Northampton city democratic committee votes to bring the troops and war taxes home
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Marty Nathan
02/14/2011
NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--On Saturday, February 12, the forty-some members present at the Northampton City Democratic Committee Meeting voted nearly unanimously to adopt the Resolution to Bring the Troops and War Taxes Home, furthering the grassroots effort to stop the war and increase domestic spending on human needs.
The resolution was an updated replica of that passed by Northampton City Council in September, 2010, calling on our Congressman Richard Neal and Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown to vote against further funding of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and to invest those funds instead in the 'Äúeducational, employment, health, housing, nutritional, infrastructure, energy, and environmental needs of our city, state, and country.'Äù
A specific request was made to fund the needs of returning veterans 'Äúparticularly the thousands who have come home disabled or otherwise physically or mentally wounded--to ensure they receive health care, housing, jobs, education and other support services they deserve.'Äù A similar resolution has been passed in neighboring Amherst, and the Northampton Resolution was the basis for a meeting with Congressman Neal in December.
The resolution was brought to the NCDC by the Alliance for Peace and Justice with the support of Progressive of Democrats of America (PDA). The motion to adopt was seconded by State Representative Peter Kocot who spoke of his growing recognition of the futility of the wars, of the tragedy of 149,000 homeless veterans in Massachusetts and of the loss of economic support for small business due to the bleeding of resources to the Pentagon.
APJ and PDA plan to 1) promote the Resolution in towns throughout the state; 2) to raise it to the State Democratic Party Platform Committee; and 3) to take it up in the State House of Representatives.
Full text: A Resolution of the Northampton Democratic City Committee
Calling Upon Our Elected Representatives in Congress to End the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Bring Our Troops and Tax Dollars Home. (Approved March 12, 2011)
WHEREAS, the financial resources available for use by governments at the local, county, state and federal levels in the United States are limited; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Congress has appropriated over one trillion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, most of it borrowed against our national debt; and
WHEREAS, according to the National Priorities Project, the taxpayers of Northampton, Massachusetts are to date collectively paying or becoming indebted for over $114 million in total cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001; and
WHEREAS, U.S. troops, including those from Northampton and other cities and towns across Massachusetts, have served valiantly in Iraq and Afghanistan; and
WHEREAS, over 4,400 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq, over 1,140 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan, and over 39,000 U.S. troops have been wounded in both conflicts according to the Department of Defense; and
WHEREAS, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in these conflicts and the ongoing warfare poses great and unnecessary harm to the people of the nations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan; and
WHEREAS, the education services, medical care, housing, other essential public services, infrastructure repairs, and family and private sector financing in Northampton and throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have been substantially reduced in order for an excessive portion of available financial resources to be diverted from the constructive economy to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Democratic Committee of Northampton, Massachusetts supports public discussion and dialogue about the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to our community; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we commend and support Congressman Richard Neal for joining nine of our state'Äôs ten U.S. Representatives in voting against a $37 billion supplemental appropriation for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on July 27, 2010; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call on U.S. Senator Scott Brown and U.S. Senator John Kerry to join Congressman Neal in opposing further funding of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and urge them to take leadership in the Congress to bring our troops safely home and redirect our federal tax dollars to the pressing educational, employment, health, housing, nutritional, infrastructure, energy, and environmental needs of our city, state, and country; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call on Congressman Neal and Senators Brown and Kerry to support federal funding for the over 2 million new Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans--particularly the thousands who have come home disabled or otherwise physically or mentally wounded--to ensure they receive health care, housing, jobs, education and other support services the deserve on behalf of our grateful nation.
