Actions Needed to End Iraq War Funding
April 22, 2007
Please call your Representative and Senators and tell them to vote against the supplemental spending bill to continue funding the Iraq war. You can call the Congressional switchboard at 1-202-224-3121 and be connected.
Prepare for civil disobedience in June and July at the offices of Representatives and Senators who refuse to publicly commit to vote against any additional funding for the Iraq war for Fiscal Year 2008 (which begins on October 1).
Please be in contact with the Occupation Project via email at occupationproject@vcnv.org about actions you are planning in your area or for assistance.
Please keep reading for more background information.
HOUSE AND SENATE TO VOTE ON FINAL VERSION OF IRAQ WAR FUNDING BILL THIS WEEK
This Monday, April 23, conference committee members of the House of Representatives and the Senate will meet to hammer out final details on the final version of the supplemental spending bill that will provide about $100 billion to continue funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Indications are that the final version of the supplemental spending bill will include the Senate’s version of “withdrawal” language, which simply sets the GOAL of withdrawal by March 2008, does not set a firm timetable for withdrawal and, even at that, would potentially leave significant numbers of U.S. troops in Iraq for such purposes as protecting infrastructure, protecting U.S. personnel and the embassy, and conducting “targeted” counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist military actions.
The House is expected to vote on this final version on Wednesday. The Senate is expected to vote on Thursday (according to a report on GovExec.com )
Please call your Representative and your Senators today to tell them to vote against any additional funding for the war in and occupation of Iraq.
The Congressional switchboard phone number is 1-202-224-3121. You’ll be connected to the correct offices from here.
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IN JUNE & JULY TO RESIST IRAQ WAR FUNDING INTO 2008
June and July will be key months in which to engage in sustained nonviolent civil disobedience to end funding for the war in and occupation of Iraq. It is likely that the House and Senate will be voting on whether to provide an additional $145 billion in war spending for Fiscal Year 2008 (which runs from October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008).
If Congress acts as it has in prior years, this $145 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will be included in the same bill as the regular military budget. The Iraq - Afghanistan portion will be carved out as a separate category within the appropriations bill. In the past it was referred to as a “bridge fund” or as a “supplemental” to the regular military budget.
The following time periods seem to be the most likely times for House and Senate action on funding the wars (based upon when the regular defense appropriations bill was acted upon in prior years):
June
- First or second week - voting by the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee
- Second or third week - voting by the House Appropriations Committee
- Third or fourth week - voting by the full House of Representatives
July
- First or second week - voting by the Senate Appropriations Committee
- Third or fourth week - voting by the full Senate
Of course, the above time frames could shift to be a week or two earlier or a week or two later (especially in the Senate). It will be important to follow the actions of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees as the bill winds its way through each body.
It is also possible that the Democratic party leadership will opt to carve out the appropriations to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as a separate and distinct bill. However, it is probable that the timeline for consideration of such a bill would follow a timeline similar to that of the regular Department of Defense Appropriations bill. Both the House and the Senate are in recess from August 6 through September 3. They will likely want to have the Iraq - Afghanistan war spending bill in place prior to the recess so that when they return in September they can meet in conference committee with the aim of having a final bill ready to vote on before the end of the month.
