Capitol
Hill Update, July 2007
 |
The
ground is shifting on Capitol
Hill, as both the House
and the Senate took stands
against the Iraq war in
July. (More
here.) August will be
quiet, as Congress heads
out for recess until early
September.
On
September 15, when Gen.
Patreus issues his report
on the progress of the "surge,"
the fireworks will begin.
|
|
Stay
tuned. In the meantime, keep up
the pressure; and take an action
for women around the world who suffer
gender-based discrimination and
violence. Thanks. And have a nice
summer.
 |
Protect
Women's Rights around the
World
It's time for the U.S. to
ratify the Convention on
the Elimination of All forms
of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW).
Click here to take action. |
|
|
To
improve security, follow the
money
By Miriam Pemberton and Lawrence
Korb | July 5, 2007 | Boston
Globe
...This
exercise shows that in fiscal
2008, 90 percent of
all our foreign policy and security
resources are allocated to the
military; 6 percent are devoted
to homeland security; 4 percent
go to the tools of conflict
prevention, including diplomacy,
foreign aid, peacekeeping, and
nuclear nonproliferation.
A
single security budget would
enable consideration of security
trade-offs like the following:
the F-22 fighter jet, one of
the most troubled and strategically
questionable programs in the
US arsenal, is set to receive
a $600 million increase in the
president's budget. Forgoing
this increase could permit any
of these alternatives: tripling
the amount budgeted to cancel
the debt that is crippling development
in the world's poorest countries;
increasing US contributions
to international peacekeeping
operations by 50 percent; tripling
the amount allocated in fiscal
2007 for domestic rail and transit
security programs.
Or
how about this: Canceling
the administration's initiative
to build offensive space-weapons,
which threatens to create a
whole new arms race, could provide
the $800 million needed to double
the originally requested annual
budget for the State Department's
Office of Reconstruction and
Stabilization. This
corps of civilian experts in
post-conflict rebuilding, envisioned
for Iraq and other locations
such as Haiti and Sudan, has
been an unfunded political football
since it was proposed in 2003.
The Pentagon supports it. "If
you don't fund this, put more
money in the defense budget
for ammunition -- because I'm
going to need it," one
Marine general recently said.
|
Picture
this: the federal budget mural in Oregon
It
took a whole lotta red chalk
to indicate just how much of
the budget is Pentagon red.
But the WAND activists managed
to paint a convincing picture
on a bike path at the University.
The Oregon WAND chapter is awesome! |
 |
Celebrating
Mothers: Global Portraits
to Inform and Inspire
From Mothers Acting Up,
an exciting book with a
mission to inspire mothers
to become leaders of social
change. Nominate your favorite
activist mother! The project
needs more from developing
nations around the world.
The submission deadline
is August 15. |
Mom's
in the House, With Kids
at Home
For Congresswomen
With Young Children, a Tough
Balance
By Lyndsey Layton
| Washington
Post | July 19, 2007
[Debbie]
Wasserman Schultz (a good
friend of WAND and WiLL)...
is part of a select group,
the 10 women in
Congress raising children
under 13. It's
probably a congressional
record, although no one
has kept this particular
statistic.
They
reside on a shaky high
wire, balancing motherhood
with politicking, lawmaking,
fundraising and the constant
shuttle between Washington
and their home states.
Most
of the House members live
apart from their children
during the week, parenting
by phone, e-mail and faxes
and relying on husbands,
family or nannies to fill
the gaps. It's a lifestyle
dictated by election cycle.
The four senators live
with their families in
Washington but wake to
the daily frenzy of integrating
children into unpredictable
workdays that can exceed
16 hours and fray relationships.
And
they all live with a reality
possibly even more difficult:
The public will
scrutinize and judge the
mothering choices these
politicians make. It is
this that sets them apart
from other professional
women and their male counterparts
in Congress, and the 10
in the group are keenly
sensitive to it.
|
WAND
and WiLL meet and greet
|
| (l
to r): Senator Nan Orrock –
WiLL President, Atlanta WAND’s
Kim Karris, Eleanor Cliff (Newsweek
columnist; TV commentator; journalist),
WAND Field Director Tanya Wallace
They were attending
the National Women’s Editorial
Forum Leadership Training Institute,
sponsored by American Forum
and American University Institute
for Women and Politics.
