Senator Barbara Mikulski
Barbara Mikulski has consistently voted for supplemental appropriations to fund the Iraq war. While she has pledged to continue to back measures calling for a phased withdrawal of combat troops, she stops short of using her position on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee to condition or withhold additional funding for the occupation. PeaceAction Montgomery disagrees strongly with that position and has challenged her to use the Senate's real power: its appropriations process.
In September, 2007, Senator Mikulski voted against the Reid/Feingold amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill that would have established a firm timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq and cut off funds for combat after June 2008. The strongest legislation being considered in the Senate, this was still a very weak piece of legislation; for example, it would have allowed as many as 80,000 troops to stay in Iraq after next summer to "fight terrorists, train Iraqi troops and protect U.S. installations." In other words, Senator Mikulski voted against a withdrawal timetable that included only partially de-funding the occupation; this was a vote to continue the occupation of Iraq indefinitely.
With respect to Iran, Senator Mikulski has written to constituents that she is opposed to taking "any options off the table" at a time when credible reports of the Bush administration included nuclear weapons "on the table." She voted with the rest of the Senate in September, 2007, to appropriate $75 million for destabilizing the government of Iran, calling it "democracy promotion." More
here. Most egregiously, in September, 2007, she voted for the Kyl-Lieberman amendment that endorses the "use of all instruments of United States national power in Iran," including military. This measure can easily be seen as a blatant threat against yet another state that has never threatened us.
On torture, her votes have been better, as she voted for the McCain amendment and to investigate secret detentions and she voted against the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which effectively legalized torture and destroyed habeas corpus. She is also a cosponsor of the Restoring the Constitution Act.
PeaceAction Montgomery believes that Senator Mikulski needs to become a leader for peace by demanding of the Administration that all the troops come home now. We ask her to refuse to vote more money for the war, except as needed to bring home our soldiers, and to use her powerful committee assignment on Appropriations to insist that the military not build permanent bases in Iraq. Moreover, we want her to stop beating the drum for war with Iran.
The following table summarizes the most important votes related to Iraq and Iran in the 110th Congress, 2007. Sen. Mikulski voted the wrong way 64% of the time.
