(Host) Leaders of anti-war groups want Vermont lawmakers to pass a resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. They made that demand during an event on Monday at the Statehouse.
Vermont leaders of the American Friends Service Committee and other groups also are calling on Governor Jim Douglas to speak out against the war.
They want lawmakers to pass two pending resolutions. One resolution calls for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. A second resolution would set up a special committee to study how deployments have affected the Vermont National Guard, Guard families and the state as a whole. Group Spokesman Joseph Gainza:
(Gainza) “We had 32 towns vote for one of the resolutions and we’re asking the Legislature to pay attention to the mandate that those towns have given to it. We know that sentiment is pretty widespread across the state, it’s not just represented by those towns. We feel that it deserves to be debated in a democratic way and voted up or down.”
(Host) Gainza says he’s hopeful that resolution will be debated by the full House by the end of the month.