(Eleanor Cliff
was a featured presenter; Orrock
is on the National Women’s
Editorial Forum Advisory Council)
|
Support
Basic Rights for All Women:
Urge the U.S. to Ratify CEDAW
From Amnesty International:
The Treaty for the Rights of
Women, officially known as the
United Nations Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW) is the most complete
international agreement on basic
rights for women. As of April
2007, the Treaty has been ratified
by 185 countries.The United
States played an important role
in drafting this treaty but
now is only one in eight countries
that has yet to ratify it. Take
action here.
|
| Bright
side of lab cuts
Maybe this is our opportunity
to move from nuclear weapons to
energy innovation
By Eric Griego | Albuquerque
Tribune | June 21, 2007
The
Democratic Congress is proposing
major cuts at Los Alamos and Sandia
national labs that could remove
hundreds of millions of dollars
from the state economy and thousands
of jobs. The cuts are due in part
to what some see as a bloated
nuclear weapons budget.
News
of the cuts was greeted with near-hysteria
at home. The prospect of two of
the state's main economic drivers
being slashed is worrisome, given
that high-paying lab jobs have
buoyed New Mexico's economy for
a generation.
But
could the cuts really be an opportunity?
Could the proposed cuts
to the labs be the impetus so
desperately needed to finally
change the mission of both labs
to one focused on renewable energy
development instead of protecting
and developing nuclear weapons?
|
| Los
Alamos lab delivers first bomb-ready
nuke trigger in 18 years
The
source of this article is: Houston
Chronicle - AP
By MATT MYGATT Associated Press
Writer |
July 2, 2007
Los
Alamos National Laboratory has
delivered to the federal government
the first plutonium core certified
for use in nuclear warheads in
18 years.
The
National Nuclear Security Administration
certified the plutonium pit —
a softball-size sphere of enriched
uranium encased in stainless steel
— in early June.
The
pit, used as a trigger for nuclear
weapons, was delivered shortly
after that to the NNSA's Pantex
plant, 17 miles northeast of Amarillo,
Texas, Kevin Roark, a lab spokesman,
said Monday...
Certified
pits have not been made since
1989, when the federal government's
main pit factory in Colorado,
Rocky Flats, was closed because
of safety concerns and the end
of the Cold War.
The
facility, 16 miles northwest of
Denver, was severely polluted
after four decades of nuclear
weapons production...
Jay
Coghlan, executive director of
Nuclear Watch of New Mexico, said
the federal government re-established
the pit program because "it
actually wants to produce newly
designed pits for new types of
nuclear weapons." "We
have too many weapons and they
ought to be retired anyway,"
he said. "There's 10,0000
intact weapons and there's 15,000
pits in storage in Pantex,"
Coghlan said.
Santa
Fe-based Nuclear Watch monitors
activities at the Los Alamos lab.
Gordon said the nation
is "stuck in a Cold War analysis
in the usefulness of nuclear weapons
in the 21st century."
"It's
clear when looking at the war
in Iraq and the struggles in Iran
and North Korea that our nuclear
weapons are not serving as a deterrent
anymore," she said.
|
|
A
Nuclear Ruse Uncovers Holes in
U.S. Security
By ERIC LIPTON | New
York Times | July 12, 2007
Undercover Congressional investigators
set up a bogus company and obtained
a license from the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission in March that would
have allowed them to buy the radioactive
materials needed for a so-called
dirty bomb.
The
investigators, from the Government
Accountability Office, demonstrated
once again that the security measures
put in place since the 2001 terrorist
attacks to prevent radioactive
materials from getting into the
wrong hands are insufficient,
according to a G.A.O. report,
which is scheduled to be released
at a Senate hearing Thursday...
But
he said the danger associated
with the amount of radioactive
material the auditors were trying
to buy should not be overstated.
And the operation would
have been much more expensive
and complicated than pulling off
a more conventional attack involving
a truck bomb or a chemical tanker
truck.
“Why
would I not blow up a chemical
tanker on a train with chlorine
in it or other toxic materials,
at a tiny fraction of the cost
before doing this very elaborate
exercise?” Mr. McGaffigan
said.
|
|
Europe
skeptical on missile shield
Support is fading in the
Czech Republic and Poland, where
the U.S. system is planned. And
Congress is opposed.
