Join the "Healthcare NOT Warfare" campaign!
PDA 2006 Election Video
» 56K modem
» broadband
Stop Funding War Video
» All
formats
Click here for the Congressional Schedule
Rep. Jim McGovern is currently serving his fifth term in the House from the 3rd Congressional District of Massachusetts. He has introduced H.R. 4232, which would end funding for the use of ground troops in Iraq and US occupation of Iraq. Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) has been working and organizing support for HR 4232, including circulating an online petition that has garnered more than 25,000 signatures. PDA urges everyone to sign the petition, and to ask your Congressional member to co-sponsor the bill. Rep. McGovern was interviewed on Wednesday, Oct. 4, by PDA National Board Member William Rivers Pitt.
WRP: The number, I believe, is 21 American soldiers killed since Saturday. Four more died today. Dozens of Iraqi civilians have been killed just in the last few days. Can you give me your assessment of where we are in terms of this occupation of Iraq?
Rep. McGovern: I think it’s an absolute fiasco. It is a complete mess. We have ruined our reputation around the world. On top of everything else, the contractors involved in this war are ripping off American taxpayers. These contractors have stolen millions of dollars of taxpayer money, and all we have to show for it is being the referee in a civil war.
This war needs to be brought to an end and the sooner the better. I believe that if we can end the U.S. occupation, we can hopefully prompt a new dynamic in Iraq where the various factions will decide to cooperate with each other and decide to figure out a way to coexist, and also prompt some of Iraq’s neighbors and the international community to play a constructive role helping to construct a peaceful future for the people of Iraq.
WRP: Can you tell me about your proposed legislation, HR4232?
Rep. McGovern: Our bill essentially calls for an end to the war now. It basically stops funding the war. That’s the way you end wars. We can talk all we want about someday the conditions will be ripe, or someday we’ll do this or do that, but the fact is that the only way to end this war is by cutting off the funding.
This not a cut-and-run strategy. What my bill says is that we will continue to provide funds for a safe and orderly withdrawal of troops. This bill doesn’t say cut funds immediately and leave our troops just hanging there. It provides funding for the safe and orderly withdrawal of our troops. That may take weeks, or even a few months, in all reality.
It also allows for there to be continued U.S. assistance for economic reconstruction. We do have a moral obligation not to leave the people of Iraq high and dry after this war. We should also support international organizations like the United Nations if they decide to put in a temporary peacekeeping force. But it would not allow for the funding of U.S. troops on the ground. We have great men and women serving our country in Iraq right now, but it is my conviction that the continued presence of U.S. soldiers in Iraq is not calming the situation. It’s like throwing gasoline on a fire.
WRP: I assume you have co-sponsors for this legislation.
Rep. McGovern: We have several, and are collecting more. The bill, I should add, is also being used as a discussion point so that members of Congress can respond to some of the very real questions that a lot of members of Congress right now are dodging. What are you going to do about Iraq? What’s your plan for the future of U.S. involvement in Iraq? It’s not enough just to say it was a mistake.
I do think those of us who believe it was a mistake have an obligation, if we believe it is the appropriate thing to do, to outline a strategy to end this war. And I think the way you end this war is by stopping the funding for the war.
WRP: You spoke last month at the PDA Town Hall meeting organized around your legislation. Can you talk a bit about what PDA has been doing to assist the passage of your bill, and what people inside and outside of PDA can do to aid this effort?
Rep. McGovern: Progressive Democrats of America is an organization that has attracted a lot of like-minded people together, people who are very much frustrated by U.S. policy in Iraq, and has helped provide the grassroots with information, and also strategies to implement to go out and end this war.
I always tell people that intelligence is not necessarily a prerequisite for serving in the United States Congress. Sometimes people in this body need to be pressured, they need to be educated, and they need to know that their constituents want the war to end. The greater the pressure, the more likely we’re going to get members of Congress to start moving in the direction of bringing this war to an end.
This war will not just end on its own. While it is encouraging that more and more members of Congress are now coming out and saying this war was a mistake, we need them to do more than just admit that. We need them to actually now fight to end this war.
The President says we need to stay the course. Well, that’s become code for staying forever. We can’t afford to stay any longer. This war is costing us too much in terms of blood and treasure, and it has cost us our reputation around the world. The National Intelligence Estimate that was recently unveiled in the press makes it very clear that our presence in Iraq, our occupation of Iraq, is fueling the insurgency and fueling terrorists all around the world. It is being used as a recruiting tool for terrorist organizations to get more terrorists, and that doesn’t seem to be in the national security interests of the United States of America.
WRP: How are you feeling about the November midterms?
Rep. McGovern: I’m hoping we will get a new Congress, because I believe we need to change the discussion here in Washington. Right now, the Republicans control the White House, the House and the Senate. There’s no oversight, there’s no accountability, there’s no questioning of past mistakes. What the Congress is basically doing is serving as a rubber stamp for this administration. They’re not holding hearings; they’re not doing what people expect members of Congress to do.
At a minimum, what I hope happens, if the Democrats take over, is that there will be some hard questioning. There will be some oversight. There will be some accountability. There will be a demand for the truth on our policy in Iraq, and I believe that will pave the way to help end this war.
We have a situation right now where not only are we pursuing a bad policy, but we are doing it in the worst possible way. The contractors this administration hired to do the reconstruction are ripping the American taxpayers off. Companies like Halliburton that have a long history of ripping off the taxpayers are the ones who are getting most of the grant awards. Not to mention the fact that so many aspects of this war have been so badly bungled.
We in Congress at a minimum have got to hold this administration accountable and demand the truth, demand answers, and insist that we change direction.
WRP: What committee do you work on?
Rep. McGovern: I’m on the Rules Committee. The Rules Committee is the traffic cop of Congress. Every bill that goes to the House floor goes through the Rules Committee.
WRP: Well, here’s to hoping you have yourself a majority seat come November.
Rep. McGovern: Thank you very much.
Click here for more info.
PDA National News RSS Feed