Interview with Congresswoman Barbara Lee

pstrong p Davey D writes the FNV Newsletter. The following is an interview he did with Congresswoman Barbara Lee./p/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby PNN Staff/p pYesterday, Monday, September 17th we had an opportunity to catch up withbr / Congresswoman Barbara Lee and talk to her about her decision to castbr / the only vote opposing President Bush's war resolution. Not even herbr / fellow colleagues from the Congressional Black Caucus voted with herbr / on this one. That includes such notable people like Maxine Waters,br / Charles Rengel, Jesse Jackson Jr., Cynthia McKinney to name a few.br / What is this all about?/p pIs Congresswoman Lee out of step with reality and the rest of thebr / country? Or is she ahead of her time? Some people are saying she isbr / unpatriotic for not supporting Bush on this one. They are angry withbr / her to the point that she now needs police protection. Others arebr / saying she did the right thing by not only following her conscience,br / but also bringing to the floor and public discussions, an alternativebr / viewpoint that has been all but locked out of this past week'sbr / conversations. Many are claiming something is wrong with you if youbr / are not advocating war. Here's what Congresswoman had to say...Let usbr / know what you think./p p /pPDAVEY D: They took this vote in Congress about what should be thebr / response to the tragedy this week...and elected to take militarybr / action. In a vote 420 to 1 you were the lone dissenting voice thatbr / said no, we should not go to war./p pBARBARA LEE: First, our nation is in grieving, we're all mourning,br / we're angry; there are a range of emotions taking place. Myselfbr / personally, I am also grieving and I believe fully and firmly that thebr / Congress of the United States is the only legislative body that canbr / say, "Let's pause for a moment...and let's look at using somebr / restraint before we rush to action." Because military action can leadbr / to an escalation and spiral out of control. So, why I voted no, wasbr / one, the president already has the authority to execute a militarybr / action. He doesn't need Congress; under the War Powers Act he hasbr / that authority. But Congress is the people's house, and the Congressbr / is responsible for providing checks and balances, and you cannot justbr / allow the administration to run ahead with a strategy withoutbr / reporting back and without having some oversight./p pNow we must bring the perpetrators to justice. Internationalbr / terrorism is upon us—this is a new world and we cannot make anybr / mistakes in dealing with it. We do not want to see our reaction leadbr / to another reaction which could allow this to spiral out of control.br / So while we grieve and while we provide assistance—and I did votebr / to provide assistance for the families and communities that have beenbr / devastated and also providing funding for anti-terrorist activitiesbr / for securing our own country—we've got to conduct a fullbr / investigation and be really deliberate about how we move forwardbr / militarily. We cannot make any mistake about this, this is anbr / unconventional war and we have to fight it in an unconventional way. /p pDAVEY D: We're talking about the nature of terrorism and whether itbr / could be a tit-for-tat type of scenario if we go out and retaliate andbr / hit the wrong targets or capture the wrong people, the next thing youbr / know we could be involved in a situation where a can of worms has beenbr / opened that we just can't close it up. /p pBARBARA LEE: We don't know the real nature of terrorism in the truebr / sense of the word. We have not invested in combating terrorism thebr / way we should have, which involves many issues. It involves ourbr / foreign policy, it involves multinational cooperation, it involvesbr / diplomatic efforts. It involves pulling all of these verybr / multifaceted areas together to come up with a real way to deal withbr / terrorism. I don't believe we have faced the fact that terrorism isbr / the new war that this country is going to have to fight. We'rebr / looking at putting up billions of dollars for national missilebr / defense. Well, anti-ballistic missiles—that would not have savedbr / the lives or prevented the horrible morning that we saw last Tuesday,br / it just wouldn't have done it. So, we're looking at putting militarybr / money into the wrong areas. We need to look at what this means inbr / terms of securing our country, securing our world, and how to use ourbr / tax dollars toward that purpose. I am convinced that military actionbr / alone will not prevent further terrorist attacks./p pDAVEY D: One of things I'm concerned about is the number of people ofbr / color who will be on these front lines. A third of the army is madebr / up of people of color, because of the economic conditions we're in.br / If we have to go out there and fight a war, how is this going tobr / impact our communities disproportionately—and are we going to havebr / some dire effects that will be with us for generations? /p pBARBARA LEE:Certainly, that's always the case—our communities arebr / always disproportionately represented in the military and we'll bebr / called to serve and fight. Whenever that happens, whomever it is, webr / have to be very careful. We don't want our young men and women put inbr / harm's way. I am a very patriotic person, and I support the Unitedbr / States and our government. And I believe that my support for ourbr / country and for our people dictates that I be prudent, that I not rushbr / to