Support the “Homeward Bound” Bill

So you’re asking yourself what you can do to bring our soldiers home? There’s a bill that’s not been in the headlines, but deserves your support. It’s House Joint Resolution 55, “Homeward Bound.” It would require the Bush administration to give us a plan by the end of 2005 for resolving the war in Iraq. The plan would be set in motion by October of 2006.

Sponsored by Hawaiian Representative Neil Abercrombie, the bill has 45 co-sponsors from both parties, including 5 from southern states. The bill went to the Committee on International Relations and the Committee on Armed Services back in June.

According to so-sponsor and liberal hero Democrat Dennis Kucinich, the bill is meeting resistance on three points:

• A feeling that setting a date for withdrawal would encourage insurgents to settle down, wait until the US leaves, and then once again escalate action.
  
• A concern that we have lost so many troops already that it would dishonor the memory of those who gave their lives if the US were to withdraw.
  
• A belief that we are winning the war and now is not the time to talk about leaving.
  

Forget about “playing into the hands of terrorists” as Bush is saying. After all, he put a deadline on elections in Iraq, so why not announce a deadline for troop withdrawal? It could actually help the situation by showing we are not staying perpetually to build bases and steal oil, as many Iraqis may think.

Y’all need to thank the ballsy southern legislators below who co-sponsored this bill, then find out who else needs to be “prodded” onto the peace wagon. The times, they are a ’changin’, — just ask the tens of thousands of Americans who turned out last Wednesday to support Cindy Sheehan. Southern Senators and Congressmen are sensing a changing mood among their constituents. — T

Rep Sheila Jackson-Lee, [TX-18]

Rep Walter B. Jones, Jr. [NC-3]

Rep John Lewis [D-GA-5.]

Rep Cynthia A. McKinney [GA-4]

Rep Ron Paul [TX-14]