KEEP OREGON'S GUARD IN OREGON CALL IN DAY

Peace and Justice Works, 24.02.2009 14:07

KEEP OREGON'S GUARD IN OREGON CALL IN DAY, THURSDAY FEB 26

Time is running short before half of Oregon's National Guard troops are
slated to deploy to Iraq in late March/early April, so we have scheduled a call-in day this Thursday, February 26, for you to contact your state
representatives and senators in Salem!

While the Campaign to Keep Oregon's Guard in Oregon has progressed well,
securing a total of 14 cosponsors on the proposed legislation to keep the guard home (HB 2556, HR 4 and SR 1), we need to put some serious (but polite!) pressure on the Governor, the Speaker of the House, the Senate President, and the committee chairs who have the ability to move the legislation forward.

"keep the guard in Oregon" phone call

Here are the people to call, and a sample script is below. Please note there is also a toll free number to call Salem, which you can use to get through to any of these offices--1-800-332-2313:

Speaker of the House, Representative Dave Hunt (House District 40/Gladstone):
503-986-1200
(can make sure HB 2556 and HR 4 get scheduled for a hearing)

Chair of the House Rules Committee: Representative Arnie Roblan (House District 9/Coos Bay):
503-986-1409

President of the Senate, Senator Peter Courtney (Senate District 11/Salem):
503-986-1600
(can make sure SR 1 gets scheduled for a hearing)


Chair of the Senate Rules Committee: Senator Richard Devlin (Senate District 19/Tualatin): 503-986-1719

Governor Ted Kulongoski: 503-378-4582

"Hello, my name is Concerned Citizen (if applicable, add "and I am a
constituent.") and I am one of the 7200 people who signed a petition to keep our Oregon National Guard at home (or: I belong to one of the 56 organizations that supports the Keep Oregon's Guard in Oregon campaign, or I am a supporter of the Campaign's goals).

"I urge you to hold hearings on (and/or to support) HB 2556 and (HR 4 or SR 1) immediately. Those who question whether the bill and resolutions are constitutional are avoiding the question of whether the federalization of our Guard is legal. The Authorizations for the Guard to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are not valid and the Governor should keep the Guard in Oregon.

"I would like to see HB 2556 and (HR 4 or SR 1) passed before the late March deployment, and for our state to take a stand. If there are questions about the law, let the courts sort that out. Our Guard should not be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan under the current federal authorizations. The budget is a high priority, but for this issue, Oregonians' lives are at stake."

Here are similar points in list form

**In January at the Capitol, a campaign of 56 organizations delivered the names of over 7000 people from across the state who want legislation to keep our Guard home.

**We want Speaker Hunt and President Courtney to schedule hearings so that the people can testify. We believe the hearings will build support for the legislation.

**22 states plus Washington DC are now participating in the nationwide effort to keep the Guard home. In Maryland, a Senate Committee already agreed to hold a hearing just days after the bill was introduced.

**Voting for House Joint Memorial (HJM) 5 is not an acceptable substitute to passing the bill and resolutions calling on the Governor to keep the Guard in Oregon. While it is not harmful for the Legislature to "send a message to Congress," the Governor must take a stand against the misuse of the National Guard.

The legislators who are co-sponsoring the Oregon bill and resolutions are:
Representatives Jules Kopel-Bailey, Michael Dembrow, Chris Edwards, Mitch
Greenlick, Nick Kahl, Jim Thompson, Carolyn Tomei and Chip Shields. The
Senators are: Laurie Monnes-Anderson, Rod Monroe, Bill Morrisette, Diane
Rosenbaum, Vicki Walker and Martha Schrader.

If your representative or senator is not on this list, call or write and ask them to co-sponsor! The more co-sponsors we have, the easier it will be to move this through the system. To find your legislator's info, go to
 http://www.legislatorpro.com/oregon .

One last thing for those who are really up to the task:

It will help if the Committee Administrators for the House and Senate know that people are interested in these bills.

So call these numbers and ask if a hearing has been set up yet:

House Rules administrator: Jerry Watson 503-986-1532, HB 2556 and HR 4

Senate Rules administrator: Lisa Nuss 503-986-1667, SR 1

Let's be sure our bill and resolutions get hearings! Keep phones ringing
all over the Capitol!


Other members of the House and Senate Rules Committees:

Vice-Chair House Rules Committee: Representative Vicki Berger (HD20-Salem):503-986-1420
Representative Tobias Read (HD27-Beaverton): 503-986-1427
Representative Mary Nolan (HD36-Portland): 503-986-1900
Representative Bill Garrard (HD56-Klamath Falls): 503-986-1456
Representative Bob Jenson (HD58-Pendleton): 503-986-1458
Representative Sara Gelser (HD16-Corvallis): 503-986-1416

Vice-Chair Senate Rules Committee: Sen. Ted Ferrioli, (SD30-John Day):
503-986-1730
Sen. Jason Atkinson (SD2-Grants Pass): 503-986-1702
Sen. Ginny Burdick (SD18-Portland), 503-986-1718
Sen. Rick Metsger (SD26-Welches), 503-986-1726

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You may not be able to use the 1-800 number 26.02.2009 - 12:41 I just tried the 1-800 number and it told me I was out of the dialing area to use this phone number so i would call the numbers directly. Rep. Peter Buckley's # is 503-986-1405 Sen. Alan Bates # is 503-986-1703 Liisa> Homepage:: http://