your Austin Congressman voted against war

["Clement M. Henry" <chenry@mail.la.utexas.edu>]

Here is the rundown of the senate v ote and a link to the House vote that
was also  published in today's NYT.

*****************************
Clement M. Henry
Professor of Government
University of Texas at Austin
Austin TX 78712
tel 471-5121, fax 471-1061

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: 12 Oct 2002 04:05:18 -0000
From: "Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org" <moveon-help@list.moveon.org>
To: Clement Henry <chenry@mail.la.utexas.edu>
Subject: Turning the Tide

Dear MoveOn Member,

Over the last five days, Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) and our friends in
Congress fought a pitched battle against a hasty and dangerous war
resolution.  Senator Byrd fought with every tool at his disposal, from
an array of parliamentary tactics to his pocket copy of the
Constitution.  Joined by Senators Kennedy (D-MA), Sarbanes (D-MD),
Durbin (D-IL), and Boxer (D-CA) in outrage, he launched a furious
filibuster, demanding that our elected representatives give this issue
the lengthy and deep consideration it deserves.

In the House, Representatives Doggett (D-TX), Lee (D-CA), Kucinich
(D-OH), and Pelosi (D-CA) took a stand against House Minority Leader
Dick Gephardt (D-MO) and worked unstoppingly to deliver a defeat for
the authorization of force.  In doing so, they risked political
retaliation from both within their party and outside of it, but they
spoke out anyway.

Early yesterday afternoon, the House voted 296 to 133 in support of
the President's resolution.  Surprising nearly everyone, a significant
majority of Democrats stood with Pelosi and Doggett in opposition to
the resolution.

And around 1 in the morning last night, the Senate voted to support
President Bush's proposal, 77 for to 23 against.  Senator Byrd said,
"I have fought the good fight. I might as well talk to the ocean."

For those of us who are worried about a war on Iraq -- worried what it
will do to our country, our future, or our world -- this is a dark
day.  Our Congress has been stampeded into supporting a unilateral,
pre-emptive war that could set the Middle East on fire and turn the
world against us.  In the immediate aftermath of this decision, it's
easy to feel, like Senator Byrd, that we might as well have talked to
the ocean.

But that is just plain wrong.  This vote hurts, but without our work
it would have been much worse.

Let us not undersestimate what we're up against.  In the Bush
Administration, we have a cadre of men hungry for war.  Iraq has been
on the agenda since President Bush and Vice President Cheney were on
the campaign trail.  When September 11th happened, the President
immediately tried to link it to Saddam.  No dice.  When anthrax
brought our capitol to a halt, the FBI was dispatched to find
connections to Baghdad.  Nothing surfaced.

The President has demonstrated that he is willing to use every
Machiavellian trick in the book to force our country to war.  He
hasn't hesitated to use our national tragedy to push his agenda.  He
hasn't hesitated to play off the fear of Americans.  He hasn't
hesitated to take advantage of this election year to divide and
conquer his opposition.  When the President of the United States, a
man with the loudest megaphone in the world, chooses to use such
tactics, he is an extremely formidable opponent.

Make no mistake: the President did everything he could to make this
vote a unanimous one.  He failed.  And the dissent in Congress will
resonate throughout our country.

The New York Times today interviewed Representative Susan Davis
(D-CA), from southern California:  "Ms. Davis's San Diego district
includes thousands of active and retired military personnel in the
West Coast's largest Navy base, many of whom, she said, may not be
happy with her decision to vote against the president's wishes. But
having agonized over her decision until a few hours before the vote,
she said she was persuaded by a large number of calls and e-mail
messages from voters who were deeply uneasy about the prospect of a
new war that could be fought with terrible weapons."  That was us.

And when Senator Byrd was speaking out on the Senate floor, he knew we
stood behind him.  When Representative Pelosi spoke out against the
House leadership, she knew that we were with her.  Senator Paul
Wellstone of Minnesota is in the political fight of his life against a
candidate hand-picked by the White House to defeat him.  But even
though it could damage his re-election campaign, Senator Wellstone
voiced his conscience.  Our work helped to make that possible.

Our impact can be felt far beyond Washington, D.C. The American people
are a lot smarter than politicians think, and support for this
warmongering is paper thin. With each dissenter, with each dissenting
vote we will gain the support of more of our fellow citizens.
President Bush may now have the legal authority for a war, but thanks
to the concern we've voiced in the media and in our representatives'
offices, he does not have the mandate of his constituents.

This vote will not stand.  We will keep fighting this thoughtless war
in every way we can.  We will fight it over the next weeks and the
next months, in Washington and at home.

For now, though, we should take a moment to reflect on the hard work
we've put in, on our successes and our failures.  Remember: we're not
talking to the ocean.  We're turning the tide.

Sincerely,

--Eli, Wes, Carrie, Joan, Peter, and Susan
  MoveOn.org
  Friday, October 11, 2002

P.S. The pressure we've put on Congress has been overwhelming.  Over
the last two months, we've met with Senators' offices in every state.
We've mobilized a team of volunteer lobbyists who worked with over 400
Congressional offices.  We've written over 3,600 letters to the editor
on Iraq.  And we've made, at the very least, a staggering 143,000
phone calls to Congress.  With countless emails and a petition with
over 200,000 signers, we've communicated a deep and broad concern to
our elected representatives.

Here's what Senator Byrd had to say about the grassroots feedback he
received:

"I have heard from tens of thousands of Americans – people from all
across this country of ours – who have urged me to keep up the fight.
I am only one Senator from a small state, yet in the past week I have
received nearly 20,000 telephone calls and nearly 50,000 e-mails
supporting my position.

I want all of those people across America who took the time to contact
me to know how their words have heartened me and sustained me in my
efforts to turn the tide of opinion in the Senate. They are my heroes,
and I will never forget the remarkable courage and patriotism that
reverberated in the fervor of their messages."
http://byrd.senate.gov/byrd_newsroom/byrd_news_oct2002/rls_oct2002/rls
_oct2002_3.html

P.P.S. Below is a list of the Senators and Representatives who voted
against a war on Iraq.  If you feel like calling some of them to thank
them for taking a stand, it will certainly be appreciated.

Senators who voted against the resolution:

Akaka (D) -- (202) 224-6361
Bingaman (D) -- (202) 224-5521
Boxer (D) -- (202) 224-3553
Byrd (D) -- (202) 224-3954
Chafee (R) -- (202) 224-2921
Conrad (D) -- (202) 224-2043
Corzine (D) -- (202) 224-4744
Dayton (D) -- (202) 224-3244
Durbin (D) -- (202) 224-2152
Feingold (D) -- (202) 224-5323
Graham (D) -- (202) 224-3041
Inouye (D) -- (202) 224-3934
Jeffords (I) -- (202) 224-5141
Kennedy (D) -- (202) 224-4543
Leahy (D) -- (202) 224-4242
Levin (D) -- (202) 224-6221
Mikulski (D) -- (202) 224-4654
Murray (D) -- (202) 224-2621
Reed (D) -- (202) 224-4642
Sarbanes (D) -- (202) 224-4524
Stabenow (D) -- (202) 224-4822
Wellstone (D) -- (202) 224-5641
Wyden (D) -- (202) 224-5244

A full roll call list for the Senate is available on our website at:
http://www.moveon.org/senatevote.html

A full roll call for the House is available at:
http://www.moveon.org/housevote.html

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