Posted by CODEPINK Staff

Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) quoted from the mayors' resolution Calling On Congress to Redirect Military Spending to Domestic Priorities during House debate of the annual defense spending bill. She noted that the people of the United States, and our mayors, are calling for a swift withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan and bring the war dollars home to meet vital human needs, promote job creation, rebuild our infrastructure, aid municipal and state governments, and develop a new economy based upon renewable, sustainable energy.

So one of our goals in promoting the mayoral campaign has been achieved: the House of Representatives has heard our voice! While we're incredibly pleased at Representative Lee's swift introduction of the text of the resolution into the Congressional record, we must continue on our journey. We must gather more citizens to demand and immediate withdrawal of all troops and contractors from Iraq and Afghanistan.

There is no debt crisis in this country. (Republicans are using this moment to demand cuts to government spending, but had no problems raising the debt ceiling throughout the Bush administration.)

We are not broke. (The U.S. still has the largest Gross Domestic Product in the world, meaning we're still the richest country in the world.)

We are wasting trillions of dollars on pointless wars abroad and we are giving money away to the richest people and corporations in the world.

Want a new contract for the American Dream? Want to rebuild America? Start by completely ending the wars abroad. Then tax the rich. Then you'll have the money to fully fund vital programs like food for pregnant mothers, housing for the homeless, and job creation. It's simple really. And it all starts by cutting military spending.

You can start by calling your Representative at 202-224-3121 and asking your Representative to vote no on the entire military spending bill (aka H.R. 2219, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2012).

And be sure you've emailed a copy of the mayoral resolution to President Obama, your Senators, and your Representative.