| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The president of the United States has proposed an |
|
|
escalation in the number of American troops deployed in Iraq; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Our troops in Iraq have valiantly upheld their duty |
|
|
under dire circumstances, and United States involvement in that |
|
|
country has resulted in the deaths of more than 3,000 U.S. soldiers |
|
|
and the wounding and disabling of more than 22,000 U.S. military |
|
|
personnel to date; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, This proposed escalation will further extend |
|
|
National Guard tours in Iraq, at a time when the costs to the states |
|
|
of the call-up of National Guard members for deployment in Iraq have |
|
|
been significant, as reckoned in lost lives, combat injuries and |
|
|
psychic trauma, disruption of family life, financial hardship for |
|
|
individuals, families, and businesses, interruption of careers, |
|
|
and damage to the fabric of civic life in our communities; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, More than $357 billion has been appropriated by |
|
|
Congress to fund military operations and reconstruction in Iraq to |
|
|
date, money that could fund desperately needed education, health |
|
|
care, housing, nutrition, and other social services in our |
|
|
communities in the United States or humanitarian assistance abroad; |
|
|
and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Previous budgets that have prioritized Iraq have led |
|
|
to cuts in critical block grants for states and have increased the |
|
|
federal debt, which, compounded by interest payments, will likely |
|
|
lead to even larger cuts in funding for critical needs in the |
|
|
states; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Polls show that the vast majority of Americans do |
|
|
not support increasing the number of troops in Iraq; most military |
|
|
experts oppose escalation in Iraq, and press reports indicate that |
|
|
even the Joint Chiefs of Staff have opposed such a strategy; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Legal experts on all sides have determined that |
|
|
Congress has not only broad authority, but a long tradition of |
|
|
limiting escalation or forcing redeployment of troops through the |
|
|
constitutionally designated power of the purse; now, therefore, be |
|
|
it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas |
|
|
Legislature, on behalf of the citizens of Texas, respectfully urges |
|
|
that, in a period when the Iraq Study Group, leading military and |
|
|
diplomatic officials, and allies around the world are calling for a |
|
|
reduction in troops and withdrawal of the United States from Iraq, |
|
|
the United States government not escalate its involvement in Iraq |
|
|
or increase troop levels; or that, at a minimum, the president |
|
|
obtain explicit approval from Congress to send more American troops |
|
|
to Iraq; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the United States Congress be urged to pass |
|
|
legislation prohibiting the president from spending taxpayer |
|
|
dollars on an escalation in Iraq unless he first seeks |
|
|
congressional approval; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the chief clerk of the Texas House of |
|
|
Representatives forward official copies of this resolution to the |
|
|
president of the United States, to the speaker of the house of |
|
|
representatives and the president of the senate of the United |
|
|
States Congress, and to all members of the Texas delegation to the |
|
|
Congress with the request that this resolution be entered |
|
|
officially in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the |
|
|
Congress of the United States of America. |