, Co-Founder
Rep. John Lewis, Co-Founder

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) has just cosponsored the Resolution of Inquiry into Bush's lies. That makes 59 cosponsors. Do I hear 60?
WHAT ABOUT YOUR CONGRESS MEMBER?

Reps. John Tierney (MA), Emanuel Cleaver (MO), Gwen Moore (WI), Jim Moran (VA), and Jerry Nadler (NY), have now signed on to co-sponsor H Res 375, demanding answers from the Bush Administration. That makes 58 Co-Sponsors. Who will be #s 59 and 60? See:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/902

From the Government Accountability Project (GAP)

A group of concerned citizens gathered at a house party in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the third anniversary of the Downing Street Minutes meeting. Out of that meeting was formed the Government Accountability Project (GAP). Five members of GAP, all constituents of Representative Brad Miller (D-NC), met with him on August 17th to discuss his positions on the war in Iraq and specifically to ask him to sign Barbara Lee’s Resolution of Inquiry.

Rep. Miller has expressed early and continued concern over our involvement in Iraq and the intelligence that led us there. Last year he co-sponsored a resolution initiated by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) calling for a House investigation of that intelligence. Rep. Miller has since asked Rep. Waxman to reintroduce this resolution and he promised our group that he would pursue this with him again.

Landmark measure addresses all forms of conflict and violence,
nationally and internationally

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and 55 co-sponsors will re-introduce legislation to create a cabinet-level Department of Peace during the first week the House is back in session, September 12, 2005.

“Every day in our country, millions of people are touched by various aspects of violence. And yet, every day people are still reaching for hope, looking for some opportunity to be delivered from this violence,

Ms. Nancy Pelosi
Representative CA-8
House Democratic Leader

I'm not writing to you as a constituent residing within your district of CA-8, but rather I am addressing you in your capacity as the House Democratic Leader.

Like you I am quite concerned over the many acts that the current administration has accomplished and is attempting. The concern I address with you today is the war in Iraq and the tactics employed by this administration to take this country into war with Iraq.

Whether one believes the revelations brought to light by the Downing Street Memo(s) or not, it appears that removing all doubt, of these revelations, is the utmost farseeing direction this country can take.

After Downing Street Update

Resolution of Inquiry into Bush Lies Gains Momentum
There are now 53 co-sponsors on Barbara Lee's Resolution of Inquiry into the Downing Street Memos, including one Republican member of the International Relations Committee, Jim Leach. If your Representative isn't on this list yet, please call their D.C. office and ask to speak to the Legislative Director. Ask why they haven't cosponsored HRes375, and then report back to us. A vote in committee will come between Sept. 6 and Sept. 16.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/902

Bring the Troops Home Now Bus Tour Begins August 31

By Bob Fertik, President of Democrats.com

Dear Senator/Representative,

If you support the War in Iraq, why aren't you or your children or your
grandchildren fighting there?

The Army is short of soldiers because of the Iraq War disaster. This
shortage has put our national security in danger throughout the world.

Your family can help fix the problem that you created by supporting the
Iraq War disaster.

As your constituent, I will continue to ask this question until you call
for the withdrawal of America's children from Iraq.

http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/57