To: Colombia Grassroots List
From: Elanor Starmer, Latin America Working Group
Re: Vote on McGovern/Skelton/DeLauro amendment on Colombia
Thank you all SO much for all of your hard work on the Colombia amendment to
the Iraq supplemental! It was debated and voted on last night. The
amendment lost, but the vote was VERY close--209-216, with 10 members not
voting. This is AMAZING PROGRESS. If you recall, our vote on the Colombia
aid last year was 192-243, so we've gained 17 votes since then. The first
year that Colombia aid was debated, we got 30 votes in favor of cutting
military aid. Each one of the votes we've gained since that first year
represents your hard work, and I really want to thank you for all the calls
and letters that were sent out in the past few days, and for your commitment
to changing US policy toward Colombia.
Below, you will find: A summary of the debate; how to give feedback to your
member on their vote (a critical step in building support for the next
one!); a list of members who spoke on the floor or deserve special thanks
for some other reason; and the list of representatives who supported the
amendment.
THE DEBATE: This is a long process, but we are dedicated, and are moving
forward and changing opinion in Congress. People who had not spoken out on
the Colombia issue before, like Rosa DeLauro and Loretta Sanchez, were all
of a sudden out there giving fiery speeches in support of the amendment.
Every single new Democrat voted in support of the amendment except for one;
this is a sign that you reached them early and helped shape their position
on the issue. (The one new Democrat who voted wrong was Dennis Cardoza from
CA-- so now's the time to get in touch with him to express your concerns
over his vote).
In fact, 190 out of 205 Democrats supported the amendment (10 voted wrong,
and 5 did not vote-- see below for a list). We also got 18 Republicans who
voted right, and we should make sure to thank them.
NEXT STEPS: It is incredibly important to give your members of Congress
feedback on their votes, because if they voted right this time and get a
good response from constituents, they'll be more likely to vote right next
time. If your member of Congress voted against the amendment, it is
critical that you voice your concerns to them. You can call their office to
thank them or register your concerns (call 202-224-3121 to be connected), or
get on their website and write them an e-mail. Go to www.house.gov to find
your member's website.
Here is a summary of the vote last night (if you don't know who your rep is,
see www.house.gov/writerep):
People who spoke on the floor in support of the amendment:
McGovern (MA)
Skelton (MO)
DeLauro (CT)
Loretta Sanchez (CA)
Schakowsky (IL)
Diane Watson (CA)
Nita Lowey (NY) had laryngitis and submitted a statement to the record in
support of the amendment.
If your representative is on this list, please send them a special thanks
for their leadership!
Republicans who supported the amendment (also deserve special thanks-- there
was a lot of pressure from the administration to vote against this
amendment):
Duncan
Ehlers
Gutknecht
Hostettler
Hulshof
Jenkins
Leach
Otter
Paul
Petri
Ramstad
Rohrabacher
Sensenbrenner
Shays
Simmons
Stearns
Tancredo
Toomey
Democrats who voted AGAINST the amendment (please voice your concerns to
them-- the Democratic leadership supported the amendment, so this was a big
break):
Cardoza
Davis (FL)
Dooley (CA)
Hall
Mollohan
Moran (VA)
Murtha
Peterson (MN)
Stenholm
Tauscher
Berman, Gephardt, McCarthy (MO), Oberstar, and Weiner (NY) did not vote.
List of all reps who voted in support of the amendment (apologies that this
is organized alphabetically rather than by state...):
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Alexander
Allen
Andrews
Baca
Baird
Baldwin
Ballance
Becerra
Bell
Berkley
Berry
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Boswell
Boucher
Brady (PA)
Boyd
Brown (OH)
Brown, Corrine
Capps
Capuano
Cardin
Carson (IN)
Carson (OK)
Case
Clay
Clyburn
Conyers
Cooper
Costello
Cramer
Crowley
Cummings
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
Davis (TN)
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
Deutsch
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Duncan
Edwards
Ehlers
Emanuel
Engel
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Ford
Frank (MA)
Frost
Gonzalez
Gordon
Green (TX)
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Gutknecht
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Hill
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hoeffel
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Hostettler
Hoyer
Hulshof
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Jenkins
John
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kind
Kleczka
Kucinich
Lampson
Langevin
Lantos
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Leach
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Lofgren
Lowey
Lucas (KY)
Lynch
Majette
Maloney
Markey
Marshall
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Menendez
Michaud
Millender-McDonald
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Moore
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal (MA)
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Otter
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Paul
Payne
Pelosi
Petri
Pomeroy
Price (NC)
Rahall
Ramstad
Rangel
Reyes
Rodriguez
Rohrabacher
Ross
Rothman
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sabo
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sanders
Sandlin
Schakowsky
Schiff
Scott (GA)
Scott (VA)
Sensenbrenner
Serrano
Shays
Sherman
Simmons
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Spratt
Stark
Stearns
Strickland
Stupak
Tancredo
Tanner
Taylor (MS)
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Toomey
Towns
Turner (TX)
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Waters
Watson
Watt
Waxman
Wexler
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
If your representative is not on this list, then they voted against the
amendment.
Let's keep the pressure on by giving our representatives feedback on their
votes! If you make calls or send letters and could let me know, that will
help our work on the DC end. estarmer@lawg.org.
It is a great pleasure to work with such a dedicated community of people.
Thank you again for all of your efforts.
Elanor Starmer
Associate for Colombia and Central America
Latin America Working Group
110 Maryland Ave. NE, Box 15
Washington, DC 20002
Tel. 202/546-7010
Fax 202/543-7647
e-mail: estarmer@lawg.org
For updates on US policy toward Latin America, please see our website,