Antiwar Movement Applauds House Vote Against Additional War Funding

UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE MEDIA ALERTS
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
============================================

For Immediate Release: May 15, 2008
Contact: Leslie Cagan, 347-581-1782; Sue Udry, 301-325-1201

ANTIWAR MOVEMENT APPLAUDS HOUSE VOTE AGAINST ADDITIONAL WAR FUNDING


New York, NY -- In an amazing turn of events, the House of Representatives today
voted AGAINST the supplemental funding for the war in Iraq.

The bill would have provided $166 billion in war funding, the largest single
provision since the war started in 2003. In a move that no one expected, dozens of
Republicans voted "present," which is the same as abstaining on the vote. This meant
that the 149 NO votes were enough to defeat the bill. (141 votes where cast in
favor.)

"This was a tremendous victory for the antiwar movement. It was the hard work of
people all around the country that secured those 149 clear NO votes. But our work is
far from over," said Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator of United for Peace and
Justice.

Sue Udry, UFPJ's Legilsative Coordinator said, "The bill now moves to the Senate,
where we can expect an attempt to add the war funding back into the bill. After
that, the bill will go to a conference committee, then back for a re-vote in both
the House and the Senate. That means we need to keep up the pressure on both the
House and the Senate."

UFPJ played a major role in mobilizing thousands of people all across the country to
pressure their members of Congress. In recent weeks people have called, visited,
faxed and emailed their representatives with a clear message: It is time to stop
providing "blank checks" for the continuation of the war and occupation in Iraq.
Finally, our elected officials have begun to respond to the overwhelming majority of
the people of this country who want the troops to come home.

United for Peace and Justice is calling on people to take the following steps:

1) If your member of the House voted NO on the funding, call your rep
(202-224-3121), say thanks and ask him or her to hold firm over the next few weeks.

2) If your member voted yes or present, call your rep (202-224-3121) and tell him or
her to vote against any funding bill that might come before the House in the next
few weeks.

3) We must all escalate our pressure on the Senate! Call your two senators
(202-224-3121) and let them know how strongly you oppose further funding for this
war!

4) Write letters to your local newspapers, call into radio talk shows, organize a
vigil or picket in front of your senators' local offices, put together a non-violent
civil disobedience action at their offices.

5) Get word out that parts of the 4 hours of Winter Soldier testimony that was
delivered at a hearing organized by the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Capitol
Hill this morning will be broadcast on the News Hour with Jim Lehrer (PBS) tomorrow
evening!

Let us claim this victory and at the same time push as hard as we can to stop the
Senate from giving the green light on billions more of our tax dollars going into
this war and occupation.

Additional Information
Two other measures were passed in the House this afternoon. The first of those had
some good provisions (no permanent bases, no use of torture), but also included a
non-binding goal for the withdrawal of U.S. troops to be completed by December 2009.
This would keep our troops in Iraq for another year and half, and this timeline is
only a goal. In other words, this doesn't even come close to our call for all of the
troops to come home now. The second measure that passed today would increase
veterans benefits and provide funding for some important domestic needs.

We expect the Senate to vote next week. We would have predicted that they would put
the war funding back into the measure, take out the conditions they don't like (such
as the goal for withdrawal) and make changes to the domestic funding package. Given
the unexpected development in the House -- all bets are off on what the Senate will
do. After the Senate acts on the package, both chambers will negotiate and try to
come up with a compromise, which will then go before both chamber for a re-vote.

United for Peace and Justice is the largest grassroots anti-war coalition in the
country, consisting of more than 1,400 local and national groups throughout the
United States who have joined together to protest the immoral and disastrous Iraq
War and oppose our government's policy of permanent warfare and empire-building.
UFPJ has organized the largest anti-war demonstrations in both NYC and Washington,
DC, over the past five years. For more details, go to http://www.unitedforpeace.org.

# # #

============================================

UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE MEDIA ALERTS
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
To subscribe, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email