on School of the Americas
After five years, the silence in Congress has been broken.
Your work and the amazing contributions of over 40 national religious, labor and political organizations delivered an incredible vote today in what is possibly the most conservative Congress in U.S. history. Because of you, for the first time in six years, we won the debate, and we had a vote in Congress that garnered the support of 188 Representatives who voted to cut funding the School of the Americas/ WHINSEC, including almost 30 Republicans!
Today’s session was a critical day in our ongoing campaign to close the School of the Americas and to bring accountability to a “school of shame.” Now we know where Members of the House stand – and who we need to target. You now have the opportunity to invite at least 55 Members who voted with us but who aren’t yet co-sponsors of HR 1217 to sign on to our bill to suspend and investigate the SOA/ WHISNEC. See the final Roll Call.
This week you successfully leveraged more pressure on Congress than was leveraged on any other issue, you had the Republican leadership in the House worried about the vote. At the last minute, the right wing pulled out all the stops to get the bare minimum of votes needed – 218 – to defeat the amendment.
Our bill, HR 1217, is still alive! Today’s amendment vote is a good marker for us, and it will continue to serve as a tool for educating Members of Congress. Today’s vote will keep up our momentum as we continue to build support for HR 1217!
Our supporters won today’s debate hands-down. Representatives Lowey (NY), the ranking member of the House; Barbara Lee (CA), of the Human Rights Caucus; Schakowsky (IL); Meehan (MA); Kucinich (OH); and McGovern (MA) laid out strong arguments in favor of cutting funding to WHINSEC, citing serious concerns over human rights abuses, over the harm the institution does to relationships with Latin American nations and over known human rights abusers returning to WHINSEC.
Each Representative in favor of the amendment gave compelling and specific examples that supported their arguments. Those speaking against the amendment were not nearly as eloquent -- and didn't even have enough speakers to fill their time!
We have had an unprecedented level of success with our bill, HR 1217. We have more Republicans as co-sponsors than we’ve ever had; about 30 Republicans voted with us today; and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the House Minority Leader, a majority of the Human Rights Caucus and Budget Chairman Jim Nussle (R-IA) are on board with the bill.
We have made incredible strides forward, and we know that one day this school of torture, this school of coups, this school of repression will be closed down for good. We are continuing to grow our movement here in North America. Three South American countries have already pulled out of the school, and more may be on the way! Across the Americas, major social change is happening, and people’s movements continue to elect leaders that listen to the will of the people. There is much about which we can be hopeful. Now as we continue the momentum you must take action!
Read more about actions you can take to close the SOA.
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