12th District of NJ Update
Our congressional representative, Rush Holt, sends the following newsletter updating issues of Iraq, the 110th Congress' agenda, and remembering Martin Luther King. Should you wish to contact him, visit his website at: http://www.holt.house.gov/
Dear Michael,
Rather than heed the word of the American people (and the Iraq Study Group, leading generals, and Iraqi leaders) that we reduce our role in Iraq, this week the President announced he would send 21,500 more troops to Iraq, as well as extend the length of combat tours for ground troops. I oppose both decisions. Iraq’s civil war cannot be “won” by the United States. Only Iraqis can end their bloody civil war. Our role should be to help move along the reconciliation process. The best way for Congress to do that is to begin the withdrawal of our combat forces, to prohibit funding for continuous combat operations after a certain date unless authorized by Congress, to cap the number of advisors deployed in Iraq, to forswear permanent bases in Iraq, and to condition economic and military aid to Iraq’s government on constitutional and institutional reforms (all Iraqis must benefit from oil revenues, death squads must be purged from the security forces, etc.). If the President will not voluntarily move our nation’s Iraq policy in this direction, Congress must take the lead to do so.
The 100 Hours Agenda So Far
Last November, the American public voted for a change in direction for our nation on domestic issues as well as the war in Iraq. The domestic response of the 110th Congress has been what we call our “100 Hours” legislative agenda. Our promise was to pass laws that restore open and honest government in Washington and raise the standard of living and quality of life of all Americans during the first 100 legislative hours of the 110th Congress. On the first day of the new Congress, the House passed the most sweeping lobbying reform rules for the House in decades, changing House rules to ban gifts from lobbyists, including trips on private jets. This week, we’ve passed bills to implement fully the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, to raise the minimum wage, and to expand federal support for stem cell research (To watch my House floor speech on the bill, click here. To read my statements on these last three bills, click here). Next week, we’ll pass bills to roll back subsidies to big oil companies and to cut the rate of interest on student loans. And we won’t stop there. In the coming weeks and months, you’ll see additional initiatives to improve education for our children, strengthen environmental safeguards. Perhaps even more important than legislation passed will be the oversight to be conducted. We will audit the books. I welcome your ideas on what issues the Congress should be addressing. You can write to me online by clicking here.
Remembering Dr. King
On Monday, we will pause to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King penned one of the most moving testimonials ever written on the civil rights movement from a jail in Birmingham, Alabama in April 1963. For more than a month, a group of civil rights advocates had been staging sit-ins around the city to protest the racial segregation of eating facilities. Dr. King joined one of the sit-ins and was arrested. His “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” has become an iconic piece of American literature and philosophy. You can read it on the King Center website by clicking here.
Sincerely,
Rush Holt
Member of Congress
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