important missive

From our favorite Elizabeth Mendez Berry:
Dear friends,
Many of you know how profoundly destructive U.S. military aid has been to Colombia. There is an extremely important vote regarding the future of U.S. policy in Colombia and it’s going down today, and you can make a difference (it sounds corny but it’s true—by passing this amendment, we could have a huge, positive impact on the situation there—less military aid from the US would literally save lives). PLEASE Call your representative and urge them to cut military aid to Colombia. They need to know that you care.
Here’s how:
1: Find out who your representative is by going here. (If you happen to be zip code 11215-4259/11th district, it’s major r. owens, D, at 718-773-3100.)
2: Follow these instructions, from the Latin American Working Group: If you have yet to call Congress, NOW is the time.. The foreign operations appropriations bill will be on the House floor starting Tuesday morning, and the Colombia amendment is not expected to be voted upon until the afternoon or evening. This means that there are still at least 24 hours left to get those calls in!
Amendment update: Representatives Betty McCollum (D-Minnesota) and Dennis Moore (D-Kansas) decided to cosponsor Rep. Jim McGovern’s amendment. It is now the “McGovern-McCollum-Moore amendment.” Also, the final language for the amendment is available, and we know that it will cut $100 million in military aid to Colombia if it wins. A cut like this will make a difference in Colombia, and helps us send the message that “time is up for Plan Colombia!”
So if you haven’t done so already, please call Congress to urge your representative to vote YES on the McGovern-McCollum-Moore amendment! For a sample script, click here
To learn more about why cutting military aid to Colombia is so important, visit here
Best,
Jennifer and Lisa
jtrowbridge@lawg.org
www.lawg.org
P.S. Very important: please tell us if you know how your member of Congress plans to vote – it helps us strategize!
P.P.S. The alerts will be much less frequent after this week – thanks for bearing with us.