Greens speak out

[Guest guest]

THE GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES

 

MEDIA RELEASE

For immediate release:

Sunday, October 13, 2002

 

Contacts:

Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576,

nallen

Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,

scottmclarty

 

 

" NO FURTHER REASON TO VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS AND

REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED TO HAND POWER TO DECLARE WAR ON

IRAQ TO BUSH, " SAY GREENS

 

A dark day for democracy: Congress undermines its own

constitutional authority to declare war, drops plans

for an independent investigation of September 11

 

 

WASHINGTON, DC -- Candidates of the Green Party of the

United States reacted angrily to Congress's bipartisan

approval yesterday of the resolution to surrender its

constitutionally mandated authority to declare war to

President Bush.

 

" Most leading Democrats, going against the majority of

their own party, joined Republicans in handing Bush

his blank check for an invasion of Iraq, " said Rahul

Mahajan, Green candidate for governor of Texas. " They

have acted together as faithful factions of a single

War Party, dedicated to the interests of the fossil

fuel and arms contractor lobbies and to the

establishment of the United States as a global empire.

This decision may benefit elites, but it hurts

ordinary working people in the United States and Iraq.

Those who voted against the resolution should be

applauded, but there can be no further reason for

anyone to vote for the Democrats who supported this

resolution. "

 

Greens also criticized Congress for dropping plans for

an independent investigation of the September 11

attacks, after negotiations in the House Intelligence

Committee fell apart.

 

Democratic Congress members who voted for the war

resolution include 'liberal' Senators John Kerry (MA),

Dianne Feinstein (CA), Dick Gephardt (MO), and Hillary

Clinton (NY), even after news this week that C.I.A.

officials had called Saddam Hussein unlikely to launch

any kind of attack, but warned that Saddam would

become " much less constrained " if the U.S. invades.

Greens found especially chilling Sen. Clinton's

statement today that she is willing to cede to

President Bush and future presidents the power to wage

war at their own discretion.

 

" With Thursday's House and Senate votes, we saw a

stake driven through the heart of the U.S.

Constitution, " said Steve Greenfield, Green candidate

for Congress in New York's 22nd District, " as Congress

relinquished its power to declare war to the executive

branch. And we're about to see the parallel violation

of the U.N. charter and international laws against

invasion, including the 'preemptive' incursion that

Bush's warlords are planning. "

 

" The world is aghast, " said Gregg Stevens, Green Party

candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island,

" and so are a lot of American citizens. So are we.

The Green Party stands with all Americans who saw

through Bush's misinformation, exaggerations, and

cheap appeals to patriotism, and who urged Congress to

vote no. We urge everyone outraged by Thursday's vote

to continue speaking out, to protest civilly and en

masse against the impending war. "

 

Greens thanked the minority of Representatives and

Senators who voted nay, including Senators Robert Byrd

(D.-WV), Edward Kennedy (D.-MA), Paul Wellstone

(D.-MN), and Lincoln Chafee (R.-RI). Rep. Barbara Lee

(D.-CA) fearlessly led anti-war dissenters in the

House, including Dennis Kucinich (D.-OH), Cynthia

McKinney (D.-GA), and Jim Leach (R.-IA).

 

" These Congress members are at odds with their own

party leadership, " said Holly Hart, Green candidate

for Lieutenant Governor of Iowa, who noted that the

Green Party of the United States issued a statement on

September 19 opposing an invasion. " The Green Party

is now the leading party of peace and adherence to

U.S. constitutional and international law. "

 

" We know it will be children of the poor, black and

brown, who will die in this war so rich white men who

escaped military service when they were young can

assert U.S. dominance throughout the world, " said

Donna J. Warren, California Green Candidate for

Lieutenant Governor. " We must send a message on

November 5th. Vote the candidates of the Green Party

into office, stop the war, and throw the warmongers

out. "

 

 

MORE INFORMATION

 

The Green Party of the United States

http://www.gp.org

National office: 1314 18th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20036

202-296-7755, 866-41GREEN

 

Green Party Statement in Opposition to U.S. Plans to

Invade Iraq

http://gpus.org/press/pr_09_20_02.html