Peace Action Scores The Congress-- The Congress Sucks

Peace Action West is a foreign policy advocacy organization based in Oakland-- and we like what they're advocating... a lot. They foster broad-based civic activism with the goal of creating "a strong voice for peaceful and pragmatic solutions to global problems." Their activities serve as a bridge between the public and the officials who make decisions that affect the lives of millions of people, like members of Congress.

By mobilizing diverse constituencies though grassroots action we work to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons in the future while stopping the development, testing, spread and use of those weapons today; protect human rights around the world by controlling the global trade in lethal weapons; advance national spending priorities that meet the nation's real security and domestic needs; and promote resolution of international conflicts through cooperation and diplomacy.

Early this month they endorsed two progressive challengers, Marcy Winograd and Bill Hedrick, each of whom has taken incredibly principled leadership positions on the toughest foreign policy issues facing Congress. Few candidates I've spoken to are willing to stand so firmly and unambiguously in favor of peace and each is running against a full-on war-monger (Blue Dog Jane Harman and Republican reactionary Ken Calvert). As Rebecca Griffith, political director of Peace Action West wrote, "One of our greatest challenges is a Congress full of politicians who scare easily when it comes to issues of war and peace. Whether it’s out of fear or lack of motivation, they just go along with the status quo. Every day we work to light a fire under these reluctant members of Congress, but every so often we get the chance to truly change the face of Congress."

This week Peace Action West released a useful congressional scorecard on foreign policy issues for every member of Congress. It's a sad commentary on a Congress Rebecca accurately described above. There were 13 bills they used under the subheadings of Cutting Pentagon Pork, U.S. Relations With Iran, The Wars In Iraq and Afghanistan, War in Gaza, and Torture and Human Rights.

The absolute worst members of the House-- those with zero-- were Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL), Bill Young (R-FL), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Ahn Cao (R-LA), Rodney Alexander (R-LA), Peter King (R-NY), and John Sullivan (R-OK). Almost all the rest of the Republicans scored an 8%, each having voted correctly  on one bill. But, there was one Republican-- Texas isolationist Ron Paul-- who voted with the dozen most enlightened members. Only one member, Maxine Waters (D-CA), had a perfect score but the dozen other best voters for 2009 were:

Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Pete Stark (D-CA)
Sam Farr (D-CA)
Donna Edwards (D-MD)
Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Donald Payne (D-NJ)
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Ron Paul (R-TX)
Jim McDemott (D-WA)
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

A few days ago Tom Hayden reported in The Nation on progressives' plans going forward to wind the war in Afghanistan down despite the Pentagon's insistence on prolonging it.

Two key antiwar critics, Senator Russ Feingold and Representative Jim McGovern, are expected to introduce legislation as early as next week calling for a "flexible timetable" for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. The proposal, now in final stages of preparation, was confirmed by McGovern and by Feingold's office.

The coordinated effort, the first of its kind during the Afghanistan war, is reminiscent of similar House-Senate proposals that eventually succeeded in winning majority support during the Vietnam War. During the Iraq War, resolutions calling for a timetable steadily advanced as well, until they became Obama's platform in 2008.

The new initiative will challenge the Obama administration and offer an organizing vehicle for the peace movement. The recent sixty-five votes for Representative Dennis Kucinich's antiwar resolution is not a true measure of antiwar sentiment in the Congress, McGovern told me, adding, "We haven't had our full debate on the war." Congressional restlessness is climbing over sacrificing American lives and dollars for a corrupt and recalcitrant Karzai government, he argues.

Congressional restlessness may indeed be climbing, but as Hayden writes in ending, "when it comes to the Long War, both parties are loaded with big spenders." A bill by Barbara Lee to cut funding for escalating the war and continuing the catastrophic occupation of the country is expected to receive less than 60 votes-- one of the reasons it's so essential to elect candidates-- like Bill Hedrick, Marcy Wiongrad, Doug Tudor, and Regina Thomas-- overtly campaigning against war funding.