Legislative Action

Click here for updates on current legislation to close the SOA/ WHINSEC, tips on lobbying your Members of Congress and more!

Kucinich Rejects Spending Bill Because of SOA/ WHINSEC Funding

Tags: Updates

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1197625080112340.xml&coll=2 The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Andrew Taylor, AP
December 14, 2007

Washington- Congressional negotiators struggled to cut hundreds of federal programs, big and small, as they fashioned a $500 billion-plus catchall government funding bill Thursday.

But agreement with the White House remained elusive, even though negotiations went ahead on the assumption that Democrats would largely accept President Bush's strict budget for domestic programs and that he would ease up a bit if additional funding for Iraq is approved.

In the meantime, the House passed a bill to keep the federal government open for another week to give negotiators time to fashion the omnibus spending bill, pass it in both the House and Senate and then adjourn for the year.

The House passed the short-term funding bill by a 385-27 vote; Senate approval Thursday evening sent it to Bush. It would fund through Dec. 21 the 14 Cabinet departments whose budgets have yet to pass.

All members of Congress from Ohio backed the bill, except Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland. His spokeswoman, Natlie Laber, said foreign operations money in the bill would fund a Georgia facility called the School of the Americas that trains Latin American soldiers, police and government officials. Graduates of the school have been accused of human rights abuses.

Kucinich led a protest outside the School of the Americas last month, and says it should be closed.

After months of battling, Democrats announced Wednesday they would all but surrender to Bush's demand that lawmakers appropriate no more than $933 billion for annual operating expenses for Cabinet departments whose budgets are set each year by Congress.

Democrats hoped to make an exception for a $3.7 billion increase for veterans health care, calculating that Bush and his GOP allies on Capitol Hill would relent in the case of that politically sacrosanct program.

However, the White House was quick to say it had not signed on to the Democrats' measure, awaiting details of the bill's final cost, the funding mix within accounts, and the resolution of its request for additional Iraq and Afghanistan war funds.

Plain Dealer reporter Sabrina Eaton contributed to this story.

SOA Watch Legislative Update

Closing the SOA/WHINSEC: New Legislative Resource

Your Senators and Representative represent YOU and your views in Congress in Washington D.C. and they should be accountable for each and every one of the votes they cast. In 2008, the office of the President of the United States and seats in the Senate and House of Representatives are up for grabs!

SOA Watch has created a new legislative resource: the SOA Watch 2008 Elections Packet. Inside you’ll find an introduction to the exciting world of bird-dogging, voting history for your Representative, bird-dogging and direct action opportunities in your community, and more.

- Cl

Legislative Update

Tags: 2007

Congress Demands SOA/WHINSEC Release Names of Graduates and Instructors

SOA Watch Victory in Congress Today!

Congress Demands SOA/WHINSEC Release Names of Graduates and Instructors

A few minutes ago the House of Representatives approved a report accompanying the FY 2008 Defense Appropriations bill that demands the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA/WHINSEC) release to the public the names of all students and instructors who attended the school during the fiscal years of 2005 and 2006. The directive also requires that the same information be available to the public in all future fiscal years.

Just a few weeks ago, members of Congress expressed their outrage at the lack of transparency at the SOA/ WHINSEC and 203 members of the House of Representatives voted to prohibit continued funding for WHINSEC. In response to the widespread opposition to the denial of requests for the names of its instructors and graduates, Congress now formally demands that WHINSEC release these names to the public.

Due to the culture of secrecy and lack of transparency that have characterized the institution, this is an incredible victory for SOA Watch and human rights organizations around the world that for years have had to face countless obstacles to obtain information about the SOA/WHINSEC.

At the beginning of each fiscal year for the past several years, SOA Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain WHINSEC attendance information as part of our commitment to human rights and oversight of military training programs. In 2005, SOA Watch filed a FOIA request for WHINSEC attendance figures and that request was denied.

- Read more about the report language and what it means
- Read more about the FOIA request denial

Take Action - Keep up the Pressure!

SOA Watch demands that U.S. military training programs be transparent and that the SOA/WHINSEC should be held accountable for training hundreds of human rights abusers. We must seize the moment and keep up the pressure!

What You Can Do:

3 Key Legislative Action Items

1.- COSPONSORS OF HR 1707:
We need more cosponsors of HR 1707, legislation that would force Congress to suspend operations at the SOA/ WHINSEC and investigate the use of torture manuals and human rights abuses associated with the school! Check to see if your Representative is one of the 114 cosponsors and if not; please continue to urge your Representative to add their name as a cosponsor of HR 1707.

- Email/Fax your Representative and urge her/him to support HR 1707
- Find out more about the Legislative Campaign

2.- SCHEDULE A DISTRICT WORK PERIOD MEETING:
Now is the perfect time to meet with your Representative!
August 6-31, 2007 is a district work period for the House of Representatives and members of Congress will travel back to your region for activities in their district.

- Tips on scheduling a meeting with your Representative

3.- GET INVOLVED IN OUR NEW LEGISLATIVE MEDIA CAMPAIGN:
As part of the Take Action campaign following the extremely close June 2007 vote in the House of Representatives, activists nationwide are participating in a grassroots effort to hold Members of Congress accountable for their votes in Congress by submitting “Op-Eds” and “Letters to the Editor” to their local newspapers challenging Representatives who ignored their constituents requests.

- Continue reading and see letters published
- Sample text and tips for letters to the editor