Posted on 09/30/2002 10:03:02 PM PDT by raygun
September 29, 2002
During his recent speech to the United Nations, President Bush asked the assembled delegates, "Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?" A similar question could now be asked about the U.S. House of Representatives: Will the U.S. House Committee on International Relations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?
Why not just send an E-mail message to your U.S. representative? Its easy, just click here.
Well then, if eMailing your Congress-critter is too daunting of a task, why not fax them here
Oh, yes to the report, to the report!
Current press reports tell how Congress is working on President Bush's proposed resolution of war against Iraq before the final version is submitted to the full House and Senate for a vote. But what the press isn't telling you is that the effort to push a war resolution through Congress is so intense that proper and customary procedures will be ignored - namely, the House Committee on International Relations will be bypassed. This House committee is "charged with overseeing U.S. foreign policy programs and agencies" - yet it is going to be ignored.
Why bypass this important House committee that dates back to 1775? According to my sources, there are several Republican members of the committee who have serious reservations about this resolution to go to war with Iraq and proponents of a war will not tolerate a single "no" vote. In other words, squelch debate, silence questions and don't give Republican committee members who might vote against this resolution an opportunity before it is presented to the full House for a vote. Is this the way Congress should exercise its gravest Constitutional authority - the declaration of war upon another nation?
Bypassing the House Committee on International Relations did not occur with past votes on Iraq. In 1990, the House Committee on International Relations was properly involved on the resolution to support the Gulf War. In 2001, the committee was, again, properly involved on a resolution "regarding inspection and monitoring to prevent the development of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."
Going to war against another country and putting fellow Americans in harm's way is the most important decision we, as a nation, can make. Therefore, let our elected representatives who are members of the House Committee on International Relations debate the issue, ask their questions, help write the resolution itself, and vote. If the committee votes to send the resolution to the full House for a vote, so be it. This committee has served its responsibility since 1775 and it can now - if allowed.
We urge every member of the House of Representatives to call for the Iraq war resolution be brought before the House Committee on International Relations, chaired by Republican Henry Hyde with ranking Democratic member Tom Lantos.
Why then not just send an E-mail message to your U.S. representative? Its easy, just click here.
I suppose, eMailing your Congress-critter, might be to burdensome or daunting of a task. Why then not fax them here
Bottem line: nobody's going to get off their ass until tanks are on every street corner and people are losing their houses.
Well, them's the breaks, no?
People I eMailed this to, did tell me they sent letters to their Congress-critters though.
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