By Peter Spiegel and Kim Murphy
| Los
Angeles Times | July 2, 2007
WASHINGTON
— For months, the Bush administration
has courted Russian President
Vladimir V. Putin to gain assent
for its plans to build a long-range
missile defense system in Eastern
Europe.
But
the focus on Moscow may be misplaced.
In the three capitals where legislatures
must approve the system before
ground is broken — Washington,
Prague and Warsaw — support
is thin and fading...
"The
U.S. clearly mismanaged this rollout,"
said Bruce P. Jackson, a former
Pentagon official and administration
ally who has worked closely with
the new democracies of Eastern
Europe. "There weren't clear
talking points, there was no interagency
discussion about this, and we
blindsided ourselves and also
blindsided the governments in
question. It's embarrassing."
|
Democrats
Won't Force War Vote
Effort Halted After GOP
Blocks Proposal
By Shailagh Murray and Paul Kane
| Washington
Post | July 19, 2007
Senate
Democrats halted their quest to
change President Bush's war strategy
yesterday after Republicans blocked
a proposal to begin withdrawing
troops from Iraq.
After
the vote, which followed a rare
all-night debate, Majority Leader
Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) startled
colleagues by announcing that
the Senate would not vote on several
other proposals intended to force
Bush to revisit his war plans.
Although war critics in both parties
had supported the measures, Reid
and other Democratic leaders dismissed
them as too weak. Instead, they
are holding firm in their bid
to persuade GOP critics of Bush's
Iraq policy to embrace more aggressive
Democratic measures to begin withdrawing
troops.
|
| As
the War Debate Heats Up, Stagnant
Air Is in the Forecast
By
Peter Baker | Washington
Post | July 13, 2007
...Both
sides have stuck to their familiar
positions. Bush has long seen
a virtue in refusing to relent
to pressure and operating as he
sees fit regardless of Congress,
while the Democrats, until January,
had spent the Bush presidency
essentially in the minority, lobbing
criticism but with no responsibility
for governing. Neither side shows
even passing interest in forging
a bipartisan consensus, preferring
instead to bend the other to its
will.
"In
many ways, everybody's trapped,"
said Clinton White House chief
of staff Leon E. Panetta, who
served on the Iraq Study Group
as it produced a bipartisan plan
largely discarded at first by
both sides. "The president
in many ways is trapped in the
realities of what's taking place.
The Congress is trapped because,
while they want to change strategy,
they don't have the votes. And
both sides are trapped by the
fear of the consequences of what
happens if they do make a change."
The
defections of core Republican
senators such as Richard G. Lugar
(Ind.) and Pete V. Domenici (N.M.)
in the past couple of weeks alarmed
the White House and prompted a
series of hastily called meetings
and strategy sessions to shore
up its eroding base. But as the
days passed, Bush advisers calmed
down and recognized that they
can preserve their policy for
now. "As long as we can sustain
a veto, we have got some leverage
on this process," one White
House aide said... |
Iraqi
Youth Face Lasting Scars of War
Conflict's Psychological
Impact on Children Is Immense, Experts
Say
Washington Post | June 26, 2007
...Iraq's
conflict is exacting an immense
and largely unnoticed psychological
toll on children and youth that
will have long-term consequences,
said social workers, psychiatrists,
teachers and aid workers in interviews
across Baghdad and in neighboring
Jordan.
"With
our limited resources, the societal
impact is going to be very bad,"
said Haider Abdul Muhsin, one
of the country's few child psychiatrists.
"This generation
will become a very violent generation,
much worse than during Saddam
Hussein's regime."
Since
the U.S.-led invasion in 2003,
4 million Iraqis have fled their
homes, half of them children,
according to the United Nations
Children's Fund. Many are being
killed inside their sanctuaries
-- at playgrounds, on soccer fields
and in schools. Criminals are
routinely kidnapping children
for ransom as lawlessness goes
unchecked. Violence has orphaned
tens of thousands.
|
A
missive from a friend in Iraq
From
the WAND
blog
US
troops came to Iraq to bring freedom
, Democracy . Do you think that
we have them now . US brought
to Iraq terrorism ,death , making
Homeless . many families lost
their Sons , wives lost their
husbands, children lost their
parents . even there is many families
have no home, no place to live
in… every thing is destroyed
because of the occupation...
|
Your
Deaths Were Not in Vain
by Sayre Sheldon, WAND president
emerita | WAND
blog
To
the over three hundred U.S.soldiers
who have died in Iraq so far in
the “surge”—the
highest casualties for a three
month period in the war: we owe
you so much.
