Today the House of Representatives continues debate on a non-binding resolution that expresses support for the troops and opposition to the President's escalation of the war in Iraq. Members will cast their votes on Friday after three days of debate when every member of the House will have had five minutes of time at the rostrum.
While Congress is busy considering what Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA)
rightfully calls the "bark before the bite," thousands of Americans
are gearing up for the real fight.
This "bite" will come when the House Appropriation's Subcommittee takes
up the president's Supplemental Appropriations request for nearly one
hundred billion dollars that he claims is needed for the Iraq war
through the end of September. After talking about the war, the House
will be finally able to start doing something about it - flexing its
power of the purse and acknowledging the will of the American people.
Tomorrow the Chairman of the Subcommittee, Congressman Jack Murtha
(D-PA)- a powerful opponent of the war - will sit down and discuss his
"bite" strategy through a videotaped transmission from his Washington
office. It can be accessed starting at 11:00 EST Thursday on the new web
site MoveCongress.org. The
site was launched this week to help Iraq war opponents move Congress to
end the war. It provides a variety of tools to help navigate the
labyrinth of Congressional procedure and apply pressure where it will do
the most good.
The good news is that Congressman Murtha is planning MUCH more than an
up-or-down vote on the president's request. He is taking aim at the
administration's outrageous failure to support and properly equip the
soldiers that are being sent into the Iraqi nightmare. A prohibition on
the current practice of sending troops into harms way who are not combat
ready would throw a wrench into the gears of the Bush war machine and
the escalation of the Iraq war.
You are doing the opposite of supporting the troops if you are willing
to send them into combat without the tools they need to do their job and
stay alive. That is precisely what the administration and his
Congressional allies are doing. Most of the troops being sent into Iraq
as part of the escalation are at the lowest level of combat readiness.
The Congress has an opportunity to put a stop to it and keep these
soldiers out of harms war.
But that's just the beginning. The committee has a number of additional
options to flex its muscle not only with the Bush war in Iraq but with
other outrages including the debacle at Guantanamo Bay.
As Congress barks on the floor of the House this week, its time to get
ready to push the new majority to take the mightiest possible bite of
the Bush war in Iraq through its power of the purse. Stay tuned to href="http://www.movecongress.org/content/index.php">MoveCongress.org for
breaking news on this critical effort and ways that you can ensure our
leaders do the right thing regarding this misguided war.