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Results of Colombia Aid Vote: Follow Up Needed!

The House voted down the McGovern-Skelton amendment on Colombia after a long, heated debate.

The debate was incredibly strong: 9 members spoke on the floor (McGovern (D-MA), Skelton (D-MO), Blumenauer (D-OR), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Schakowsky (D-IL), Obey (D-WI), Kucinich (D-OH), Lowey (D-NY), and DeLauro (D-CT)). Reps. Pelosi (D-CA) and Doggett (D-TX) also worked hard leading up to the vote to rally support for the amendment.

The vote came out with 195 for, 226 against. Twelve republicans voted in support of the amendment. However, we lost some Republicans who we thought would vote with us, probably due to an intense lobbying effort by Republican leadership and Colin Powell.

Seventeen Democrats voted against the amendment. Among them were members who always vote wrong as well as some who have voted right in the past.

FOLLOW UP NEEDED!

While the vote did not win, it showed that Colombia continues to be one of the most contentious foreign policy issues in Congress. Keep posted on lobbying your Senator during the August recess

TAKE ACTION

Please call or write your member of Congress as soon as possible and thank them if they voted to support the McGovern-Skelton amendment to the foreign aid bill.

Special thanks should go to the twelve Republicans who voted in support:
Ehlers (R-MI), Flake (R-AZ), Hoekstra (R-MI), Hulshof (R-MO), Kelly (R-NY), Leach (R-IA), Paul (R-TX), Petri (R-WI), Ramstad (R-MN), Rohrabacher (R-CA), Sensenbrenner (R-WI), and Toomey (R-PA).

These members withstood an intense lobbying effort by Republican House leadership and Colin Powell. If they hear positively from constituents now, they will be more likely to vote well next time.

If your member of Congress voted against the amendment, please contact them immediately to express your concerns.

This is especially important if you live in the district of one of the seventeen Democrats who voted against the amendment:
Berry (D-AR), Cardoza (D-CA), Cramer (D-AL), Davis (D-FL), Delahunt (D-MA), Dooley (D-CA), Edwards (D-TX), Frank (D-MA), Holden (D-PA), Lipinski (D-IL), Marshall (D-GA), Menendez (D-NJ), Peterson (D-MN), Rothman (D-NJ), Stenholm (D-TX), Tauscher (D-CA), Taylor (D-MS).

* To see how your member voted, please go to . The "ayes" supported the amendment, and the "noes" opposed.

* If you do not know who your member of Congress is, please see www.house.gov/writerep.

* To call your member of Congress' office, dial the US Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected with the office.

CLR would like to thank everyone that called their Representative’s office.

Source: Latin America Working Group (LAWG)