You have not “brought freedom”
to the people of Iraq—from
what we can learn here at home,
their suffering is if anything
greater than ever.
You have not “made us safer”
here at home because throughout
the world the number of people
who want to harm us grows and
grows.
You have not killed or captured
enough of “the enemy”
because more seem to take their
place every day.
No, but you cannot be blamed for
not carrying out these impossible
missions. The policy-makers who
sent you to Iraq are to blame
for what you failed to do. They
sent you in insufficient numbers,
without adequate protection, into
the hell of a civil war that they
themselves caused...
|
|
Congressional
Agency Predicts War Costs Will
Climb
By
Walter Pincus | Washington
Post | July 11, 2007
The
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will
cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of
billions of dollars over the next
decade, no matter how quickly
U.S. troops are reduced in those
countries over the next few years,
according to a report released
this week by the Congressional
Research Service (CRS).
The
Bush administration and Congress
have allocated $577 billion to
the conflicts through the end
of the current fiscal year, but
that amount is only a small down
payment, the report suggested
in examining the impact of various
deployment scenarios. |
|
Congress's
War over the War
On Iraq, No Simple Stands
| Washington
Post
The Washington
Post is running a series that
covers the details of the struggles
on Capitol Hill over the Iraq
war. They profile four Members
of Congress, and follow their
trains of thought -- and action.
Our good friend Congresswoman
Jan Schakowsky stands tall in
her opposition to the war, and
in her ability to work with others.
By Shailagh Murray
and Jonathan Weisman | Washington
Post
July 8, 2007
Can Sen. Olympia
J. Snowe wait until September?
Can Rep. Dan Boren?
In the congressional
battle over the war, these two
moderates represent the Iraq debate's
fragile center, a confluence of
conscience and political calculation
where the fate of U.S. policy
may be determined over the next
three months...
Rep.
Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), an antiwar
activist, is torn between her
desire to bring about the quickest
possible end and new pressures,
as a member of the House leadership,
to be a team player for Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)...
|
Iraq
Moratorium
 |
Demanding
an end to the war through
an escalating series of actions
on the THIRD FRIDAY of every
month beginning Friday September
21st |
The
Iraq Moratorium will be an
escalating, monthly expression
of determination to end the war.
Commencing Friday, September 21st
and continuing the Third Friday
of every month thereafter, we
will encourage people to make
a break with business as usual.
Join
with millions to:
* Wear and distribute black ribbons
and armbands
* Refrain from buying gas
* Pressure politicians and the
media
* Coordinate events in music,
art, and culture
* Host film showings, talks, and
educational events
* Organize student actions: Teach-ins,
school closings, etc. |
|
Arab
and Jewish American Attitudes
on Iran
Iran
Nuclear Watch
A
new Zogby International Poll on
Arab sponsored by the Arab American
Institute and Americans for Peace
reveals that approximately three
in four Jewish Americans and Arab
Americans think that the U.S.
should engage diplomatically with
Iran.
Respondents
expressed strong support (73%
of Jewish Americans and 79% of
Arab Americans) for serious U.S.
diplomatic engagement with Iran
rather than preparing for military
action.
|
Religious
Leaders Praise Administration for
Agreement with North Korea
Urge
Similar Strategy with Iran
Faithful
Security | July 17, 2007
A group of prominent religious
leaders released a statement today
congratulating the Bush administration
for successful diplomatic efforts
toward the denuclearization of
North Korea and urging the administration
to apply a similar strategy to
the Iranian nuclear standoff.
The statement coincides with the
announcement early Monday that
North Korea has begun to dismantle
its nuclear facilities under international
inspection, to fulfill its obligations
under the February 2007 denuclearization
agreement.
Signatories include
Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal
Church, the head of Church World
Service, the chair of the Committee
on International Policy for the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,
and the national director of the
Islamic Society of North America.
