Kucinich for President 2008
http://www.kucinich.us
CONTACT: David Swanson 202-329-7847
For immediate release: May 23, 2007
Kucinich to Speak for Full Hour on House Floor on Iraq Oil Law
WASHINGTON DC - WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2007 - At approximately 11:00 a.m. today, Congressman Dennis Kucinich will invoke a rarely used procedure to offer a privileged motion claiming one hour of time to speak on the floor of the House of Representatives about current legislative plans to privatize Iraq's oil.
This will be the first time in Congress that there has been a full discussion of the covert efforts to accomplish privatization of Iraq's oil through the supplemental spending bill.
Kucinich has alerted his colleagues to this concern in the past. Today he will do so on the floor of the House.
Kucinich argued against invading Iraq prior to the 2003 vote that authorized it. He published his case against it and helped persuade many of his colleagues to vote No. Kucinich challenged the legality of the war in court in an effort to prevent it. He proposed a detailed plan to end the occupation of Iraq over three years ago. His current plan is found in his bill HR 1234, which includes these findings:
"Any attempt to sell Iraqi oil assets during the United States occupation will be a significant stumbling block to peaceful resolution. There must be fairness in the distribution of oil resources in Iraq."
Kucinich has voted against every new funding bill for the occupation, including the recent Supplemental. He supports using the power of the purse to end the war. He opposes any attack on Iran and proposes formally forswearing the use of so-called preventive war. He has proposed the creation of a Department of Peace to address international and domestic violence.
As with all House sessions, this speech will be televised on C-Span.
Kucinich for President 2008
http://www.kucinich.us
CONTACT: David Swanson 202-329-7847
For immediate release: May 24, 2007
Kucinich Urges Colleagues to Find Will to End Occupation
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio) will vote No on the latest bill to fund the continued occupation of Iraq. Kucinich is the only Democrat running for President who has consistently voted against funding the war. Today he said that Congress' failure to end the occupation of Iraq is the result of a lack of will to do so on the part of his colleagues and his party's leadership.
"Just as the Democrats could have prevented the invasion of Iraq in 2003, when Senators Edwards, Clinton, Biden, and Dodd supported it," Kucinich said, "and just as the Democrats could have ended the occupation of Iraq at any point by ending the funding, while Senators Clinton, Obama, Biden, and Dodd have voted over and over again to fund it, so too the Democratic leadership could have ended the occupation this week by not bringing any funding bills up for votes."
"The Democratic Party has to choose," Kucinich said, "between standing for peace or continuing to support war and occupation, between heeding the demand of the voters last November or caving in to the demands of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. We can't have it both ways. We can't facilitate the passage of another bill to fund the war and at the same time claim that we want the war to end. The public sees through such hypocritical maneuvering."
"It's instructive," Kucinich added, "that the leadership removed from the Supplemental a requirement that the president gain Congress's consent before launching an additional aggressive war against Iran. Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, and former Senator Edwards have all said that with regard to Iran all options are on the table, a thinly veiled euphemism for a unilateral preemptive military attack."
"If Senators Clinton, Obama, Biden, and Dodd want to end the occupation of Iraq," Kucinich noted, "they can vote against any more funding, and they can filibuster bills that provide it. I urge every Senator to take that step."
Kucinich was one of seven Democrats in the House to vote No this morning on the Rule to bring the latest war funding bill to a vote.
On Wednesday, Kucinich spoke for a full hour on the House floor, pointing out that this is the third Supplemental offered by the Democrats that has demanded that Iraq pass a hydrocarbon law that would set the stage for the wholesale privatization of Iraq's oil industry.
Kucinich argued against invading Iraq prior to the 2003 vote that authorized it. He published his case against it and helped persuade many of his colleagues to vote No. Kucinich challenged the legality of the war in court in an effort to prevent it. He proposed a detailed plan to end the occupation of Iraq over three years ago. His current plan is found in his bill HR 1234. Kucinich is the only Democratic Presidential candidate who has voted against every new funding bill for the occupation, including the recent Supplemental. At the time of the last vote on the Supplemental, Kucinich was the only Member of Congress to both vote No and to urge his colleagues to vote No. He supports using the power of the purse to end the war. He opposes any attack on Iran and proposes formally forswearing the use of so-called preventive war. He has proposed the creation of a Department of Peace to address international and domestic violence.
From ufpj-news
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Oil was the primary reason for the invasion of Iraq
http://kucinich.us/node/4396/play
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Kucinich
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+oil
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Big+Oil
