Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Share this action alert on your Facebook page or your Twitter account! 25+ Members of Congress to Introduce Anti-SOA Legislation - Keep the Pressure Up! On August 2, 2013, at least 25 Members of Congress will jointly introduce legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, that would suspend operations at the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC), and mandate investigations into the connection between U.S. foreign military training and human rights abuses in Latin America! The original co-sponsors of the Latin America Military Training Review Act have responded to the demands of their constituents, who don't want their tax dollars to be wasted on the training of repressive militaries at the SOA/WHINSEC. Has your Representative not signed on yet? We write at least 25 because there will be more legislators that come on board before August 2. Your Representative needs to hear from you in order for them to be added to the list of original cosponsors. Is your Representative one of the original 25? If so, please take a moment to thank them for standing up to the Pentagon and for human rights. Either way, PLEASE CLICK HERE to send your Representative an email. Already emailed? Please take a moment to call your Rep right now! Here are our 25 (so far) Congressional Champions, with Reps. Jim McGovern and John Lewis leading the charge. Click on the pictures to send your representative a thank you message through your Twitter account! Jim McGovern Massachusetts 02 John Lewis Georgia 05 Jan Schakowsky Illinois 09 Barbara Lee California 13 Keith Ellison Minnesota 05 Raul Grijalva Arizona 03 Sam Farr California 20 Mike Michaud Maine 02 Maxine Waters California 43 Mike Fitzpatrick Pennyslvania 08 John Conyers Jr. Michigan 13 Rosa DeLauro Connecticut 03 Jerrold Nadler New York 10 Danny Davis Illinois 07 Gwen Moore Wisconsin 04 Donna Edwards Maryland 04 Mike Honda California 17 Tim Bishop New York 01 Peter DeFazio Oregon 04 Betty McCollum Minnesota 04 Mark Pocan Wisconsin 02 The Pentagon is fighting hard to keep their tool of Hemispheric control in operation, their army of lobbyists currently making sure that SOA/WHINSEC is funded as the House votes on the Defense Appropriations Bill this week. As the recent appeal of our FOIA court victory proves yet again, they are not interested in promoting transparency or democracy. And as the outrageous murder last week in Honduras of indigenous leader Tomas Garcia by an SOA-graduate led battalion proves, the School of the Americas continues to produce soldiers that kill those that dare speak out. Right now, we need to push for additional original co-sponsors, but if your Representative does not sign on to the bill before it is introduced in the Armed Services Committee on August 2, we will continue to badger them afterward. You could deliver a letter to your Representative (and stage an action outside their offices) as part of our August 9 Day of Action. Members of Congress will soon be on summer recess, and therefore in their home districts, so even if you cannot visit them on August 9, you can schedule a meeting anytime between August 5-September 6 to keep the pressure up. Please do not hesitate to contact me at arturo@soaw.org or 202-234-3440 if you have any questions or need any support in calling your Member of Congress, setting up a meeting with their office, or organizing an action on August 9. En Solidaridad, Arturo