Dear Friends,
While we were all being distracted by the Rod Blagojevich / Roland Burris circus as well as yet more stories about Sarah Palin a very important piece of legislation was introduced on Capitol Hill.
On January 6th, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) introduced H.R. 104 - a bill to establish a National Commission on Presidential War Powers and Civil Liberties. The proposed commission would be comprised of experts outside of government service and have the subpoena power to investigate the actions of the Bush Administration ranging from detainee treatment to water-boarding to extraordinary rendition.
I believe that Americans and the global community deserves answers to questions about the Bush administration policies that lead to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, the suspension of habeas corpus, the NSA wire-tapping program, extraordinary rendition, torture, the no-bid contracts to war contractors, and more.
When House Speak Nancy Pelosi took the impeachment option of the the table, hopefully that didn't mean that the search for truth was tabled was well. That is why I have drafted a petition asking members of Congress to support H.R. 104.
The petition, which is hosted on the People's Email Network allows you to send your comments directly to your Senator, Congressperson or local newspaper.
After reading Elana Schor's article: Sleeper Bill of the Month: Our Own Truth & Reconciliation Commission, I felt that this bill would die without a loud public outcry.
If you click on the link below you can send the following message, (or a customized version) to your Congressperson asking him/her to support the creation of a Commission on Presidential War Powers & Civil Liberties.
http://www.usalone.com/cgi-bin/petition.cgi?pnum=926
You can also send your personal comments as a letter to the editor of your nearest local daily newspaper.
As the quote by George Santayana states "Those who cannot remember their past are condemned to repeat it."
The actions, or in-actions, of the 111th Congress will decide whether Americans remember propaganda, lies and half-truths or will be condemned to blindly re-electing officials who repeat the same mistakes. I hope that you will join me in asking Congress to pass this bill.
Update:
Now, you can also show your support for this bill by:
joining the Facebook group Support H.R. 104 to Establish Commission on War Powers and Civil Liberties
or track the status of the bill on OpenCongress.org
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h104/show
Related posts:
Washington's New Definition of "Non-Profit"
US General Warns Against Torture
Update on the False Arrest and Torture of Maher Arar
Fifth Anniversary of the Patriot Act
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.