Last night, 15 House members publicly spoke up and entered into the Congressional record that their vote on the war in 2002 was a mistake!
Last week, in preparation for the March on Washington and the lobbying day on the Hill I was on a group conference call with Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D CA-35), one of the original 133 members of the House that voted against the war. We were talking about the bravery of those original 133 in standing up for their principles despite the pressure at the time, and how now, so many of her colleagues wish they had voted differently. I jumped in and suggested that she give some of those folks a chance to publicly voice those sentiments on the record. She loved the idea and turns out, it happened last night during Special Orders which is kind of like open mike night in Congress. Congresswoman Waters said it was a great success. 15 Members signed up and 8 spoke, including Ike Skelton, Chair of the House Armed Services Committee! We are hoping to get more to step forward between now and the March and honor both the original 133 and all those who have come to their senses since then. I was dissapointed that it was only 15, but apparently that was more than she was expecting.