To:
Mayor Sam Adams
Commissioner Nick Fish
Commissioner Amanda Fritz
Commissioner Randy Leonard
Commissioner Dan Saltzman
Portland City Hall
1221 SW 4th Ave
Portland, OR 97204

Dear member of Portland City Council:

I am writing to urge you to pass a resolution supporting the US Conference of Mayors' call to "Bring our war $$ home." Mayor Adams supported the resolution, writing on his Twitter page June 20:

@MayorSamAdams Mayor Sam Adams (http://www.twitlonger.com/show/b8781d)

I supported it: it came out of my committee. RT @bkerensa what was your position on U.S. Conf of Mayors http://tl.gd/b8781d

The resolution reads, in whole:

CALLING ON CONGRESS TO REDIRECT MILITARY SPENDING TO DOMESTIC PRIORITIES

WHEREAS, every member of the US Conference of Mayors and the Americans they represent, support our brave men and women in uniform and their families;

WHEREAS, the drawdown of troops should be done in a measured way that does not destabilize the region and that can accelerate the transfer of responsibility to regional authorities;

WHEREAS, the severity of the ongoing economic crisis has created budget shortfalls at all levels of government and requires us to re-examine our national spending priorities; and

WHEREAS, the people of the United States are collectively paying approximately $126 billion dollars per year to wage war in Iraq and Afghanistan; and

WHEREAS, 6,024 members of the US armed forces have died in these wars; and at least 120,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since the coalition attacks began.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the United States Conference of Mayors supports efforts to speed up the ending of these wars; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the United States Conference of Mayors calls on the President and U.S. Congress to end the wars as soon as strategically possible and bring these war dollars home to meet vital human needs, promote job creation, rebuild our infrastructure, aid municipal and state governments, and develop a new economy based upon renewable, sustainable energy and reduce the federal debt.

Portland's resolution should also specifically call for military contractors to come home, as they are also draining the public treasury. Given the cutbacks across the board in Portland, Portland's strong history of opposing the US' unnecessary military interventions, and the focus by many in Congress to further cut the social safety net rather than ending the wars and occupations, we would value our elected leaders signing onto this strong statement locally as a step toward a more peaceful and vibrant future.

Sincerely,

_________________________________

Address: _______________________

Portland, OR Zip: ________

Portland War $$ Home page
Campaign to Bring the Troops Home