As anti-war advocates plan to protest Sen. Claire McCaskill's appearance in Springfield on Thursday, the junior Senator is encouraging them to express their opinions against the war.
But she's not budging on NOT cutting funding.
That statement comes from McCaskill's communications director Adrianne Marsh, in response to reports that dozens of military families and peace group members plan to crash McCaskill's thank-you party in Springfield Thursday evening.
"Claire supports this group for these people to protest and encourages them to express their opinions against the war," Marsh tells the KY3 Political Notebook.
Marsh says there was a scheduled meeting between military families and McCaskill's staff, and "this group was welcomed with open arms."
"The staff listened to their concerns and told them that Claire empathized with their desire to redeploy our troops out of Iraq. Our staff also explained that Claire believes that we need to meet military and political benchmarks on both sides to ensure the best chance at stability within the region," Marsh says.
"Clearly the group disagreed with her position not to cut off funding. However, Claire is interested in ensuring our troops and veterans have the resources they need. Cutting off funding would risk that. It's simply not the answer. She will continue to work with a bipartisan group in Congress to put an end to the President's troop escalation plan," she says.
McCaskill's office says the Senator will hold a press conference before greeting supporters from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Teamsters Hall on East Division.
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An Open Letter to Claire McCaskill
From Midge Potts
February 22, 2007
Dear Senator McCaskill,
Thursday and friday, you are going to be protested during your appearances in Springfield and Columbia for your current position regarding the war in Iraq. Many of the people taking part in these demonstrations are individuals who not only voted for you last November but worked hard during your campaign to get you elected.
I did not originate this call to action, but did forward it at the request of Missouri's Military Families Speak Out and Missouri's Iraq Veterans Against the War. At least two of the organizers of this action were in the meeting with your legislative aid Nicole when several Missouri constituents lobbied on January 29th for an end to Iraq War funding.
Among those in that meeting was Brian Hill, a member of the Army National Guard. He wrote the following paragraph which was included in the call to action which resulted in the protests of your visits to Springfield and Columbia:
"I was grateful to speak with the staff in McCaskill's office, however, after a half hour of sharing our stories it seemed apparent to me... that they just weren't listening and they just really didn't give a flip. I'm convinced she's already working on her re-election so as to be careful what she says, what she votes for and basically giving us the same old song and dance of typical politicians. Meanwhile, a harsh reality hits me everyday as I wake up... 3 more of my brothers and sisters have died in Iraq Therefore I risk my Army career, 9.5 years in the Service, to speak out and against a war that should've never happened, a war that was based on false pretenses, purposefully manipulated and exaggerated "evidence." So, my question is will Claire McCaskill risk her so-called career by doing the right thing? Will ordinary average folk finally ante up? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that things are seriously messed up and it certainly doesn't take a PHD to know that the American people were misled into a war." ~ Brian Hill (SSG/Army National Guard)
Another of your constituents, Cloy Richards is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. As you know, Cloy is a friend of mine; I know his story well. He is a proud Marine who has served two deployments to Iraq and now speaks out about the atrocities committed there by the U.S. military under orders from the Pentagon and Bush Administration. Senator McCaskill, you heard Cloy speak in Cape Girardeau and then asked him to be in a commercial for you. Without that commercial, and others in which U.S. military service members and veterans appeared, you may not have won the election. Now, Cloy is asking you to end the war in Iraq, and to bring his fellow Marines home from a battlefield to which they never should have been sent.
Senator McCaskill, Cloy is not the only person I know who has served in Iraq that is now taking a firm stand against the war in which they themselves were forced to fight. You need to seriously listen to the growing number of Iraq War vets from Missouri and across America. Both Cloy Richards and Brian Hill are among nearly 1300 soldiers, Marines, airmen, and sailors still under contract to the U.S. military (active duty/reserves/guard/IRR) who have signed the Appeal for Redress from the war in Iraq. New signatories, both enlisted persons and officers, are being added to this exclusive petition at a rate of about 50 to 100 per week. Also, the group Iraq Veterans Against the War is growing at a similar rate. These young men and women are testifying to anyone who will listen about their experiences in Iraq, and they are also testifying publicly that they have largely been ignored by their Senators and Congresspersons.
Senator McCaskill, I am sincerely asking you to find a solution to safely remove all U.S. troops from Iraq and the Middle East. The continued occupation of Iraq by the United States is just serving to fan flames of revenge and retribution from the entire Islamic world that resents our presence there.
