Subject: FW: Plan Colombia Hearing in IR Cmte 5/11 Date: Thu, 5 May 2005 16:18:58 -0500 Message-ID: <FEBBF51AFF7B8B4B8A2F32F6E63092AE029246A0@COKE.uwec.edu> From: "Drumm, Daniel L." <DRUMM@uwec.edu>
Calling all advocates from: AZ; AK;
CA; CO; FL; IL; IN; IA; KY; MA; MI; MN;
NE; NV; NJ; NY; OH; OR; SC; TX; VA; WA; WI
Take Action! House IR Committee Hearing on Colombia- May
11th
Tell the Committee We Want a New Policy!
May 5, 2005
Dear Colombia Advocates,
I want to start off by thanking everyone who called Congress last week
for the National Call-In Day on Colombia. Thousands of calls and
faxes were made or sent. Great job! I also want to apologize
for a technical glitch that caused the action alert to be sent out
multiple times. No, this wasn't an experimental organizing
tactic! We NEVER want to flood your inbox with messages.
We've worked with the technical team at our listserv, and the problem
has
been solved, for good we hope. Thank you so much for your patience
last week.
Now- on to new, important news. We've just learned that the House
International Relations Committee will be holding a hearing on Colombia
next Wednesday, May 11th. They'll be hearing from the usual
suspects, including John Walters, the U.S. Drug Czar, about the
successes of Plan Colombia. We need to show them that
there is another side to the story. If you live in the district of
one of the members of Congress listed below, we need your help!
A quick phone call or e-mail to their office will help balance the
stacked deck-- and may result in members of the committee
asking some tough questions of the witnesses. Let's not let this
opportunity slip by! If the committee members don't hear from us,
they'll
be hearing mainly from people who believe that Plan Colombia has worked,
and that we need more of the same. We need to voice a strong call for
change.
*A sample phone call script, which can also be used as the basis for
an e-mail, can be found below.*
Here are the members of the IR Committee. If you don't know
who your member of Congress is, see
http://www.house.gov/writerep.
You can reach your member's office by calling the Congressional
Switchboard at 202-224-3121. It's best to ask to speak with the foreign
policy staffer when you call.
Arizona:
Flake (R-AZ)
Arkansas:
Boozman (R-AR)
California:
Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Berman (D-CA)
Gallegly (R-CA)
Royce (R-CA)
Sherman (D-CA)
Issa (R-CA)
Lee (D-CA)
Watson (D-CA)
Schiff (D-CA)
Napolitano (D-CA)
Cardoza (D-CA)
Colorado:
Tancredo (R-CO)
Florida:
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
Wexler (D-FL)
Harris (R-FL)
Mack (R-FL)
Illinois:
Hyde (R-IL)
Weller (R-IL)
Indiana:
Burton (R-IN)
Pence (R-IN)
Iowa:
Leach (R-IA)
Kentucky:
Chandler (D-KY)
Massachusetts:
Delahunt (D-MA)
Michigan:
McCotter (R-MI)
Minnesota:
McCollum (D-MN)
Nebraska:
Fortenberry (R-NE)
Nevada:
Berkley (D-NV)
New Jersey:
Menendez (D-NJ)
Chris Smith (R-NJ)
Payne (D-NJ)
New York:
Ackerman (D-NY)
King (R-NY)
Engel (D-NY)
Meeks (D-NY)
Crowley (D-NY)
Ohio:
Brown (D-OH)
Chabot (R-OH)
Oregon:
Blumenauer (D-OR)
South Carolina:
Barrett (R-SC)
Wilson (R-SC)
Texas:
Paul (R-TX)
McCaul (R-TX)
Poe (R-TX)
Virginia:
Davis (R-VA)
Washington:
Smith (D-WA)
Wisconsin:
Green (R-WI)
Sample call script (calls are best, but this script can be revised
to send as an e-mail):
I'm a constituent from ____ calling with regards to the upcoming
hearing on Plan Colombia. I know that Rep. ____ will be hearing
from a number of witnesses on Wednesday who will express support for the
current policy of military aid and fumigation. I'd like my
representative
to challenge the witnesses on that point, because the current policy
hasn't worked.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy recently came out with a
report that showed that drug production in Colombia didn't budge last
year, even though a record number of acres of coca were sprayed. The
price of cocaine on our streets hasn't changed, either. Fumigation is an
ineffective and inhumane policy, and a waste of our money.
I'm also disturbed that human rights violations by the Colombian
military
have increased since U.S. aid began. I would like ___ (member of
Congress) to voice [his/her] concern over this policy during the
hearing-- and when Colombia aid comes up for a vote, I'd like [him/her]
to vote for a change, and prioritize social assistance instead of
military aid.
It's up to us to show the IR Committee that there is more than one
perspective on Colombia policy. Together, we can make change!
Thank you, as always, for your hard work and dedication. Feel free to
e-mail me with any questions or concerns.
Best,
Elanor
-- Elanor Starmer Associate for Colombia and Central America Latin America Working Group estarmer@lawg.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Latin America Working Group Action at home for just policies abroad www.lawg.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~