Congress is voting TODAY on the war in Afghanistan! Call NOW!

1) Call now and urge your Representative to vote for the Lee, McGovern-Jones, and Garamendi amendments to the Defense Authorization Act. (See details at the end of this message.) You can call toll-free, 1-888-231-9276, thanks to the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

2) On June 1st the New Priorities Network will launch a major new campaign. “People’s Vote Campaign” for a budget that re-taxes the rich, cuts Pentagon spending, and funds local needs. It has two parts.

a. An online “vote” between three visions for America: the GOP’s 2012 budget, President Obama’s budget, and the Progressive Caucus’s “People’s Budget.” Poll results by state and congressional district will go to Congresspeople, Senators, and the media. Please contact [email protected] to request the PDF explaining the proposed budget.

b. Town Hall Meetings on the People’s Budget in our congressional districts over the summer.

The campaign will:

* Show mass support for progressive budget priorities.
* Influence the Senate debate on next year’s budget and make sure “cut military spending” is part of any viable budget solution.
* Strengthen our grassroots organizing, help us organize city council resolution campaigns, and help us form alliances with economic, racial and social justice organizations that seek to change the nation’s priorities.

See the website, www.newprioritiesnetwork.org, for more info and please make a special effort to join our monthly grassroots call on Wednesday June 1 at 8 pm eastern time to go over the campaign, get your input, and launch it. Dial 712-775-7000 and then 637020#. Or contact me (below) if you want to discuss the campaign or hear more details!

3) Get your mayor to endorse the “Bring Our War Dollars Home” Resolution. Code Pink is amassing support for a resolution at the National Conference of Mayors annual meeting in June. There’s still time to get your mayor on board. Find the text of the resolution and other info at http://www.codepink4peace.org/section.php?id=429

Mike Prokosch
For the New Priorities Network coordinating committee
[email protected] 617-282-3783

Background on the Afghanistan war votes:

The Lee amendment (Amendment #168) would prohibit military funds from being spent in Afghanistan except to provide for a safely and orderly withdrawal of troops. The McGovern-Jones amendment (Amendment #30) would require President Obama to establish a timeline for withdrawal.

The Garamendi amendment would reduce the number of US troops in Afghanistan to no more than 25,000 by the end of 2012 and to no more than 10,000 by the end of 2013.
The Mckeon-McCain provision for an open-ended authorization for war needs to be defeated. If adopted, it provides an unrestricted authorization for military action whenever and wherever the president decides without any further review by Congress. It is an open-ended license for war. The Amash-Lee Amendment #155 would remove this.

Take a moment to make this call now.

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