Senator McCaskill, the last time Cloy's mother Tina and I talked to you in the hallway of the Hart Senate office building, you kept saying, "I am not from California… I can't vote to stop funding the war… We are from Missouri, not California." How could you have such a weak personal constitution? That statement made it clear that all you are concerned about is getting re-elected in 2012. Well, I do not see you getting elected if you continue to alienate your base the way you are doing now!
Listen, I understand your position. You feel that because you only won by 3% you cannot risk a political position on Iraq that would seem too "liberal". However, I want you to consider that if you do not heed the message that your liberal/progressive base is sending you, you will not have to worry about losing in the general election in November 2012; you will be challenged and ousted in the primary just as you defeated former Missouri Governor Bob Holden in the 2004 primary election.
Furthermore, I promise you that if the United States is still occupying Iraq or has permanent military bases there, I will personally run against you in the general election as a candidate of the Progressive Party of Missouri. Now, I realize that you are a strong willed woman, and do not give credence to idle threats; however, you have to ask yourself if you feel it is not entirely possible that I, Midge Potts, could get 5% of the votes in a statewide election in Missouri. If you do not seriously reconsider your position on the war in Iraq, I assure you that I will put my entire being into the delivery of the results I am promising. Still, I would rather that you and I were allies and not political opponents; so I am going to spell out for you what I think would be the best course of action to take in the Senate regarding Iraq.
First of all, I would like you to sponsor a bill that would rescind the original authority given to President Bush by Congress to conduct military operations in Iraq.
In addition, it is my belief that no additional funds should be authorized for the continuation of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. As of now, independent of the 2007 military budget, SEVENTY BILLION DOLLARS has already been authorized for supplemental spending to support the U.S. military presence in Iraq. This is enough funding to keep our military service people safe as redeployment options are considered. Here is what I suggest you do in regard to funding, Senator McCaskill. If it just so happens that a few brave Democratic Senators choose to filibuster the supplemental appropriations debate, I will understand if you can't join in with them holding the Senate floor; however, as the debate of how best to safely and swiftly remove U.S. service people from Iraq unfolds, I am urging you strongly to vote against cloture. Senator McCaskill it is far past time to bring them home to the United States, and take care of them when they get here.
I would like you to strongly consider co-sponsoring the bills that Senators Feingold and Boxer have introduced: S. 121 & S. 448. I am giving you a printed copy of each of these bills with this letter.
S. 121 will make it the policy of the United States to redeploy U.S. troops from Iraq within 180 days of it's enactment into law. It also requires the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State to jointly submit a report to Congress within 60 days detailing the strategy for redeployment.
S. 448, which is being called the "Iraq Redeployment Act of 2007, will prohibit the use of funds to maintain forces in Iraq after 6 months has passed following the passage of the bill. In doing so, S. 448 continues to allow funding to protect U.S. troops while they finish training Iraqi security forces, and also continues to allow funding for reconstruction of Iraqi infrastructure destroyed during the American occupation.
You should also be familiar with S. 433, introduced by Senator Obama. It mandates that "phased redeployment" begin no later than May 1st 2007 and it calls for the complete redeployment of United States military forces from Iraq by March 31st, 2008 consistent with the finding of the Iraq Study Group. Actually, this plan is most similar to the platform on which you campaigned.
Also, I have recently become aware and would like you to take a look at S. 670 which was introduced into the Senate and referred to committee in the past week by Senator Clinton. The title of that bill describes it as "A bill to set forth limitations on the United States military presence in Iraq and on United States aid to Iraq for security and reconstruction, and for other purposes." As of today, the text of S. 670 is not available online as it has not been received from GPO. Please keep in mind the importance of the obligation the United States has in providing reparations to the people of Iraq.
Senator McCaskill, I will also honor your personal autonomy in exploring other options that you feel would make a swift and safe redeployment of United States military personnel from Iraq possible in the near future. What I do not want you to do is continue advocating a policy that can be defined as a "stay the course" strategy.
Senator McCaskill, the views in this letter are of my own personal opinion, however I have been in communication with many of your constituents from across the state of Missouri who feel similarly regarding the general sentiment expressed herein.
Thank you for your consideration and for your service to the people of Missouri.
Sincerely,
Midgelle Regina Potts
5179 N Farm Road 125
Springfield, Missouri 65803
Potts4Congress@yahoo.com
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