DFATucson Meeting (Wed. Feb. 20th, 7pm)

DATE: Wednesday , Feb. 20th, 7-9pm
LOCATION: City of Tucson Ward 6 Office, 3202 E 1st St.
(One block south of Speedway onCountry Club, turn east onto 1st St to address)
(Google Map of Meeting Location)

AGENDA: Follow-up with Maura Policelli, Chief of Staff for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

Open to all. Please attend and encourage others to do the same.

The previous lively meeting with Gifford's representative, Gabe Zimmerman, left a lot of unanswered questions regarding the Congresswoman's position on many critical issues. A list of questions have been resubmitted and we expect to have Maura Policelli, the Congresswoman's Chief of Staff, join us and answer a few questions. Join us for another lively and thoughtful conversation.


LIST OF QUESTIONS RE-SUBMITTED TO CONGRESSWOMAN GIFFORDS IN ADVANCE:


1. It is evident from your previous statements that you do not approve of multiple aspects of the behavior of Cheney/Bush. 23 members of Congress have signed HR 799 and now Cong. Wexler and 2 colleagues on the Judiciary Committee have, as of three weeks ago, called for a formal investigation; in that short time nearly 200,000 signatures of support have been submitted. It is evident that the more members, inside and outside of the Judiciary Committee, that call one way or another for action will result in getting around the unfortunate and inappropriate roadblock that Rep. Pelosi threw up, even before any action was initiated. Why therefore do you not actively support requesting a formal investigation?

2. In your mind,what additional grevious acts would Cheney and Bush have to do to support impeachmemt? The short list are the 7 items listed in our Petition for Impeachment, attached.

3. In the Nixon investigation, it took 6 months to effect his decision to resign as impeachment was imminent. Currently, the Judiciary Committee has already had multiple internal investigations and there have been multiple books published on the transgressions of Bush and Cheney. This being the case, if anything, the time for investigation would be dramatically foreshorted since so much is already documented. Does this not make the argument that there is insufficient time to effect impeachment moot? A related question would be is it more important to make the effort and educate the broad public on the issues, regardless of whether it leads to impeachment, THAN DO NOTHING?

4. There are many that say the Iraq War (2003 version) was clearly illegal by International Law, by the UN Charter as well as by provisions in the U.S. Constitution (a declaration of war was never approved). Furthermore, those who support the war by providing funding for same could be held liable by the International Criminal Court. What is the legal opinion on this from your sources?

5. Poll after poll done in the U.S. has shown majority support for leaving Iraq and bringing the troops home. We think you should conduct a poll of CD 8 constituents re the same issue, which could include a question about manning permanent residual bases there. "Redeployment" not otherwise defined could mean moving troops to the massive bases already established rather than moving them out of country altogether (except for the embassy). Would you be willing to do such a poll? If not, what would be the reasons?

6. The Iraqis in many polls have supported a timetable for withdrawal of troops. Polls also indicate than they feel (with perhaps the exception of a few selected areas) the presence of the troops makes things worse rather than better (i.e., the mentality of occupation). Why should we ignore these facts in our policy decisions towards Iraq?

7. You state you do not support the war but do support the troops, therefore justifying your support of additional funding for the war. As further troop funding would clearly prolong the war, how can you reconcile these points of view?

8. The war is being funding largely by bonds from China, Korea, Japan, S. Arabia and others; each incremental further increased funding exhaccerbates this, as well as passing on the debt to our children and grandchildren to pay. In that you support funding, what alternative funding mechanism do you propose to obviate gifting our children to pay for this?

9. What alternative plan(s) do you support for a stable Iraq and Middle East? What conclusions did you draw from your recent conversation with Prof. Eaton, Gen. Adams and others?

10. The latest in a long series of signing statements by Bush negates the laws passed by Congress re permanent bases, contractor fraud investigation, whistle blower protection and document requests from U.S. intel agencies. Attorney Gen. Mukasey recently stated that he would not enforce supaenas issued by Congress.
a. Are signing statements legal? Where in the Consitution is this procedure authorized?
b. Other than sending statements of disapproval, what other strategy could possibly be effective in the maintainence of duly passed laws?

11. The corrosive effect of money in our political elections has hit a new high in recent years. Do you support HR 1614? If not, what alternative approach do you support?