LTTE Worcester T&G & Boston Globe - Jim McGovern

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This letter was inspired by Rep. McGovern's speech Monday night at Clark University.

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Editor,

Citizens of the Massachusetts 3rd Congressional District are priviledged to have Jim McGovern as their Representative in Congress. He is our voice of conscience. Over the past week,

Rep. McGovern...joined Rep. Barbara Lee's "Resolution of Inquiry in Regards to Downing Street Minutes. Bill # H.RES.375". If passed, it will require the White House and the State Department to "transmit all information relating to communication with officials of the United Kingdom between January 1, 2002, and October 16, 2002, relating to the policy of the United States with respect to Iraq." This information is needed to determine the truth about Bush and Blair administration policy decisions leading up to the Congressional resolution granting President Bush authority to use troops in Iraq, to date at a cost of 2036 US, British & allied soldiers killed, 13189 US, British & allied soldiers killed wounded, (source: http://icasualties.org/oif/), plus thousands of Iraqi civilians killed and wounded, all at a cost in excess of $300 billion.

Rep. McGovern...at Clark University, met with >200 members of the Worcester Democrats meet-up group and spoke about his recent trip to Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, meeting with speaking candidly with Massachusetts soldiers and calling for US withdrawal now.

Rep. McGovern...co-signed Rep. John Conyers' letter to President Bush, calling on the President to meet with Gold Star Mother Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq and is protesting outside Bush's Crawford ranch. In the words of Rep. Conyers, "It is not that hard for an elected official to take his time and energy and try to demand accountability from a President. It is what I was elected to do and it is my job. For a mother who recently lost her son in a war based on lies to turn her grief and anger into action and courage is a heroic act." Sixteen Democratic House members are calling on President Bush to meet Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq and is protesting outside Bush's Crawford ranch.

Dear Mr. President:

We write to respectfully urge you to meet with Cindy Sheehan and other relatives of fallen soldiers who request a meeting to discuss their deep concerns about the war in Iraq. We also request that you help ensure that Ms. Sheehan and her colleagues are not arrested as long as they continue to wait for a meeting with you at their location in the peaceable and legal manner that they have maintained thus far.

Since the loss of her son, Ms. Sheehan and other families have been committed to helping family members of other soldiers who have been lost in Iraq. Ms. Sheehan, in fact, founded Gold Star Families for Peace, a support organization for families of fallen soldiers. For several days now, she has been waiting outside your ranch, hoping to meet with you about the loss of her son and the failure to discover weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Ms. Sheehan has indicated that she is planning to continue her vigil for the entirety of your vacation at your Crawford complex if necessary.

Given the recent tragic loss of American lives in Iraq, and the many deaths and injuries American troops have sustained since the beginning of the war, we hope that you can appreciate why the family members believe it so important that they exercise their rights as citizens to petition their government. We believe it would send an unfortunate message to other relatives and soldiers if grieving parents were arrested while exercising their constitutional rights.

Thank you very much for you assistance with this matter. We hope that you will be able to make time to meet with Ms. Sheehan and her colleagues and also ensure they are treated fairly while awaiting this important appointment.

Sincerely,

Reps. John Conyers; George Miller; Maxine Waters; Corrine Brown; Dennis Kucinich; Carolyn Maloney; Jim McDermott; Jim McGovern; Barbara Lee; Zoe Lofgren; Peter Oberstar; John Lewis; Bernie Sanders; Bob Filner; Micheal Honda; Raul Grijalva

Thank you, Rep. McGovern.