WASHINGTON, DC -- Candidates of the Green Party of the United States reacted angrily to Congress's bipartisan approval yesterday of the resolution to surrender its constitutionally mandated authority to declare war to President Bush.

"Most leading Democrats, going against the majority of their own party, joined Republicans in handing Bush his blank check for an invasion of Iraq," said Rahul Mahajan, Green candidate for governor of Texas. "They have acted together as faithful factions of a single War Party, dedicated to the interests of the fossil fuel and arms contractor lobbies and to the establishment of the United States as a global empire. This decision may benefit elites, but it hurts ordinary working people in the United States and Iraq. Those who voted against the resolution should be applauded, but there can be no further reason for anyone to vote for the Democrats who supported this resolution."

Greens also criticized Congress for dropping plans for an independent investigation of the September 11 attacks, after negotiations in the House Intelligence Committee fell apart.

Democratic Congress members who voted for the war resolution include 'liberal' Senators John Kerry (MA), Dianne Feinstein (CA), Dick Gephardt (MO), and Hillary Clinton (NY), even after news this week that C.I.A. officials had called Saddam Hussein unlikely to launch any kind of attack, but warned that Saddam would become "much less constrained" if the U.S. invades. Greens found especially chilling Sen. Clinton's statement today that she is willing to cede to President Bush and future presidents the power to wage war at their own discretion.

"With Thursday's House and Senate votes, we saw a stake driven through the heart of the U.S. Constitution," said Steve Greenfield, Green candidate for Congress in New York's 22nd District, "as Congress relinquished its power to declare war to the executive branch. And we're about to see the parallel violation of the U.N. charter and international laws against invasion, including the 'preemptive' incursion that Bush's warlords are planning."

"The world is aghast," said Gregg Stevens, Green Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island, "and so are a lot of American citizens. So are we. The Green Party stands with all Americans who saw through Bush's misinformation, exaggerations, and cheap appeals to patriotism, and who urged Congress to vote no. We urge everyone outraged by Thursday's vote to continue speaking out, to protest civilly and en masse against the impending war."

Greens thanked the minority of Representatives and Senators who voted nay, including Senators Robert Byrd (D.-WV), Edward Kennedy (D.-MA), Paul Wellstone (D.-MN), and Lincoln Chafee (R.-RI). Rep. Barbara Lee (D.-CA) fearlessly led anti-war dissenters in the House, including Dennis Kucinich (D.-OH), Cynthia McKinney (D.-GA), and Jim Leach (R.-IA).

"These Congress members are at odds with their own party leadership," said Holly Hart, Green candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Iowa, who noted that the Green Party of the United States issued a statement on September 19 opposing an invasion. "The Green Party is now the leading party of peace and adherence to U.S. constitutional and international law."

"We know it will be children of the poor, black and brown, who will die in this war so rich white men who escaped military service when they were young can assert U.S. dominance throughout the world," said Donna J. Warren, California Green Candidate for Lieutenant Governor. "We must send a message on November 5th. Vote the candidates of the Green Party into office, stop the war, and throw the warmongers out."

MORE INFORMATION

The Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org
National office: 1314 18th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-296-7755, 866-41GREEN

Green Party Statement in Opposition to U.S. Plans to Invade Iraq gpus.org/press/pr_09_20_02.html

Forwarded by the D.C. Statehood Green Party
www.dcstatehoodgreen.org