[newsfromthenetwork] SOA Watch on Capitol Hill, Call your Representative

North and South, the People Say, Close the SOA! Donate

Call your Representative Now! SOA Watch activists from around the country are currently visiting Congressional offices in Washington, DC. Please amplify the message for the closure of the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC) by calling your Representative now. Here's the number of the Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (if you don't know who your Representative is, the Congressional Switchboard will be able to tell you based on your ZIP code). Once your call is being forwarded to the office of your Representative, ask to speak with the foreign affairs legislative assistant. Here is a suggested message for you to convey: "As a constituent living in _________, I am calling Congressman/woman ________ to urge him/her to contact Rep. McGovern to become a cosponsor of HR 1707, legislation that would suspend operations at the School of the Americas, renamed WHINSEC, and investigate the history of human rights abuses and failed policies of the institution. WHINSEC has allowed known human rights abusers not only to receive training at the school but also to instruct other soldiers. Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Uruguay and Venezuela have made public announcements they will no longer send students to the school, citing the negative image and history of this institution. Despite demands by Congress to have oversight over the curriculum and promote human rights, the Pentagon is now denying all requests to provide information to human rights organizations and the public about students and graduates of the school. I urge you to contact Cindy Buhl in Representative McGovern's office and ask that your boss be added as a cosponsor of HR 1707. I hope you will represent my views and support this legislation." Alternatively, you can also email Representative by using the online tool on our webpage. If you can, please follow-up with a phone call! Thank you

Take Action Urge your Representative to Co-Sponsor HR 1707, the Bill to Investigate the SOA/ WHINSEC Email/Fax your Representative Now! ¡Presente! Summer '08 Issue Coming Out Soon! The Summer 2008 issue of Presente, the newspaper of the movement to close the SOA, will be printed later this month. If you are not yet receiving Presente, click here to sign up now for free and we'll mail you the paper three times a year to your home. Consider to join the Presente Activist Distributor Network and distribute the paper in bulk in your community. Visit the Presente webpage: http://www.soaw.org/presente

We appreciate your interest! You are subscribed to this list as newsfromthenetwork@lists.wri-irg.org. Click here to unsubscribe, or reply to this email with "unsubscribe" in the subject line. Contact us. Our mailing address is: SOA Watch, PO Box 4566, Washington, D.C. 20017, USA Our telephone: (202) 234 3440 Donate to Support the Campaign to Shut Down the SOA/WHINSEC