* * please forward this email widely * *

== CONGRESS VOTES AS EARLY AS THURSDAY ON CUTTING FUNDING TO THE SOA/
WHINSEC ==

Congress will vote on an amendment to close the School of the Americas/
WHINSEC. Rep. McGovern of Massachusetts and John Lewis of Georgia will
introduce an amendment to the Foreign Operations appropriations bill to
cut funding for the school!

SEND AN EMAIL AND FAX TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE:
http://www.soaw.org/legislative. (Be sure to click the “Send a Fax” box to
have the fax sent).

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--> CALL CONGRESS NOW TO CLOSE THE SOA/WHINSEC <--

Call Congress at 202-224-3121 or toll free at 888-355-3588.

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The School of the Americas is a military training facility for Latin
American security personnel located at Fort Benning, Georgia that
catapulted into the headlines in 1996 when the Pentagon released training
manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and
execution. Despite this shocking admission and hundreds of documented
human rights abuses connected to soldiers trained at the school, no
independent investigation into the training facility has ever taken place.
Read more at http://www.SOAW.org

SOA WATCH EXPECTS A CLOSE VOTE in the House as early as Thursday
(tomorrow), and we need as many people as possible flooding the offices of
Members of Congress with calls in support of a YES vote on the amendment!
We need you to call, email and fax Congress every day until the vote
happens.

It’s been six years since our last vote in Congress, and the work of
thousands of you and people across the Americas who care about justice has
gotten us to where we are today. LET’S MAKE THIS FINAL PUSH TOGETHER!
Visit the Legislative Action Index for more information:
http://www.soaw.org/legislative.

Please take the time to call the DC office of your Representative through
the Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or toll free at
1-888-355-3588. Ask to speak with the foreign affairs legislative
assistant. Here is a suggested message for you to convey:

"I am calling Congressman/woman ________ to urge him/her to vote YES on
the McGovern amendment to the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. This
amendment is a cut in funding for the School of the Americas/ WHINSEC. New
information indicates that WHINSEC has allowed known human rights abusers
to instruct and receive training at the school. Argentina and Uruguay are
two more countries that have made public announcements they will no longer
send students to the school, citing the negative image and history of this
institution. Voting YES on this amendment sends a positive human rights
message to Latin America and will help to improve the U.S. image abroad.
As an elected official in Washington D.C., I hope you will represent me
and vote YES on any amendment in the House that would cut funding for the
school."

SEND AN EMAIL AND FAX TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE:
http://www.soaw.org/legislative. (Don’t forget to click the “Send a Fax”
box to have the fax sent).

FOR MORE INFORMATION, visit the SOA Watch website at http://www.soaw.org
and the Legislative Action Index at http://www.soaw.org/legislative