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- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- Path: sparky!uunet!gatech!ukma!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!daemon
- From: Christic Institute <christic@igc.apc.org>
- Subject: CUANES Congressional Alert 8-24-92
- Message-ID: <1992Aug28.190809.24772@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Followup-To: alt.activism.d
- Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Sender: news@mont.cs.missouri.edu
- Nntp-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Organization: ?
- Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 19:08:09 GMT
- Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Lines: 112
-
- /* Written 1:59 pm Aug 27, 1992 by cuanes in cdp:carnet.alerts */
- /* ---------- "CUANES Congressional Alert 8-24-92" ---------- */
-
-
- CUANES - CONGRESSIONAL ALERT 8-24-92
-
- IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED ON MILITARY AID TO EL SALVADOR
-
-
- The following information comes from Washington, D.C. from the
- National Agenda for Peace in El Salvador and the Central America
- Working Group.
-
- If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me: Kathy
- Howell, CUANES phone: 708-475-7980; fax: 708-475-1122; e-mail:
- cuanes
-
- Senators Dennis Deconcini (D-AZ) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) are
- circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter to Senator Leahy (D-VT),
- chair of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee,
- designed to influence the language of the Foreign Aid
- Appropriations bill on El Salvador.
-
- The letter calls for the "transfer of all military assistance
- requested for FY 93 to the Demobilization and Transition to Peace
- Fund." It also urges "long range economic and development aid to
- fund those reconstruction programs that arise from the
- consultative process envisioned in the peace accords. . .with
- particular emphasis given to those organizations which have
- demonstrated their ability to assist the poorest in El Salvador."
-
- As you probably know, the Senate recessed last Wednesday night,
- and will not return until September 8th. When they return,
- Senator Leahy's subcommittee will take up the Foreign Aid
- Appropriations bill.
-
- The National Agenda for Peace worked with DeConcini and Specter's
- offices to produce this letter in order to demonstrate to Sen.
- Leahy the breadth of support for a policy of demilitarization and
- reconciliation for El Salvador. If this letter gathers enough
- signatures, Senator Leahy and the Senate Democratic leadership
- will take that support into consideration when judging how far to
- push on this issue in September. This is why we need to collect
- as many signatures as possible on this letter between now and
- Labor Day. The signatures of swing votes, Republicans in
- particular, are particularly important.
-
- ***Sen. Leahy's staff is aware of the letter and supports it.
- This is important in case some Senators express concerns about
- confronting Leahy.***
-
- Local activists in every state should contact their Senators'
- offices and urge the Senators to sign the DeConcini/Specter letter
- on El Salvador. Senators should be in their home states for most
- of this period.
-
- It is likely that some activists will be told that the Senator
- cannot act on this letter until after Labor Day when Congress
- comes back into session. This is not true. The staff member will
- either have to track down the Senator to get his or her approval
- or in some cases the chief of staff will have the authority to
- approve it and sign the Senator's name. Of course, Senators
- running for reelection should be easier to get.
-
- The following are the key swings that we are targeting to sign
- this letter:
-
- ALABAMA: Shelby; GEORGIA: Fowler, Nunn; IOWA: Grassley; KANSAS:
- Kassebaum: LOUISIANA: Johnstone, Breaux; MAINE: Cohen; MINNESOTA:
- Durenberger; MISSOURI: Danforth; NEW HAMPSHIRE: Rudman; NEW YORK:
- D'Amato; NEW MEXICO: Domenici; NORTH CAROLINA: Sanford;
- OKLAHOMA: Boren; OREGON: Packwood; RHODE ISLAND: Chaffee; SOUTH
- CAROLINA: Hollings; SOUTH DAKOTA: Pressler; TENNESEE: Gore;
- TEXAS: Bentsen; VIRGINIA: Robb, Warner.
-
- To sign on to the letter, Senator's offices need to call Dean Gloy
- in Senator DeConcini's office at (202) 224-4521.
-
- *****************************************
-
- ***PLEASE remember, that ALL Senators are important; the above
- list includes only those key swing votes to be targeted to sign
- this "Dear Colleague" letter.
-
- ***ALL Senators should be contacted as soon as possible. Senate
- action on the FY 1993 Foreign Aid Appropriations Bill (HR 5368)
- will most likely come before the Senate Subcommittee on Foreign
- Operations, the full Senate Appropriations Committee, and will
- move on to the Senate floor for consideration in early-to-mid
- September.
-
- ***IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that every Senator be asked by
- constituents to support the transfer of all FY93 military
- assistance for El Salvador to the Demobilization and Transition
- Fund.
-
- Please forward any responses, letters, etc. you receive to me or
- to the National Agenda for Peace in El Salvador and the Central
- America Working Group, both in Washington, D.C. Please let us know
- even if the Senator refuses to sign the Dear Colleague letter or
- will not support the funds transfer. All the information gathered
- through the "Dear Colleague" process and constituent contacts will
- be used to develop a swing list for the floor vote.
-
- Both the National Agenda and the CAWG have legislative hotlines:
- National Agenda: 202-544-3057; Central America Working Group:
- 202 543-2282
-
-
- THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMITMENT TO PEACE WITH JUSTICE IN EL SALVADOR
-
-
-