5-06-07, 9:56 am

The Honorable Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives Dear Mr. Reid and Mrs. Pelosi,

The undersigned organizations write to urge you in the strongest possible terms to respond to President Bush's veto of the supplemental appropriations bill with a stronger bill, not a weaker one.

Media reports today indicate you and the congressional leadership may respond to the veto with a bill leaving intact only the 'benchmarks' regarding the behavior of the Iraqi government. While surely there are improvements that need to be made in Iraqi governance and politics, that is for the Iraqi people to decide. Sending the president a bill that focuses only on the behavior of the Iraqi government is misplaced; Congress's job is to force changes to the Administration's disastrous policies. We urge you not to let the president off the hook in this way.

It is clear that nothing short of dramatic action and congressional leadership will end the war in Iraq. We urge you to heed the mandate for peace the voters delivered last November, and send the president a bill to fund only the safe, orderly and complete withdrawal of all US troops, contractors and bases within six months.

Respectfully,

Peace Action, Military Families Speak Out, Declaration of Peace, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans For Peace, TrueMajority.org, The Shalom Center, Hip Hop Caucus, United for Peace and Justice, U.S. Labor Against the War, General Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church, Backbone Campaign, Voters for Peace, Democracy Rising, Progressive Democrats of America, Code Pink: Women for Peace, Grassroots America, AfterDowningStreet.org, Democrats.com, WAND - Women's Action for New Direction.