Action Alert: Demand Diplomacy, Not More War Money

Legislative Action Message

Your representative will be asked later this week to approve tens of billions of dollars in additional funding for the war and occupation of Iraq. Congress has already approved more than $602 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that total could rise as high as $1.7 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Congress needs to stop providing money for war and start funding a comprehensive, new U.S. policy based on negotiations with all of Iraq’s neighbors to ease tensions in the region, help stabilize Iraq, and facilitate U.S. withdrawal. This new policy, which has been introduced in the House with bipartisan support as the New Diplomatic Offensive for Iraq Act (H.R. 3797), could also put a speed bump in the way of plans for war with Iran.

We at FCNL believe that congressional support for direct talks with Iran, Syria, and Iraq’s other neighbors is crucial to extricating the U.S. from Iraq and preventing a wider war.

Take Action

Urge your representative to vote NO on additional money for war and to start insisting on diplomacy with Iran, Syria, and Iraq’s other neighbors to end the war in Iraq and prevent war with Iran.

Use these talking points to help you make your call.

• My name is XX and I'm calling from XX
• Please vote no on the president's request for bridge funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Instead, please insist on diplomacy with Iran, Syria, and Iraq’s other neighbors to end the war in Iraq and prevent war with Iran by supporting the New Diplomatic Offensive for Iraq Act (H.R. 3797)
• Thank you.

Background

Congress will vote this week on the bill funding the military in fiscal year 2008. (Congress is still working on most of the spending bills for this fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2007.) But the congressional leadership does not plan to bring the president’s full request for nearly $200 billion in additional funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to a vote until January or February 2008. The president insists that the military needs money to bridge the gap until early next year and pay for these ongoing wars in the interim.

The House has scheduled a vote for later this week, either Thursday or Friday, to approve up to $70 billion in additional funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Representatives need to hear from their constituents that they want an alternative to continuing to pour money into a war with no sign of ending.

Find out more about FCNL’s Iraq Peace Campaign.

Find out more about the New Diplomatic Offensive for Iraq (H.R. 3797) and a list of cosponsors.