judgment on any decisions, and that we step back for a minute andbr / realize any impact that this could have on young men and women ofbr / color, and all young Americans as we move forward. Fighting abr / terrorist war...I'm not sure our young people are prepared for that,br / and we've got to stamp out terrorism in the world but it's verybr / complicated./p pDAVEY D: I've got the sense that people think that this will be overbr / in a hurry, almost like you're playing a game, and I'm trying to tellbr / people, that this is real stuff. You've got people that havebr / committed themselves to dying, and that's kind of scary. /p pBARBARA LEE: We're all in trauma right now, in a state of disbeliefbr / and mourning. A member of my staff had a family member killed in onebr / of the planes. This catastrophe has touched the lives of so manybr / people. Going back to why I said "No, let's use restraint,"—it'sbr / for that reason. My professional training is as a social worker, andbr / I understand the human psyche, and the community psyche, and ourbr / country's psyche. Right not, were dealing with recovery, and we'rebr / dealing with mourning, and there's no way until we settle in, shouldbr / we deal with decisions that could escalate violence and spiral out ofbr / control. We just all must be reasoned and reasonable about this.br / When we bring these terrorists to justice, we have to be pointed andbr / know what we're doing. The world is a dangerous place. /p pDAVEY D: With all the money that we pay in tax dollars directed towardbr / intelligence gathering, the CIA, the FBI, the racial profiling atbr / airports and the like, how could we have someone come in to thisbr / country, learn to fly from our own schools, and fly an airplane forbr / 20, 30 minutes and not be detected? Was this a breakdown in thebr / intelligence community? /p pBARBARA LEE: Obviously, that money has not been spent properly and Ibr / think that one of the reasons I did vote for the $40 billion is thatbr / there's money in there to really look at how we increase the publicbr / safety of our people in this country, within the confines of civilbr / liberties. We have to find that balance. Protecting the public,br / protecting the country, and not allowing our civil liberties to bebr / eroded. That's where we need to put the funding and resources, andbr / that's why I did support that money. But something went terriblybr / wrong, and we'll see how these investigations go. But we have tobr / insist on a full and thorough investigation. /p pDAVEY D: Do you think with all the concern right now, we will bebr / finding our civil liberties actually taken off the paper altogether inbr / the name of national security? Will people be pulled over, profiled,br / searched more? If I'm a part of an organization that says "Peace notbr / war," will they label me a potential terrorist?/p pBARBARA LEE: Certainly we have to fight against that trend. There arebr / those who would like to see that happen. They will overreact to abr / tragedy and use this opportunity to do just what you said. That'sbr / part of the danger in rushing to judgment. As a branch of thebr / government that's responsible to the people, it's up to Congress tobr / execute our Constitutional responsibilities to ensure that there'sbr / checks on policies that could be put in place under the name ofbr / national security. This is very serious. /p pDAVEY D: You've come from an era of the Black Panthers, from thebr / Vietnam era, when there were a lot of groups that found themselvesbr / subjected to the Cointel policies of the FBI. They were harassed bybr / the various government agencies, from the local police to the CIA,br / their patriotism was questioned. If we don't keep that in mind, dobr / you think it might lead to us just falling in line and maybe notbr / questioning government when we have a right to do so?/p pBARBARA LEE: We better understand the history, and I'm very on top ofbr / my own history with these agencies and I know what can happen. So webr / must be vigilant right now, because under the cloak of nationalbr / security, many of our civil liberties could be just wiped off thebr / floor. There are those of us who are going to fight to make surebr / that's not going to happen, but we're also going to fight to make surebr / justice is served by making sure that the people and organizations whobr / did this are brought to justice. We also have to begin to look at ourbr / foreign policy, our diplomatic efforts, and some of the reasons why webr / don't engage in dialogue with certain countries and individuals andbr / organizations. This is a very complex issue in the US, and we shouldbr / be right now leading the world in showing our children how in the facebr / of adversity we respond and minimize the loss of life. We don't wantbr / to see any more people lose their lives. We cannot tolerate anotherbr / terrorist attack, and we certainly cannot tolerate any loss of lifebr / any more in our country, and anywhere in the world. /p pDAVEY D:Many are painting a picture that, "if you're not with the US,br / you're against us. " They would take a look at your dissenting votebr / and say, "Congresswoman Barbara Lee is not patriotic, she's notbr / supporting the president, she's making it difficult for us to do whatbr / we need to do." How do you respond to that type of criticism? /p pBARBARA LEE:People have said that. And in my response, I tell thembr / that I'm very patriotic. As a citizen, I have the right to representbr / a point of view. That's central to our democracy -- the right tobr / dissent, the right to provide