Join the " Brown Bag Lunch Vigils!
Join the "Healthcare NOT Warfare" campaign!
Click here for the Congressional Schedule
Congresswoman Maxine Waters has informed PDA that she and Rep. Charles Rangel, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, Rep. Xavier Becerra, Rep. John Conyers, and Rep. John Lewis are leading a newly formed Out of Iraq Congressional Working Group, with 41 members.
Rep. Waters said: "The Out of Iraq Congressional Working Group is a newly formed effort whose sole purpose is to be the main agitators in the movement to bring our troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Our efforts will include the coordination of activities and legislation designed to achieve our goal of returning our troops home. Through floor statements, press conferences, TV and radio appearances and other actions, we will provide leadership for the American Public who has been waiting too long for our collective voices against the war."
 Rep. John Conyers addresses PDA activists. Says Conyers: "Thanks to PDA, we had a successful rally in front of the White House. The fight for the truth does not end here, and I am happy to have PDA with us in this fight." |
"This announcement illustrates the changing tide in Washington around the issue of the Iraq Occupation," says National Director of PDA Tim Carpenter. "This caucus will allow a collective dialogue within Congress on this issue, in which the tens of thousands of grassroots activists within PDA will be working to support."
In addition, PDA invited and welcomed members of the caucus on stage at the PDA/CodePink/AfterDowningStreet rally in Lafayette Square Park in support of Rep. John Conyers' (D-MI) hearings today on the Downing Street memo.
Tim Carpenter met with Rep. Waters and "Out of Iraq Caucus" staffer Michael Rose to discuss PDA's future support of this caucus. In the coming weeks Carpenter and Political Director Kevin Spidel plan to bring the grassroots voice back to the caucus to plan long term relationship and support talks.
Current members of the Working Group include:
Rep. Neil Abercrombie, Rep. Xavier Becerra, Rep. Corrine Brown, Rep. Julia Carson, Rep. Donna Christensen, Rep. John Conyers, Rep. William Delahunt, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Rep. Sam Farr, Rep. Chaka Fattah, Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Rep. Rush Holt, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Shelia Jackson - Lee, Rep. John Lewis, Rep. James McGovern, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Jim Moran, Rep. Grace Napolitano, Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton, Rep. John Olver, Rep. Major Owens, Rep. Donald Payne, Rep. Nick Rahall, Rep. Charles Rangel, Rep. Janice Schakowsky, Rep. Bobby Scott, Rep. Jose Serrano, Rep. John Tierney
Thanks to you grassroots activists for your support. You made the DSM Rally and the resulting relationships possible. Together, we can make positive change.
