February 10, 2007
Dear Senator ______,
I’m writing to thank you for your Feb. 5 vote in favor of debating Senator Carl Levin's Iraq War resolution (S. 470), and to encourage you to work to pass binding legislation that will outline a plan to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Senator Levin's resolution deserves vigorous debate, but a non-binding resolution alone will not affect the President’s policies. Please support the legislation proposed by your Senate colleagues Russ Feingold, Barack Obama and John Kerry outlining plans to end the occupation and bring our troops home, and please encourage your colleagues to do the same.
In closing, I hope the following words, spoken April 4, 1967 by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., will help give you the courage to work to bring the Iraq War to its much-needed conclusion.
"Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on."
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
February 10, 2007
Dear Senator ______,
I’m writing to strongly express my disappointment with your Feb. 5 vote against debating Senator Carl Levin's Iraq War resolution (S. 470), and to urge you to vote for binding legislation that will outline a plan to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Dozens of Americans and thousands of Iraqis have died while the new Congressional session continues to posture and delay. The U.S. needs a plan to end our involvement in Iraq's civil war, not filibusters and plans to increase our commitment and troop levels.
Please find the courage to join your Senate colleagues John Warner, Sam Brownback and many others in opposing the President's plan to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq. In coming months, I urge you to debate and pass binding legislation that will outline a plan to end the occupation and bring our troops home.
In closing, I hope the following words, written Feb. 15, 1848 in a letter by Abraham Lincoln, will help give you the courage to work to bring the Iraq War to its much-needed conclusion.
"Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary... and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after having given him so much...
The provision of the Constitution giving the war making power to Congress was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons: Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This our convention understood to be the most oppressive of all kingly oppressions, and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us."
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