a different point of view that's out inbr / the open, in the full view of the American people. I did not makebr / this decision behind closed doors; I've explained my decision. Ibr / think the beauty of democracy, and one of it's fundamental principles,br / is the right to free speech and the right to disagree. I support thebr / administration in their actions; that's not the point. Their role isbr / this, they're moving forward. What we have to understand, is that thebr / Congress is a body that represents the people in our country. It's upbr / to us to step back and say, "Okay, now we have an additionalbr / responsibility." We must make sure that the president reports to us,br / so that we can report back to our constituents what's going on. Youbr / donut want to not know, do you? /p pCongress has a very critical role in this. So if I am going to bebr / patriotic, and I am, and if I am going to be a good American, which Ibr / know I am, I am going to make sure that our democracy works and I'mbr / going to hold it accountable, and make sure that it works not only forbr / my constituents, but for the whole country. You don't want to rush tobr / judgment while we're depressed and angry and frustrated. That's likebr / herding cattle in one direction. You want people who are thinkingbr / clearly, who are working with the president, and giving them differentbr / ideas and insights. I'm an African-American woman, I'm on thebr / International Relations committee. I have a point of view...as anbr / American...that may be useful when we talk about internationalbr / terrorism. There are many people who have different points ofbr / view...that's America. So to those people who say those things, theybr / better check their own credentials. They may need to become morebr / participatory in our democracy. /p pDAVEY D: That's a key word—participatory. I come across a lot ofbr / people who are waving the flag, but aren't registered to vote. Allbr / this information about foreign policy and our government's role hasbr / been out there, but a lot of people have ignored it until now. All ofbr / a sudden, they're out for blood, and don't even understand wherebr / Afghanistan is and what it would take to defeat it. This is a countrybr / that beat back Russia, a couple of times. It's not going to be anbr / easy haul, and I'm afraid people aren't really thinking long term. /p pBARBARA LEE: Being patriotic at this moment in our history meansbr / participating in decisions about the future of our world. It meansbr / participating in decisions that will hopefully bring us to peace, andbr / ensure that these terrorists are brought to justice and that no man,br / woman, or child, ever gets killed in such brutal assaults ever againbr / That's what participatory democracy is about at this moment. Peoplebr / should feel understand and feel empowered that it's through theirbr / members of Congress that represent them, that they can make theirbr / voice be heard. Not just react, but engage./p pDAVEY D: People would question, would you acting on behalf of Barbarabr / Lee or were you acting on behalf of the Berkeley-Oakland district youbr / represent when you decided to be that lone dissenting vote againstbr / Bush's resolution for war? /p pBARBARA LEE: First of all, this was not a poll-driven vote. This wasbr / the most painful vote I have taken in Congress, really in all 12 yearsbr / that I've been in elected office. It was a grueling experience forbr / me. I have been in many briefings, classified and unclassified. Ibr / have been in so many meetings. I was in the Capitol when the planebr / went into the Pentagon, and we had to evacuate. It's been abr / nightmare. I went through the intellectual process, through thebr / fact-gathering, through the policy analysis, looking through thebr / foreign policy and intelligence and military implications of our move.br / It weighed heavily on me. I was not going to the National Cathedralbr / for the prayer service..because I wanted to continue in mybr / discussions, and reflect on the resolution that was coming up. But atbr / the last minute, I decided to go, that I had to pray over this. Ibr / realized I had to settle down and say some prayers, to try to get somebr / strength to help me through the rest of the week. /p pIt was a very powerful, very beautiful prayer service, very painful.br / I listened to the prayers, and prayed, and listened to the commentsbr / and the sermons. One of the clergy, very eloquently said, in hisbr / prayer, "As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore, " Andbr / at that moment, I knew what the right vote was, and what I had to do.br / So it was a combination of factors that brought me to that place.br / There are very few times when there are votes of conscience that yourbr / moral compass must guide you, very few times that there's some bottombr / lines. And this was one of those times. I talked to my colleagues,br / and believe me, there are many members of Congress who feel as I feel,br / who are raising questions about not having the President report backbr / on military action. People are concerned. I think my votebr / represented my week of deliberations, my discussions, my thoughts, mybr / analysis, and my conscience, and I voted 'no.' I believe it was thebr / right vote. I still say, and I said on the floor that night, "We mustbr / step back." We must allow time for the grieving, and the mourning.br / Congress has got to be the body that says, "Let's use some restraint,br / lets make sure that our actions lead to what we want to accomplish,br / and that's to make sure their are no more attacks on our people and onbr / our country" We've got to make the most deliberate strategies that webr / can that are going to be effective./p pDAVEY D: There's been a number of attacks throughout our country onbr / our Arab brothers and sisters...even on those who look like they mightbr / be Arab. Sadly, some of this abuse has come at the hands of black andbr / brown folks, who have gotten caught up in the wave of patriotism thatbr / has swept the country. What are your thoughts on this?