Though there is no sign from the White House as to when the war in Iraq might end, some Rhode Island state legislators are calling for a halt to the escalation of the fighting as President Bush's plan to send more U.S. troops to Baghdad and the restless Anbar province moves forward.
In February, Rep. Elizabeth Dennigan, D-Dist. 62, introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives calling for the federal government to end plans to escalate troop levels and to pass legislation prohibiting the use of federal funds for the war's escalation.
Resolutions similar to Dennigan's have been introduced in at least 20 other states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Illinois, according to a General Assembly press release.
Inspired by what he said was "the voters and the voters' concern" about the war, Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Dist. 28, put forward a similar resolution in the Senate in January - his first bill submitted as a freshman senator.
"As a newly elected senator, one of the biggest concerns about getting people active was, both locally and nationally, the war and the effects of the war on their community, and that people wanted to have a voice in their opposition to the war," Miller said. "This is just another way out of many that people can make that clear, not only to the rest of the public but also to elected officials."
Miller said state finances also inspired him to sponsor the bill. "The war is very expensive," he said, "$1.5 billion that could be spent in Rhode Island has been spent in Iraq."
Peter Asen '04, administrative and development coordinator for Ocean State Action, praised the bills, noting that building pubic awareness is an important mission of the legislation.
"I think the state legislators can play a valuable role in just educating the public about the costs of the war towards the state and the challenges we face on the state level," Asen said.
"The state legislators are speaking out as citizens, basically, and using their platform as people that represent folks at the state level to really reinforce the issue to the Rhode Island congressional delegation," he added.
Will Lambek '09, an organizer of the anti-war student group Operation Iraqi Freedom, said the resolution is a good step.
"This bill is specifically opposing the escalation," he said. "We would like any bill in the Rhode Island General Assembly to go further than that and cover more than just the escalation - but that being said, a rebuke from the General Assembly about the escalation would carry a similar weight to a call for withdrawal."
Lambek said he was hopeful the legislation would pass, but said complications are coming from an unlikely source - the Democrats.
"The Democratic leadership in the General Assembly, especially in the Senate, is blocking this bill," Lambek said. "They are not moving on a bill that should get near-unanimous consent. They aren't representing their constituents, they aren't representing the state and they're failing in their role as an opposition party to the White House."
But what is encouraging, Lambek and Asen agreed, is the strength of the state's anti-war movement.
"It's vibrant and it's growing stronger, and it will continue to grow stronger as long as there's a war on," Lambek said. "This is something that people in Rhode Island and across the country are increasingly fed up with."
Miller echoed these sentiments. "It's going on across the country, and I think the louder the voice of opposition can be, it might help change things," he said. "This resolution is one way to make it louder."
