File #: Res 1220-2005    Version: * Name: Urging the US government to immediately commence an orderly and rapid withdrawal of US military personnel from Iraq.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations
On agenda: 10/27/2005
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution urging the United States government to immediately commence an orderly and rapid withdrawal of United States military personnel from Iraq, and further urging that the financial resources used to prosecute the war be redirected to address the urgent needs of America’s great urban centers and the most vulnerable portions of our population, including in the areas of health, education and homeland security, and calling for a suitable copy of this resolution to be sent to President George W. Bush and members of the New York State Congressional delegation.
Sponsors: Bill Perkins, Charles Barron, Albert Vann, Larry B. Seabrook, Robert Jackson, Miguel Martinez, Maria Del Carmen Arroyo, Leroy G. Comrie, Jr., Hiram Monserrate, Margarita Lopez, Tracy L. Boyland, Yvette D. Clarke, Helen D. Foster, Letitia James, Eva S. Moskowitz, Annabel Palma, James Sanders, Jr., Kendall Stewart
Council Member Sponsors: 18

Res. No. 1220

 

Resolution urging the United States government to immediately commence an orderly and rapid withdrawal of United States military personnel from Iraq, and further urging that the financial resources used to prosecute the war be redirected to address the urgent needs of America’s great urban centers and the most vulnerable portions of our population, including in the areas of health, education and homeland security, and calling for a suitable copy of this resolution to be sent to President George W. Bush and members of the New York State Congressional delegation.

 

By Council Members Perkins, Barron, Vann, Seabrook, Jackson, Martinez, Arroyo, Comrie, Monserrate, Lopez, Boyland, Clarke, Foster, James, Moskowitz, Palma, Sanders Jr. and Stewart

 

Whereas, The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 was passed by the U.S. Congress on October 11, 2002, and Public Law 107-243 cited Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction as a primary reason for the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq; and

Whereas, The United States initiated combat operations in Iraq on March 19, 2003; and

Whereas, On January 12, 2005, President Bush officially declared an end to the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; and

Whereas, Hundreds of thousands of members of the United States Armed Forces have served with honor and distinction in Iraq; and

Whereas, According to the latest figures reported by the United States Department of Defense, to date, almost 2,000 members of the United States Armed Forces have been killed and more than 15,000 have been wounded in Iraq; and

Whereas, The United States military occupation of Iraq has placed significant strains on the capacity of the United States Armed Forces, both active duty and reserve, as well as the National Guard; and

Whereas, According to a report submitted to the United States Congress in July 2005 by the Department of Defense, the number of trained and equipped Iraqi Security Forces totaled approximately 171,300; and

Whereas, To date, more than $200 billion has been appropriated by the United States Congress to fund military operations and reconstruction in Iraq; and

Whereas, According to the Cities for Progress, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies, the funds appropriated so far with respect to Iraq operations could have provided Americans with 1.8 million affordable housing units, 40 million higher education scholarships and 27 million Head Start slots for one year; and

Whereas, The $200 billion appropriated so far for the war in Iraq is four times more than New York City’s annual budget, which currently stands at $50.2 billion; and 

Whereas, The war and continued occupation have resulted in the devastation of Iraq’s physical and social infrastructure and led to widespread and continuous resistance to the U.S. presence that threatens the lives of Iraqi civilians and the men and women who compose the ranks of U.S. and other occupying forces; and

Whereas, The presence of United States forces in Iraq and the alleged torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and other facilities have inflamed anti-American passions in the Muslim world and increased the terrorist threat to United States citizens, both at home and abroad; and

Whereas, Polls show that less than half of the American people support the war in Iraq; and

Whereas, The financial resources used to prosecute the war in Iraq can be redirected to address the urgent needs of America’s great urban centers and the most vulnerable portions of our population, including health, education, and homeland security; now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York urges the United States government to immediately commence an orderly and rapid withdrawal of United States military personnel from Iraq; and, be it further

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York urges that the financial resources used to prosecute the war be redirected to address the urgent needs of America’s great urban centers and the most vulnerable portions of our population, including in the areas of health, education and homeland security; and, be it further

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls for a suitable copy of this resolution to be sent to President George W. Bush and members of the New York State Congressional delegation.

 

 

 

LS#3580

RA

10/19/2005

h:word/resolutions/perkins/ls#3580