REQUEST FOR A PROPOSED RESOLUTION FOR CONSIDERATION BY PUEBLO CITY COUNCIL AND PUEBLO COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW
FUND CITIES AND COMMUNITIES - NOT WAR

WHEREAS: March 19, 2005 was the second anniversary of the beginning of the war against, and occupation of, Iraq, and

WHEREAS:  Over 100,000 Iraqis are estimated to have died as a direct result of the war and occupation; and

WHEREAS:  Over 1,500 U.S. troops have been killed and many more maimed and wounded; and

WHEREAS:  Thousands of families of U.S. personnel in Iraq are struggling in communities across the nation due to loss of income and services to sustain themselves in dignity; and

WHEREAS:  The occupation of Iraq remains a central impediment to the stabilization of Iraq; and

WHEREAS: The official and public reasons used to garner support of the American people for going to war have, in fact, been proven to be without basis; and

WHEREAS: Justice and peace minded people from Pueblo and throughout the nation have protested and called for a change in U.S. policy; and

WHEREAS: Pueblo's human services agencies are already stressed beyond their capacity to adequately respond to the emergency needs of people in Pueblo due in great part to the nation's funding of war and occupation; and

WHEREAS: President Bush is asking Congress to approve $82 billion more for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on top of the $200 billion that has already been taken from the lives of working and poor people to pay for the last two years of war; and

WHEREAS: President Bush's 2006 proposed budget constitutes the most violent assault in 25 years on the programs that Pueblo City and County, as well as other cities and communities across the country depend on; and

WHEREAS: These proposed cuts in desperately needed aid for education, healthcare, housing, veterans, as well as for the homeless and hungry; and whereas the continuation of the war and occupation in Iraq that these proposed cuts will in part pay for will cause grave harm to the people of Pueblo; and

WHEREAS:  The loss of critical revenue for people in need and for the Pueblo area agencies that serve them have a detrimental economic impact on Pueblo and Pueblo County;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: The Pueblo City Council/Pueblo County Commissioners calls on President George Bush and on Congress to:

WITHDRAW ALL U.S. TROOPS FROM IRAQ NOW and NOT CUT THE PROGRAMS THAT CITIES AND COMMUNITIES DEPEND ON. CUT THE FUNDS FOR WAR INSTEAD.