To: arthur.uchicago.edu!harelb@ucscc.UCSC.EDU, [....] Subject: VOTE NEAR ON COVERT OPS AMENDMENT Date: Thu Oct 11 16:58:09 1990 [....] >From ucscc!UMCVMB.MISSOURI.EDU!ACTIV-L Thu Oct 11 15:48:43 1990 [....] Sender: "Activists for Peace, Empowerment, Human Rights, Justice etc." From: ucscc!UMCVMB.MISSOURI.EDU!christic%CDP.UUCP Subject: VOTE NEAR ON COVERT OPS AMENDMENT X-To: activ-l@umcvmb.missouri.edu To: Activist-List Recipients , Activist-List Recipients /* Written 10:30 am Oct 10, 1990 by christic in cdp:chr.contragate */ /* ---------- "VOTE NEAR ON COVERT OPS AMENDMENT" ---------- */ ----------------------------------------------------------------- VOTE IN CONGRESS NEAR ON AMENDMENT TO LIMIT COVERT OPS POWER Christic Institute, Wednesday, October 10, 1990 As early as Thursday, October 11, the House of Representatives could vote on an amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Bill (H.R. 5422) which would prohibit the President from unilaterally initiating covert actions. The vote may be delayed until the following week, however, so THERE IS STILL TIME TO CONTACT YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS TO URGE HIM OR HER TO SUPPORT THE BOXER AMENDMENT TO H.R. 5422, which will be introduced on the floor of the House when the authorization bill comes up for a vote. Sponsor of the amendment is Rep. Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California. We will post a note on this conference as soon as the vote occurs. Until then, phone calls and mailgrams to Capitol Hill will still be useful. The Boxer Amendment is the first serious attempt since the Iran- contra scandal to curtail abuses by covert operatives. It is a direct challenge to Title VII of S. 2834, the "oversight" provision of the Senate's Intelligence Authorization Bill. This title authorizes many of the abuses revealed by the Iran-contra scandal and anchors in statutory law the President's power to conduct covert operations without the advance approval of Congress. 1. PLEASE CALL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS IMMEDIATELY at his or her office in Washington, D.C., to urge a vote for the Boxer Amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Bill. Ask for confirmation of your Member's position in writing. You can reach any congressional office by dialing the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and asking for the Member's office by name. If possible, speak directly to the foreign policy aide. 2. CALL OTHER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FROM YOUR STATE and urge them to vote for the Boxer Amendment. 3. SEND A PRE-WRITTEN MAILGRAM to the office of your Member of Congress and to the office of Rep. Tony Beilenson, chair of the House Intelligence Committee. To send the mailgram, call Western Union at (800) 257-4900. Ask for Hotline number 9782. When you are connected, ask the operator to send one of three mailgram messages to the two congressional offices (total cost: $9.75). The operator will at your request read each of the messages (drafted in advance), and you can select the one you prefer. Western Union will charge your phone bill or credit card. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Lang tcn449 TCN Christic Institute christic PeaceNet 151251507 telex 76247,3214 CompuServe 202-797-8106 voice uunet!pyramid!cdp!christic UUCP 202-462-5138 fax cdp!christic%labrea@stanford Bitnet 202-529-0140 BBS cdp!christic@labrea.stanford.edu Internet