Congressional Debate on Iraq

We respectfully ask the Republican leadership in the Senate and House of Representatives to schedule a special joint session of Congress this year devoted entirely to Iraq. This special session should begin as soon as possible and last long enough to thoroughly cover all of our country's major policies related to the war. Hopefully, it will produce bipartisan legislation establishing a clearly defined goal for the termination of our active military involvement.

Since the hasty debate [1, 2] leading up to your authorization of open-ended military intervention 4 years ago, you have not spent enough time fulfilling your congressional oversight responsibilities related to the war in Iraq. [1, 2] Such lax oversight following 1964's Gulf of Tonkin Resolution encouraged the Johnson and Nixon administrations to persist with failed policies during our protracted involvement in Vietnam, [1, 2] and it appears to be having the same effect again. What our country desperately needs now, as it did 40 years ago during the Vietnam War, is for you to reassert " the exclusive power of Congress to determine matters of war and peace." The time has come for a real debate about our country's policies in Iraq that is honest, open, and lengthy enough to enable members of Congress to forge a consensus around the best aspects of all proposals. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Although we may not individually agree with everything written or referenced in this petition, we are unanimous in calling for a special session of Congress devoted entirely to Iraq. The war is now in its 4th year. Military and civilian deaths, as well as monetary costs, have reached unconscionable levels. Violence has spread to other countries in the Middle East. The 2006 congressional session has been scheduled to end on October 6th, one month before the November 7th election and almost 3 full months before the end of the year. For the House of Representatives, this would total only about 100 days spent in our nation's capital this year. Not only is this far below last year's total of 141, but it is also the shortest schedule since the 108 days posted by 1948's "do-nothing" Congress. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Under these circumstances, we do not think it is too much to ask for the Republican leadership to add at least a 5-day special session on Iraq to this year's historically brief schedule. The time is long overdue for an honest, open, and lengthy debate about an issue of such vital national and international importance!


[Important: When signing your name, please look up and include your ZIP Code + 4. This will help to ensure that the correct Representative and Senators are advised of your support, while allowing you to maintain a much greater degree of privacy than the alternative of listing your home address. This petition was initiated on September 14th, and will remain active through the end of 2006 or until a week-long Iraq Debate is scheduled --- whichever comes first. As long as it's active, the offices of the congressional leadership will be notified on a weekly basis of the number of signatures it has acquired.]