Democratic Agenda for 10/8/07

I support the Democrats.com Weekly Agenda for 10/8/07: http://democrats.com/agenda

Join the 86 Members who have signed the Progressive Caucus “Peace Pledge” to oppose any more Iraq funding except to bring our troops safely home before Bush leaves office

Oppose Dick Cheney’s insane plan to Bomb Iran by supporting the Byrd Amendment to require Congressional approval of any attack on Iran, and hold Congressional hearings on Cheney’s secret Iran warmongering

Pass H.R. 2740 to bring war mercenaries like Blackwater under U.S. law, and demand prosecution of Blackwater employees under the Uniform Code of Military Justice as required by the Graham Amendment

Oppose amnesty and immunity for telephone companies that illegally spied on American citizens without a warrant

Oppose Michael Mukasey for Attorney General because he (a) wants to keep Guantanamo open despite the strong objections of the world (b) allow “enhanced interrogation techniques” which is just Bushspeak for torture, an international war crime, and (c) abused material-witness laws to lock up Muslims without charges

Oppose Hans von Spakovsky for FEC Commissioner because of his key role in illegal voter suppression, disciminatory and illegal voter ID laws, the illegal TX redistricting engineered by Tom DeLay, and the stolen election in Florida

Pass the resolution to condemn Rush Limbaugh for calling troops who are critical of the Iraq Occupation “phony soldiers” and hold Limbaugh accountable by removing his show from Armed Forces Radio

Override Bush’s planned veto of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)

Hold White House officials in contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas requiring their sworn testimony and documents. Since Bush’s Justice Department refuses to enforce Congressional subpoenas, Congress must use its “inherent contempt” authority to put White House officials in a DC jail until they comply

Investigate major news exposes: * New York Times report that Alberto Gonzales secretly authorized torture in 2005 * Newsweek report that Dick Cheney is trying to provoke a war with Iran * Rep. Jane Harman’s report that the White House terrorized Congress into legalizing warrantless wiretapping with a bogus threat of an attack on Congress itself * El Pais report that George Bush rejected a plan to let Saddam Hussein go into exile one month before he invaded Iraq, which would have made an invasion unnecessary

Join the 20 co-sponsors of H.Res. 333 to Impeach Dick Cheney for lying about Iraq and plotting war with Iran
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Weekly Agenda #3: Small Victories on Blackwater, Wiretapping and Torture

Last week 6,532 of you sent the Democrats.com Weekly Agenda to your Representatives – and we had a pretty good week in Congress as a result!

In response to Blackwater’s September 16 massacre of 11 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, the House voted overwhelmingly (389-30) for Rep. David Price’s bill to bring Blackwater and other contractors under U.S. law and FBI enforcement and take away Blackwater’s license to kill. On 9/27, Sen. Barack Obama’s similar amendment passed the Senate by unanimous consent.

And when “Bush Dog” Leader Steny Hoyer quietly tried to legalize the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping of American citizens, 72 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus rose up in protest, and Hoyer suddenly cancelled the vote.

And when the NY Times revealed Alberto Gonzales secretly re-authorized torture in 2005, key Democrats demanded the war crimes memos written by Steve Bradbury.

But these victories were tenuous. The Blackwater bill must overcome a Bush veto. Warrantless wiretapping must be permanently ended without immunity for the telephone companies. Torture must be permanently ended without immunity for the torturers.

Together, we can and will change the Democratic Congress that we elected in 2006. So please send our Weekly Agenda for 10/8/07 to your Representatives: http://democrats.com/weekly-agenda

You can track our full Agenda here: http://democrats.com/agenda