John Conyers: Let's Hope This is a Better Week

[babylonsister]

http://www.johnconyers.com/node/157

Let's Hope This is a Better Week
Submitted by JC on September 24, 2007 - 11:13pm.

Last week we witnessed Senate Republicans obstinately blocking legislation to restore habeus corpus, to provide District of Columbia residents representation in Congress, and to allow a little more time for service members to spend time with their family before deployments to Iraq.

How remarkable is it that Republicans eagerly stand in the way of core democratic principles? The American Revolution and the birth of our nation began with the outrage of taxation without representation. The Boston Tea Party was an act of rebellion against this injustice. And yet the residents of the District of Columbia continue to exist without their own voting representative. D.C. residents have no one to vote for to represent their interests in Congress. They must rely upon the goodwill of others. Would any other truly democratic nation stand for this?

Anticipating Republican objections based on purely partisan reasons, the DC Vote bill passed by the House and rejected by the Senate would have added an extra seat in Republican Utah to balance things. Astonishingly, Senate Republicans could not support this balanced proposal.

And the other objection Senate Republicans had to democratic principles? Restoring habeus corpus rights to alleged enemy combatants. A bedrock principle of our democracy, habeus corpus holds that any prisoner has a right to ascertain why he or she is being detained. The Bush administration has used the "War on Terror" as an excuse to deny these rights to prisoners held at Guantanamo.

Shamefully, America has sacrificed its moral leadership in the world in seven short years. Last week, the Senate Republicans had a chance to earn back some of that respect. Instead they turned their backs on democratic principles.

Republicans also showed a willingness to turn their backs on our soldiers serving in Iraq. In a seemingly straightforward proposal, Senator Webb of Virginia offered a measure providing that all service personnel serving in Iraq have as much time off as between tours of duty as the time served in their last tour. With our forces stretched thin in a conflict longer than World War II, and with National Guard troops spending extended periods away from their families, this sensible proposal would have greatly helped families deal with the hardship of their loved ones being absent for so long. Even this modest proposal was rejected.

These issues illustrate why elections are important, and why the 2008 election is of vital importance.