| Subject: Gee Whiz Kids |
Author:
Sarah
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Date Posted: 08:50:53 09/27/04 Mon
In reply to:
Keith
's message, "VERY IMPORTANT -- ALL READ" on 00:39:20 09/22/04 Wed
So after I read your initial message, I started crying. Everything is getting so close and i am getting so nervous...
Then I did some calling. I called Bond, Talent, and Graves (my rep but probably not any of yours) and, of course, nobody has a position on it that they know of. Letters will be arriving at my house soon to let me know what they think.
I looked on thomas.gov to see the status and both are in the Armed Services Cmtes. The chairs of those committees expect to be contacted by those outside of their district/state regarding cmte. issues, so I suppose we could call/write to them as well. There are no cosponsors on the Senate side only the lead. On the House side, there are a few cosponsors to note including Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (MO-1). I am not sure if we know anyone in the first district, but surely you could find some at MU. I think part of the reason a lot of people haven't put their name on it yet is because of the election, but if we can put pressure on those who already have their name on it (like Clay) as well as the committee that has jurisdiction over it now it might become too hot to touch.
I thought it was interesting that Rep. John Lewis (GA-5) was a cosponsor. I don't know if you all know that he worked closely with MLK Jr. during the civil rights movement. It makes this bill a little tricky and a little easier to understand why it is so bipartisan. We all (us cool progressive types at least) that the military is classist (which in America translates into racist as well), so it seems to me that Lewis thinks this is a way to soften the burden on the underprivileged. Plus, to me it seems a huge leap forward to include women, though I assume they still would not be allowed in combat roles. These seem like really noble progressive goals... IF you accept the military and war and especially this war as a noble goal. My fear, and I assume it is yours as well, is that this is just about the endless WoT and progressives like Lewis will have to make a choice between equality and peace. A kind of weird choice if you ask me...
Those are my thoughts so far. Here are some helpful phone numbers in case you are too lazy to look them up.
Sen. Talent DC Office 202-224-6254 KC Office 816-421-1639
Sen. Bond 202-224-5721 KC Office 816-471-7141
To find your reps #, just go to house.gov.
Oh, and another thing, calling and writing really does matter. They (the non-paid interns) make a tally of the calls and letters on each side. Maybe we could organize a day or a week where we bombard them with calls about it or something. This may be too early, but then again this issue's fate is going to be decided by voters in November, not by Congress next spring. I know we are all working our asses off to get G.W. fucking out. Work equally hard to kick Kit Bond to the curb also. Nancy Farmer is his opponent and has loads less cash.
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