“The
agreement with North Korea demonstrates
the value of diplomacy in preventing
the spread of nuclear weapons,”
the statement reads. “It
validates the preferential use
of words, rather than war, as
a response to conflict. Our religious
traditions teach that efforts
should be made to explore every
alternative in resolving a conflict
before going to war.”
|
 |
Preventive
war? Preventive
action.
The
time to stop the next war is now.
While
Congress wrangles over funding
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
many believe that the administration
is considering undertaking yet
another military action on foreign
shores -- this time, in Iran.
This, despite the fact that the
situation in Iraq has clearly
shown that using force before
we have exhausted every other
alternative is foolish, deadly,
and counterproductive. |
|
WiLL
Gears up for 2007 National Conference:
"Women at the Table of
Power"
We're
pulling out the stops to get everything
ready for our 2007 conference!
(September 30-October 2 at the
Washington Court Hotel in the
nation's capitol.) Three days
of trainings, briefings and Hill
visits will feature key members
of Congress, national women leaders
and policy experts, highlighting
such topics as media messaging,
understanding the federal budget,
and running for higher office.
Confirmed
speakers include:
Ellen
Bravo, founder, National
9 to 5; author, Taking on the
Big Boys
Marian Wright Edelman,
founder and president, Children’s
Defense Fund
Jane Fonda, co-founder,
GreenStone Media
Carol Jenkins,
president, Women’s Media
Center
Celinda Lake,
political strategist and international
pollster; president,
Lake Research Partners
Barbara Lee,
founder, Barbara Lee Family Foundation
Hon. Jean Shaheen,
former governor of New Hampshire;
director,
Harvard Institute of Politics
Katrina vanden Heuvel,
editor, The Nation
Please
save the date to join
us for this empowering and informative
conference that's consistently
ranked by legislators as a not-to-be-missed
networking opportunity. Bring
your concerns to Washington, meet
with your Congresssional delegation,
and join other talented women
policymakers on the path to the
table of power!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Faith
in Action July 2007: Interdependence
Day
I invite
you this 4th of July to celebrate
with all people who have known
the taste of freedom. Celebrate
with all those who are no longer
shackled--not by poverty or privilege,
not by hatred or fear. Recall,
as Dr. King taught us, that "injustice
anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere." |
WeLEAD:
Women bringing women into the power
center, is
a
A year-long political leadership
training program for women age 21
to 25 interested in careers in politics
and public service. WeLEAD develops
participants' leadership skills
including research, public-speaking,
speech writing, and networking and
introduces them to myriad political
careers. WeLEAD
consists of seven training sessions
from September 2007 through May
2008. Five sessions will be held
on a Saturday in the months of
September, October, December,
February, and April,
from 9:30am to 3:00pm and will
provide training in the following
areas: campaigns and elections,
communications and message development,
professional development, fundraising
and development, and public policy
and government relations. |
IDEAS,
VISIONS, RESOURCES FOR
A BETTER WORLD |
  |
When
you buy on amazon.com
- Use our link.
WAND gets a little cut every time
you buy through our link to amazon.
It doesn't cost you a penny, but
it brings one to us. And we count
our pennies... |
 |
Be
part of a powerful community
of women and men leading our
country to a secure future!
*
To
join using a credit
card online,
click
here.
|
Don't
worry, we just moved it to a separate
page.
Click
here and you'll find out
more.
Don't
worry, we just moved it to a separate
page.
Click
here and you'll find
out all about what our chapters
and partners are planning for this
month.
WAND
is turning 25! It's a great time
to be celebrating Women
| Power | Peace!
Please
join the celebration: Click
here for more information. Thanks!
The
WAND Bulletin Board is an announcement
service of WAND. The purpose of the
WAND Bulletin is to share news and ideas,
and to offer the support of a national
network of active WAND, WiLL and STAND
members and partner organizations.
WAND
/ STAND chapters and partner organizations
are encouraged to submit news for the
Bulletin Board. Please send text in
a form that is ready to be published
without further editing. Email submissions
to: bulletin@wand.org.
Statements
posted on WAND’s Bulletin Board
do not necessarily reflect the position
of WAND.
To
join WAND, go to www.wand.org.
Your membership makes this work possible.
Thank
you for your support!
©
2007 WAND. |
