Action a Day to Close the SOA!
Raise Your Voice -- Commit to Action -- Organize for Power
With the anticipation of a congressional vote on HR 1258 later this year, the 2004 Spring Mobilization and
the March 30 Lobby Day is a key part of the strategy to win. To increase our
collective impact on Congress, we put
together this "flash" campaign to amplify the voices from all over the
country for the closure of the SOA/WHISC.
Please join us. Ask others to join us. Come to Washington DC AND take action in
your community. Every call, every letter, every visit truly count. If they don't
hear it from us, then they don't hear it. So raise your voice and show our
grassroots power!
TODAY!
Forward this email to everyone you know. Post it to any listserves you are on.
Start scheduling your appointments. Congressional calendars fill-up quickly so
act now. Call the office where you will meet (DC and/or the District). Then mark
your calendars and get ready!
SATURDAY, MARCH 27 and SUNDAY, MARCH 28 - Join the Lead-up Events in Washington,
DC or Table and Collect Signed Post Cards in your Community Set up a table
outside your house of worship, school, grocery store or
anywhere you can reach a lot of people and collect post cards to send to Members
of Congress. Make sure folks include their return address. For the sample post
card: http://www.soaw.org/new/docs/PostcardTemplate.doc
MONDAY, MARCH 29 - Send Your Post Cards
Drop your post cards in the mail and make sure you include one from yourself and
the rest of your family. You can send them individually or in a large envelope.
TUESDAY, MARCH 30 - National Call In Day and Lobby Day to Close the SOA/WHISC
Help create a buzz on Capitol Hill. The more calls the offices get, the more
impact the in-person visits folks are having will make. Call the Capitol
Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31 - Email and Fax the DC Offices
Check your local phone book or www.congress.org for the numbers.
THURSDAY, APRIL 1 - Email and Fax the District Offices Check your local phone
book or www.congress.org for the numbers.
FRIDAY, APRIL 2 - District Office Call in Day
Follow up on your email or fax.
APRIL 5 - APRIL 16 - Lobby in the District Office
This two-week District Work Period offers a great opportunity to meet
face-to-face with your Member of Congress. However, if they are not available,
schedule the meeting with a staff person (a foreign policy aide if they have
one) -the upside is you can spend more time with them and they are often key to
influencing a member's position.
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Before you start your "Action a Day" check out the resources available
online at the Legislative Action Center:
http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=96,
especially the "Tips for Making Contact with Your Member of Congress":
http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=456
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You'll also find specific information about the Spring Mobilization and Lobby
Day: http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=713
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If at anytime you have any questions or need assistance, call 202-234-3440 or
email jbaker@soaw.org
CLOSE THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS (SOA)!! WRITE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY!
In Addition to sending this letter, Please visit
www.soaw.org for the latest legislative SOA
Watch action and a variety of legislative resources and tools.
To find out who your Representative is, go to http//www.congress.org
To find out if your Represenative has co-sponsored the new McGovern bill to close the SOA/ WHISC go to http//thomas.loc.gov, then search for HR 1258.
Sample Letter to Representative:
[Street Address]
[Town, State Zip code]
[Date]
The Honorable [full name]
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative [last name]
I am writing to urge you to support human rights in Latin America. Please co-sponsor HR 1258, a bill to close the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC), formerly the United States Army School of the Americas (SOA). The graduates of this institution have a long history of human rights violations. From the atrocities in El Salvador and Guatemala in the 1980s to recent violations in Colombia, SOA/WHISC graduates consistently appear in reports on human rights abuses in Latin America. SOA/WHISC training has resulted in civilian massacres, assassinations, disappearances, death threats and has led to both attempted and successful coups of democratically elected governments in the hemisphere.
Despite efforts to silence opposition to the Ft. Benning-based training school through a name change and cosmetic changes, it is still a combat training school that provides dangerous skills and weaponry to countries with serious and current human rights problems. The proliferation of skills like counter-insurgency and psychological warfare in countries like Colombia, where impunity is offered to paramilitaries, only perpetuates the cycles of violence. Keeping the school open under any name sends a powerful anti-human rights message. Establishing reasonable living conditions for the people of Latin America and strengthening civil institutions will do more to stabilize the! region than training militaries. Closing the SOA/WHISC, whatever its name, would demonstrate that the United States has made a clean break from the tragic history of the SOA/WHISC and its graduates.
As your constituent, I urge you to co-sponsor HR 1258 and work for its passage in Congress. Currently, there are over 100 bi-partisan co-sponsors of the bill. Please contact Cindy Buhl in Representative McGovern's office to include yourself in this legislation. Thank you for your time and commitment to this important matter.
Sincerely,
[Your full name]
316 Anabel Taylor Hall · Ithaca, New York 14853 · (607) 255-7293
CUSLAR is a project partner with the CRESP Center for Transformative Action.