Call for Co-Sponsors on Farr's Bill to Force Withdrawal from Iraq! Please Call/Fax!

Yesterday Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) introduced HR413, a bill which would repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107–243) and to require the withdrawal of our armed forces from Iraq.

See this DU thread, which includes complete text of the very short bill.

This bill is an important addition to the discussion of the war, and its existence--ESPECIALLY WITH A LONG LIST OF COSPONSORS--could help make clear the strength of Congress's opposition to the war. This became clear to me in a long conversation with Rep. Farr's office today.

The most likely cosponsors of the bill are the members of the Out of Iraq Caucus. Please check the list below to see if your Rep is on there. (None of the new Reps have yet joined, so if you're in a district with a newly-elected Rep., go ahead and contact them if you think they have potential as a cosponsor.) And everyone can contact the chair of the caucus, Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) at 202-225-2201 (phone) or 202-225-7854 (fax) or by email via her website.

While this bill is unlikely to pass and doesn't have a snowball's chance in a globally warmed winter of being signed by the pResident, let's support it to show we mean business! More bills will be introduced next week--including an updated version of of Murtha's "redeployment" bill from fall '05 and something from Pelosi, and all will become part of the conversation about which strategy Congress will use to oppose the war.

Please spread the word via your email lists and by keeping this kicked. I especially invite kicks that say who you called and what response you got. If DUers know that there's momentum, more are likely to join in the calling.

Thank you!

You can find info about how to call, fax or email your Representative here.

Out of Iraq Caucus Members:
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. Neil Abercrombie
Rep. Tammy Baldwin
Rep. Xavier Becerra
Rep. Corrine Brown
Rep. Lois Capps
Rep. Michael Capuano
Rep. Julia Carson
Rep. Donna Christensen
Rep. William Lacy Clay
Rep. Elijah Cummings
Rep. Danny Davis
Rep. Peter DeFazio
Rep. Lloyd Doggett
Rep. Sam Farr
Rep. Chaka Fattah
Rep. Bob Filner
Rep. Barney Frank
Rep. Raul Grijalva
Rep. Luis Gutierrez
Rep. Maurice Hinchey
Rep. Rush Holt
Rep. Michael Honda
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee
Rep. William Jefferson
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones
Rep. Marcy Kaptur
Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick
Rep. Dennis Kucinich
Rep. John Larson
Rep. Stephen Lynch
Rep. Jim McDermott
Rep. James McGovern
Rep. Michael McNulty
Rep. Carolyn Maloney
Rep. Edward Markey
Rep. Marty Meehan
Rep. George Miller
Rep. Gwen Moore
Rep. Jim Moran
Rep. Grace Napolitano
Rep. Richard Neal
Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton
Rep. James Oberstar
Rep. John Olver
Rep. Major Owens
Rep. Frank Pallone
Rep. Donald Payne
Rep. Nick Rahall
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard
Rep. Bobby Rush
Rep. Linda Sanchez
Rep. Bobby Scott
Rep. Jose Serrano
Rep. Hilda Solis
Rep. Pete Stark
Rep. Bennie Thompson
Rep. John Tierney
Rep. Ed Towns
Rep. Nydia Velázquez
Rep. Diane Watson
Rep. Albert Wynn

(Edited to remove Cynthia McKinney's name, with much sorrow and to add missing bill #.)

Congressional District 1, California. Voted against the war. Vietnam vet. In one of the counties in his district--Mendocino--the voters passed the following resolution with over 67% of the votes ('06)...

Measure Y. Iraq War Advisory -- Mendocino County (Advisory Measure - Majority Approval Required)
Pass: 19290 / 67.17% Yes votes ...... 9427 / 32.83% No votes
Should the United States end the military occupation of Iraq and bring the troops home now?

Mike?

The list is from Democracy Rising and is from last September, with the changes I'm aware of having been made to it: removal of Sherrod Brown because he's in the Senate now, removal of Lane Evans who retired, and removal of Cynthia McKinney who is no longer in Congress. If you discover that Thompson or others are in the Caucus, let us know!

I asked him to both cosponsor the bill and join the Out of Iraq Caucus. His staff member said they hadn't had a discussion about it yet. ("We're still discussing how to work the phones," he said.) But he was polite, accessible, and thorough about recording my request and my contact info. He even brought up the text of the bill on his computer screen as we talked.

they have a few other things to do that are at least as important! :D

All those folks who said they endorsed the original bill granting Bush (!?!?!?!?) power to use military force, and are now say "sorry about that" should be the first ones to cosponsor this.

On The Peter B. Collins Show:

"I think Farr's resolution is exactly what we need and what people should rally around."

Congressman Acts to Revoke Iraq War Resolution
By Matt Renner
t r u t h o u t | Report

Friday 12 January 2007

In response to President Bush's speech Wednesday night, many Democrats and Republicans in Congress have rebuked his plan to increase the number of troops in Iraq.

Among Democrats, strategies for gradual draw-downs or strategic redeployments have been proposed and are being considered. Legislation to force the president to get authorization from Congress for a troop escalation has been proposed by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). Congressman Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) has joined Senator Kennedy as a co-author of his bill. Representative Abercrombie is the chairman of the powerful Air-Land Subcommittee, which oversees military ground forces and air power. Senator Harry Reid stated Thursday that he has enough Republican support to pass a non-binding resolution of disapproval for the president's plan.

One Democratic member of the House of Representatives has taken a more drastic step.

Congressman Sam Farr introduced legislation Thursday that would repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, essentially pulling the rug out from under the president.

Revoking of the authorization that gave war powers to the president would stop the "surge" in its tracks and would mandate an immediate withdrawal of US Forces from Iraq.

More

Just told a friend about this resolution.

It's a good way to separate the men from the boys. And, the women from the girls.

Put up or get out, Congresscritters! Enough with the speechifying, people are dying!