/p pBARBARA LEE: This is very a serious problem. We passed a resolutionbr / on that same night that condemned attacks on Arab-Americans andbr / Muslims and all those who could be under attack as a result of this.br / What we see now is an environment of fear. The worst is coming out inbr / people. We've never had a war on our land before -- other countriesbr / have, the US hasn't. Were vulnerable. When people react in fear,br / what do they do? They turn on each other. The person who looks thebr / wrong way receives the brunt of your anger and fear. So I'm urgingbr / and encouraging young people to please understand that when thesebr / planes crashed into the towers, they killed people of all colors,br / ages, races. creeds. It was an equal opportunity destroyer./p pDAVEY D: It just seems a shame that people who have been persecuted,br / especially blacks and Latinos, who have been the brunt of abuse by thebr / military, are turning around and attacking people in our ownbr / communities. Once upon time Latinos in LA were attacked by US Sailorsbr / in what is now known as the Zoot suit riots. African Americans werebr / at the short end of the stick in numerous situations and scenarios. /p pBARBARA LEE: We've got to pause and understand the moment that we'rebr / in. Moving forward, whether it's on a political level, or in ourbr / communities, against each other, there's some serious implications ofbr / this. If we donut understand that were grieving, we're baffled, we'rebr / afraid, this behavior is going to escalate. I'm trying to help youngbr / people understand who their enemy is and who it is not. In thisbr / moment of all moments, we should be embracing each other. Mybr / constituents are as conflicted and upset in California as people arebr / all over the East Coast and the country. /p pDAVEY D: Do you think when you get back to Bay Area, you'll have somebr / kind of a town hall so that those people that voted you into officebr / can come on down and build with you?/p pBARBARA LEE:We' re definitely going to be holding events in ourbr / community to try and help sort though this grieving process. In termsbr / of future direction, we want to bring some clarity and understandingbr / as to how the Congress should function when we're in a vulnerablebr / state, when we've been attacked and what our role is in terms ofbr / checks and balances. I want to do some education and forums and basicbr / discussions with young people about their fears. I know children arebr / scared about what they're seeing on TV But the way our countrybr / responds to it will ensure as they grow up that they are able to dealbr / with their problems in a way that is appropriate. It's important thatbr / they see that rage and war gets out of control and leads to morebr / violence. We have to be very measured in our response as we go afterbr / the perpetrators of this horror, and make sure that our children knowbr / that in the face of adversity, America can rise up and be the greatbr / democracy that it is, and deal with all these problems immediately. /p pDAVEY D: Have you heard from any high ranking officials about yourbr / vote. Also, Bush has two daughters who are college age...do you thinkbr / that they would be on the front line? How do you think it willbr / perceived if 19 and 20 year olds are being asked to serve this countrybr / and his daughters are still making headlines getting drunk at ratbr / parties?? /p pBARBARA LEE: That poses the kind of questions and dilemmas before us.br / There are many questions that have to be asked..the kind of terrainbr / ahead of us in a country we don t know, how much collateral lossbr / will we be inflicting in terms of innocent women and children? Lossbr / of life is loss of life. The Congress needs to ask these questions,br / force the administration to answer these questions. That does notbr / mean that we, and I, are not unified. I'm sure I will hear from thebr / administration, I'm on the foreign affairs committee. I see Secretarybr / Powell fairly frequently. I haven't talked to him. Hess been fairlybr / measured in his response, I think Hess trying to bring some balance tobr / the policy. But in terms of supporting the President, that Congressbr / has to make sure that he is successful, that any reaction to thisbr / horrible attack does not come back in terms of any spiraling out ofbr / control. If you have nobody to check that, it could be very scary./p pDAVEY D:Congresswoman Lee thank you so much for taking time out ofbr / your day to break it down for us. /p pTo reach Barbara Lee call her at 510-763-0370br / Send comments, questions and concerns tobr / a href="mailto:misterdaveyd@aol.com" title="mailto:misterdaveyd@aol.com"mailto:misterdaveyd@aol.com/abr / a href="mailto:mrdaveyd@aol.com" title="mailto:mrdaveyd@aol.com"mailto:mrdaveyd@aol.com/abr / The FNV Newsletter is written by Davey Dbr / a href="http://www.daveyd.com" title="http://www.daveyd.com"http://www.daveyd.com/abr / a href="http://www.rapstation.com" title="http://www.rapstation.com"http://www.rapstation.com/abr / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p