PRC Statement to the Urbana City Council in support of the Resolution to Oppose War on Iraq

 

January 27, 2003

Delivered by Brooke Anderson

Good evening Mr. Mayor and Members of the Urbana City Council,

I am speaking to you on behalf of the Progressive Resource/Action Cooperative (PRC), and our 800 local members working to oppose racism in our communities and resist militarism abroad.

The PRC opposes President Bush's intentions to launch a new war against Iraq. We strongly support of the proposed Resolution to Oppose War on Iraq and we urge you to give this resolution your full and unconditional support.

Unknown numbers of Iraqi people and American soldiers will likely die in this war and for no reason. A pre-emptive strike against Iraq is outrageous when Iraq has neither threatened to attack the U.S. or other countries, nor been shown to possess an active nuclear or biological weapons program. The U.S. should not violate international law by acting without the support of the United Nations, especially when the U.S. government has been building its own nuclear arsenal.

Since many members of our community are being called away to fight and possibly die in this war, and because our community will suffer the financial devastation of a federal budget of war-making at the expense of local social services, we believe that it is both our right and our responsibility as a community to condemn this war and to communicate our collective sentiments to our federal government.

Further, we reject the use of a "voluntary" military designed to give young people access to educational opportunities, but which actually pulls them away from school, and which additionally enlists mostly poor, non-white Americans while the advocates of war in corporate America benefit. Many of these student reservists will be taken from our neighborhoods - from Urbana High School, Parkland College, and the U of I. Many of those fortunate to return from the war, will return to Urbana in need more assistance than the federal government will provide to them as veterans. The burden of their absence and the burden to assist these individuals when they return will fall on our community, which is already short on funding for human services.

When our state and local governments are cutting funding for health care, education, housing, day care, job training, and other support services that provide the most basic of life necessities to our residents, it is unconscionable for the federal government to initiate a war with no purpose at a cost of 10 billion taxpayer dollars per month. Those are our tax dollars spent and our resources cut, and so it is our duty to speak out in opposition to the war.

When we sent a message about the resolution to our listserv this morning, by early evening tonight, we had received back hundreds of supportive emails from Urbana teachers, students, mothers, health care workers, social service providers, and others. They asked us to convey to you their whole-hearted support for this resolution. Many of them asked if their alderperson supported the resolution. I want to be able to go home tonight and tell each of them YES! Please don't disappoint them, and please don't disappoint the thousands of local residents whose lives and livelihoods will be impacted by a war on Iraq. By passing this resolution, you will be upholding your duty as our elected officials to advocate for our needs and give us a voice at the national level. And now I'd like to read you the names of the supporters who asked to sign on in support of the resolution. [NAMES of 150+ supporters of the Resolution to Oppose War on Iraq].

Thank you for your efforts and goodnight.

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Urbana City Council Resolution Opposing War Against Iraq

WHEREAS, the issues between Iraq and the world community have not proven to be irresoluble by traditional diplomatic efforts;

WHEREAS, the United States is obliged, legally and ethically, to solve international problems in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations;

WHEREAS, a war with Iraq will jeopardize the lives of American soldiers and will kill many innocent Iraqi civilians, without guaranteeing the safety and security of U.S. citizens;

WHEREAS, past military conflict in the region resulted in widespread environmental destruction and long term health problems for Iraqis and U.S. soldiers, the effects of which have not yet been mitigated or understood;

WHEREAS, the ultimate security of the residents of Urbana and the United States at large is dependent upon working cooperatively with all nations to eliminate poverty, injustice, inequality, environmental degradation and other factors that breed war and terrorism;

WHEREAS, the Congressional Budget Office estimates a military action against Iraq will cost our nation between $9 and $13 billion a month, resulting in further cuts in federally funded projects and programs that benefit our city and its residents;

WHEREAS, the costs of war and the accompanying ballooning deficits could have significant impact on the residents of the State of Illinois, which is facing the 4th worst budget crisis in the country, the school districts of the state, 80% of which face budget crises this year, and the city of Urbana which predicts revenue loss this year;

WHEREAS, The billions of dollars to be spent on this war could much better be spent on schools, nutrition, health care, housing, infrastructure improvements, and generally eliminating poverty;

WHEREAS, There is growing opposition to war against Iraq given that: forty-two cities to date have enacted anti-war resolutions; an estimated 250,000 rallied in Washington recently to prevent war; the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, World Council of Churches, NAACP and numerous unions oppose the war; and local peace demonstrations have averaged once a week for over a year;

WHEREAS, the citizens of Urbana and its local elected officials have the constitutional right to petition the national government on this matter of grave concern to our community as part of the national and international debate now underway;

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the members of the City Council of the City of Urbana, oppose a U.S. invasion of Iraq; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the U.S. to work through the U.N. Security Council and reaffirm our nation's commitment to the rule of law in all international relationships; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge the U.S. to help alleviate the budget crises faced by the majority of the states, and increase federal social service funding to municipalities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, duly adopted, shall be sent to President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Senators Peter Fitzgerald and Richard Durbin, U.S. Representative Tim Johnson, and local members of the Illinois House and Senate.