Reply #18: copy of the email

[Eric J in MN]

www.pacforachange.com

Last week, more than 70,000 concerned citizens like you cametogether to sign my petition and demand thetruth from Condoleezza Rice. Your support emboldened meduring Dr. Rice's confirmation hearings to ask the toughquestions that Americans deserve to have answered. I can'tthank you enough, and America can't thank you enough.

Perhaps even more importantly, the groundswell of support youcreated forced the Republican Senate leadership to give us whatwe wanted -- not a rubber stamp of Dr. Rice's nomination byvoice vote last Thursday before the Republicans dashed off toInaugural parties, but nine full hours of debate on the floor ofthe United States Senate.

With your support, our voices are being heard -- in thehalls of Congress, in the White House, and across thecountry. So today I ask for your support once more:

Help me add thousands more signatures to our petitionto hold Condoleezza Rice accountable. Tell yourfriends, family, neighbors, and colleagues to sign ourpetition, so that when I stand up on the Senate floorTuesday and Wednesday, I'm speaking with the power of tens ofthousands of Americans behind me.

White House Chief of Staff Andy Card has attacked me as"small" for seeking the truth. But I won't allow thisAdministration to try to sweep the facts about our failures inIraq and the war on terrorism under the rug. I'm takingthe "advice and consent" role, granted to the Senate in the U.S.Constitution, seriously.

During the full Senate debate over Condoleezza Rice'snomination tomorrow, I intend to take the floor, joined by manyother of my Democratic colleagues, to express my frustrationabout Dr. Rice's lack of candor during the confirmationhearings -- her unwillingness to level with the Americanpeople about the misleading statements she made about aluminumtubes, mushroom clouds, and connections between Saddam Husseinand Al Qaeda to try to justify the war in Iraq.

Condoleezza Rice refused to come clean about the actualnumber of trained Iraqi forces on the ground. And perhapseven more disturbingly, she refused to tell us why shepersonally intervened to kill an anti-torture provision in arecent intelligence bill.

I refuse to let these misstatements, misjudgments,and poor decisions go unanswered. So I askyou one last time, before the Senate debate Tuesday and finalvote on Wednesday, to tell everyoneyou know about our petition. Help me findthousands more Americans who are willing to signour petition and stand with us.

I can't thank you enough for everything you've done over thispast week. Now, in these final 48 hours before the vote onDr. Rice's nomination, I ask for your help once more. Joinme as we continue to fight for what's right -- because theprocess of democracy is as important as the outcome.

In Friendship,

Barbara Boxer
U.S. Senator


P.S. After forwarding ourpetition to everyone you know, be sure to call oremail your Senators and encourage them to join us in Tuesday'sdebate. Americans deserve a full and open debate about Dr.Rice's confirmation, as well as the important issues like Iraq,the war on terrorism, and the use of torture that underlie hernomination.


Paid for by PAC for aChange, www.pacforachange.com