Call Your Congressmen and Senators With Your Position on Iraq!

various news sources | 9/4/02 | wimpycat

[wimpycat]

President Bush today announced that he is beginning the process of laying out his case for action against Saddam Hussein and Iraq. He said he would consult with Congress on any action that is to be taken. House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX) has promised to lead the effort in the House to gain support for military action against Iraq.

In the past several months, but especially during the last few weeks, we've been bombarded with lots of information, speculation, hints, threats, worst-case scenarios, best-case scenarios, innuendo, positive spin, negative spin and distortions over what to do about Iraq. We've heard from individual Congressmen and Senators, former Congressmen and Senators, Bush Cabinet officials, former cabinet officials, foreign dignitaries, foreign heads of state, military experts, former military experts, armchair military experts, pundits, political strategists, armchair political strategists, polls and pollsters, columnists, editorialists, radio talk-show hosts and TV talk-show hosts over what to do about Iraq.

We've talked, debated, discussed and ruminated endlessly here at FR over what to do about Iraq. But if we really want to make our opinions worth more than they are right now (which is pretty much nothing), the best way to do it is to call our Congressmen and Senators in Washington and tell THEM what you think ought to be done. Capitol Hill will be discussing this issue at length during the next few weeks; now is the best time to call your elected representatives.

Who knows what might happen? Your representatives may not vote the way you want them to when it comes to a resolution or bill on Iraq; but if you call them, at least you'll know that your Congressman knows he's going against your opinion. Making the phone calls can only help; they definitely won't hurt.

Many of you do this on a regular basis, but I'm willing to bet not nearly as many of us do it as often as we should. In addition to telling each other what we think about it, let's tell it to the people who are actually going to vote on it, because that's where it counts the most!

[wimpycat]

The best way to make your voice heard WHERE IT COUNTS is by calling your elected representatives. And when I say call, I mean call them on the phone. E-mails are worthless; they don't pay attention to e-mails. Letters? Better than e-mails, but still not as good as a phone call.

If you don't know your Congressman or Senators' phone numbers, you can look them up right here:

U.S. House of Representatives website

U.S. Senate website

As for me, I will be calling my Democrat (ugh!)Congressman and my Democrat (ugh!) Senator, John Edwards. I don't need to call and bother Jesse Helms; I know he'll vote the "right" way, LOL!

[wimpycat]

Do something practical *PING*

[wimpycat]

I don't think military action should be driven by public opinion, but we can urge our elected officials to not hem and haw and try to obstruct and cloud the issue with politics. War is serious business.

I think the only issues open for debate are not IF we should take action against Iraq, but HOW--the nuts and bolts of the thing.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Thanks for the ping......

[BigWest]

Thanks for the post, is there still an 800/888/877 number to call the Congresscritters' switchboard?
And if so, you guessed it, could you post it?

[wimpycat]

Someone else will have to help you with that. I only know how to get their office phone numbers, via the House and Senate websites.

[stagline]

I’ve made three different calls to my local congressman’s office.
1 I expressed opposition to having another undeclared war, as I have been doing since Vietnam. Of course,it has never done any good in the past, with him or with the previous office holders.
2 Next for a change, I asked him to poll the servicemen and their families from his district to see what their feelings are. Somehow I don’t think he is going to do it or neither is any pollster going to do it on a national basis.
3 Finally, I asked if any of his relatives could possibly see action in Iraq. The staffer didn’t know. My guess is that virtually none of our national politicians, officials, or media commentators has family members in such a position.
My foremost concern is now because I have a son whom I believe has about a 50% chance of being in the ground fighting if a conquest (“liberation” to some) is carried out.

[wimpycat]

It's good that you called your congressmen. Even if he doesn't do what you want (after all, he's just one of 435 House members and can't do much on his own, and you're just one person) at least you're "on the record", so to speak, with your opinions. If he gets a lot of calls like yours from many different people in his district, he may be influenced by them. That's not to say that how we "feel" about it changes whether or not it's in our national interest to strike Iraq, but it could influence the topics he brings up for debate and the like. I want Congress to decide based on intelligence as to the extent and probability of the threat that Iraq poses to the rest of the world; not based on politics or polls, and when I call my representatives, that's what I will tell them.

I don't know what good a poll of the military would serve. They have their way of making their views known to their superiors. And quite a few Congressmen have themselves seen military action and know what it's like. All military personnel (post-draft) volunteered with the knowledge that actual conflict was possible during their enlistment.

[Constitution Day]

BTTT, getting ready to hit the NC list...

[Constitution Day]

You got your links transposed... I'll repost them.

CD

[Constitution Day]

Links:

U.S. Senate website
U.S. House of Representatives website

[wimpycat]

D'OH!

[Constitution Day]

Happens to the best of us! ;)

[mhking]

Make the call!

Black conservative ping

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[Dixie republican]

Senators Shelby & Sessions, and Representive Everett already on board.

[finnman69]

I HAVE YOU BEAT. Try Schumer, Clinton and Nadler. These are not my Three Amigos.but I Freeped em anyway. Apparently none of them have made a decision on how their vote would go.

[wimpycat]

Oh, you poor thing!

[MinorityRepublican]

Thanks for the ping.

Bump!