Thank You to Members Opposing Goldstone Resolution H.Res. 867

Nov 17, 2009

This thank you note was sent to eleven courageous members who spoke out in the debate on H.Res. 867, and the four whose speeches were added to the Record, against the tide of criticism for the UN report on war crimes committed in Gaza, also known as the Goldstone Report. The whole debate can be read in the Congressional Record here and the full vote count is available here.

The representatives we sent this message to are:


Rep. Brian Baird (WA-3rd)
Rep. Lois Capps (CA-23rd)
Rep. William Delahunt (MA-10th)
Rep. John Dingell (MI-15th)
Rep. Donna Edwards (MD-4th)
Rep. Keith Ellison (MN-5th)
Rep. Sam Farr (CA-17th)
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH-10th)
Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-9th)
Rep. Betty McCollum (MN-4th)
Rep. James McGovern (MA-3rd)
Rep. George Miller (CA-7th)
Rep. James Moran (VA-8th)
Rep. David Price (NC-4th)
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA-6th)

***
November 4, 2009

Dear Representative,

Thank you very much for your courageous words on the House floor November 3 against the hasty and ill-considered passage of H.Res. 867 urging the Obama administration to oppose all further international consideration of the Goldstone Report.

As you and others who spoke out noted, this resolution contained many errors and misrepresentations of fact. It pointedly failed to encourage those in Israel, including members of the Israeli cabinet, who are calling for Israel to mount an independent judicial investigation, as both the Goldstone Report and the Obama administration have urged.

We at FCNL are appalled that the House leadership allowed this resolution to come to the floor without first holding a hearing at which Justice Goldstone and those with differing views could have been heard.

The kind of leadership that you displayed in response to H.Res. 867 is exactly what we must have in Congress if we are to secure the essential U.S. interest in being seen as an honest broker in the Middle East and if we are to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace. Yours is the kind of leadership that we at FCNL, our colleagues at Churches for Middle East Peace, whose board I chair, and others concerned to change the unacceptable status quo in the Middle East are working to encourage and support.

Thank you very much, again, for your leadership. We at FCNL are deeply grateful to you.


Sincerely,

James Fine
Legislative Secretary for Foreign Policy
PDF Version