Wisconsin Reps Missing In Action On Gaza
The Capital Times, January 9, 2009
Dear Editor:
A review of press releases and statements on the Web sites of Wisconsin members of Congress finds not a single public statement on the Israeli attacks on Gaza, despite the fact that the Israel is the recipient of $3 billion s a year in taxpayer-funded U.S. military aid.
Although Wisconsin representatives understandably focused many of their recent statements on the current economic crisis and other issues closer to home, statements on matters of foreign policy were also present. Sen. Russ Feingold, for example, recently highlighted his efforts to call for a cease-fire in the civil war in the Congo, a conflict that the U.S. is not spending billions of dollars to support. A call to Feingold’s Washington office confirmed that Feingold has issued no statements on the Israeli attacks on Gaza, and the senator’s staff person was unaware of any plans to issue a statement.
If any of our representatives think that Israel is justified in an attack that has resulted in more than 500 deaths and the bombing of a U.N.-sponsored school, they should say so. If, on the other hand, they disagree with the Israeli attack, now is the time to speak up. It is shameful for our elected officials to continue their silence while hundreds of people die under a barrage of U.S.-supplied bombs.
Steve Burns
Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice
Madison
