74th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2007 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .
 
 LC 2591
 
                    Senate Joint Memorial 10
 
Sponsored by Senator WALKER; Senators BATES, CARTER, GORDLY,
  MONROE, Representatives BARNHART, BUCKLEY, CLEM, COWAN, HOLVEY,
  KOTEK, NATHANSON, RILEY
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
 
  Urges President of United States not to increase numbers of
troops in Iraq. Calls on Congress to pass legislation prohibiting
President from increasing numbers of troops without congressional
approval. Calls on President and Congress to withdraw troops from
Iraq and redeploy troops not later than August 1, 2007.
 
                         JOINT MEMORIAL
To the President of the United States and the Senate and the
  House of Representatives of the United States of America, in
  Congress assembled:
  We, your memorialists, the Seventy-fourth Legislative Assembly
of the State of Oregon, in legislative session assembled,
respectfully represent as follows:
  Whereas over 1 million members of the Armed Forces of the
United States, including those in the National Guard and the
Reserves, have served with honor and distinction during our
nation's involvement in Iraq and have valiantly upheld their duty
under dire circumstances; and
  Whereas the Seventy-fourth Legislative Assembly supports the
men and women deployed in Iraq and honors the memory of those who
have lost their lives in service to our state and country; and
  Whereas our nation's involvement in Iraq has cost the lives of
more than 3,117 United States soldiers, of whom 79 are
Oregonians, and has inflicted combat wounds and injuries, psychic
trauma and other disabilities on more than 23,417 others; and
  Whereas our nation's involvement in Iraq has already caused
Oregonians and those in other states to suffer disrupted family
lives, financial hardships for individuals, families and
businesses, interrupted careers and damage to the fabric of civic
life in our communities; and
  Whereas Congress has appropriated more than $357 billion to
date to fund military operations and reconstruction in Iraq,
money that could have funded desperately needed education, health
care, housing, nutrition and other social services in communities
in the United States or humanitarian assistance abroad; and
  Whereas previous federal budgets that have given priority to
funding operations in Iraq have led to cuts in critical block
grants to states and have increased the federal debt, which,
 
together with interest on that debt, will likely lead to even
larger cuts in funding for critical needs in the states; and
  Whereas the military occupation of Iraq has severely strained
the capacities of the Armed Forces of the United States, the
National Guard and the Reserves; and
  Whereas the President of the United States has proposed an
escalation in the number of United States troops deployed in
Iraq; and
  Whereas the proposed escalation in the number of troops
committed to Iraq will extend tours of duty for Oregon National
Guard members and members of the National Guard in other states,
thereby adding to the costs that individuals and communities in
Oregon and other states have already incurred; and
  Whereas the vast majority of Americans do not support
increasing the number of troops in Iraq; and
  Whereas most military experts oppose escalation in Iraq and
press reports indicate that even the Joint Chiefs of Staff have
opposed this strategy; and
  Whereas legal experts have recognized that Congress has both
broad authority and a long tradition of limiting expansions of
United States military commitments and forcing redeployments of
United States armed forces by exercising the power of the purse
granted to Congress in the United States Constitution; now,
therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of
  Oregon:
  That we, the Seventy-fourth Legislative Assembly, on behalf of
the citizens of Oregon, urge the President to refrain from
escalating United States involvement in Iraq at a time when the
Iraq Study Group, leading military and diplomatic officials and
allies around the world are calling for the United States to
reduce the number of troops in Iraq and to withdraw from
operations; and be it further
  Resolved, That we call on Congress not to approve this
announced increase in the number of troops deployed in Iraq, but
instead to pass legislation that prohibits the President from
spending more taxpayer dollars on such an escalation until such
time as the President obtains congressional approval for the
escalation; and be it further
  Resolved, That we urge the President, at a minimum, to obtain
explicit approval from Congress before sending more American
troops to Iraq; and be it further
  Resolved, That we call on Congress and the President to
announce an expedient plan for the redeployment of the Armed
Forces of the United States from Iraq, to begin handing over
military operations for the security of Iraq to the elected
government of Iraq and to begin withdrawing United States forces
from Iraq and redeploying those forces as soon as possible, but
not later than August 1, 2007; and be it further
  Resolved, That a copy of this memorial shall be sent to the
President of the United States, to the Senate Majority Leader, to
the Speaker of the House of Representatives and to each member of
the Oregon Congressional Delegation.
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