Call on Congress to Reduce Military Aid to Colombia & Support Victims of Violence
As you will recall, last year the Congress made many positive changes in U.S. policy towards Colombia – changes that couldn’t have been made without committed activists like you.
Picking up the phone, demanding your voice be heard. With the foreign aid subcommittees in the House and Senate set to “mark up” their respective bills in mid-July, it’s time to call your representative and senators and urge them to stand by Colombia’s victims of violence.
Call your Representative and Senators today and ask them to support the continued reduction of military aid to Colombia in this year’s foreign aid bill. See below for a list of Illinois Representatives & Senators, foreign policy staffers, and their contact information. Also, if you don’t know who your members of Congress are go to:
http://www.congress.org/
and type in your zip code to find out.
When you call, ask to speak with the foreign policy aide
. If he or she is unavailable, please leave the following message on his or her
voicemail:
“I am a constituent calling to encourage Rep./Senator ____________ to ensure that this year’s foreign aid bill stands by Colombia’s victims of violence. Last year, the Congress moved U.S. policy in the right direction by reducing military aid. Now, with credible reports linking the Colombian military to extrajudicial killings of civilians, Congress must continue to cut aid to Colombia. Instead of fueling war, the U.S. should be supporting Colombia’s victims of violence – small farmers trying to turn away from coca, refugees and the internally displaced, and Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities – in addition to the courageous efforts of human rights defenders.
I urge you to share my concerns on U.S. aid to Colombia directly with the chair of the foreign operations subcommittee before the foreign aid bill goes to mark up.
Can I count on Rep/Senator ________ to communicate these concerns?
Please let me know. My phone number is ___________. Thank you.”
When
you
decide to take positive actions on behalf Colombia’s victims of violence, send us an email to let us know what you did.
We’ve already achieved some momentous changes in U.S. policy towards Colombia, but we’ve got to keep building on our successes – we must keep pushing that ball up the hill!
Your calls make a difference! For more information, contact Danielle Wegman at
dwegman@crln.org
or 773-293-3680.
Illinois
Representatives
Bobby Rush (D-
1
st
)
– John Marshall,
202-225-4372
Jesse Jackson (D-
2
nd
)
– Charles Dujon
, 202-225-0773
Dan Lipinski (D-
3
rd)
– Keith Devereaux,
202-225-5701
Luis Gutierrez (D-4
th
)
–
Greg Staff
, 202-225-8203
Rahm Emanuel (D –
5
th
)
– Luis Jimenez,
202-225-4061
Peter Roskam (R
-6
th
)
–
Vicky Sanville,
202-225-4561
Danny Davis (D
-7
th
)
– Charles Brown,
202-225-5006
Melissa Bean (D-8
th
)
– J.D. Grom,
202-225-3711
Jan Schakowsky (D-9
th
)
– Nina Besser,
202-225-2111
Mark Kirk (R-10
th
)
– Rich Goldberg,
202-225-4835
Jerry Weller (R-11
th
)
– Alan Tennille,
202-225-3635
Jerry Costello (D-12
th
)
– Dan McCarthy,
202-225-5661
Judy Biggert (R-13
th
)
– Brian Petersen
, 202-225-3515
Bill Foster (D-14
th
)
– Peter Judge,
202-225-2976
Timothy Johnson (R-15
th
)
– Jennifer Mascho,
202-225-2371
Donald Manzullo (R-16
th
)
– Nien Su,
202-225-5676
Phil Hare (D-17
th
)
– Kemi Jemilohun,
202-225-5905
Ray LaHood (R-18
th
)
– Diane Liesman,
202-225-6201
