According to a New York Times poll last week, 67% of Americans think Congress isn't asking enough questions of President Bush's Iraq policy.
Duh. (Check out the poll results).

The best measure of Congress' willingness to ask the tough questions on Iraq is H. Res. 543, a House resolution that simply seeks a full and open debate on Iraq.  It doesn't propose a single solution, but invites ALL ideas and solutions to be brought to the table.  How controversial can that be?

Yes only 111 members of the House (about 1/4) have signed the discharge petition for H. Res. 543, which would allow a simple majority to bypass the wall of silence imposed by the House leadership.  To see who these courageous members are, visit OpenIraqDebate.

Who are the remaining members who can't even support a debate?

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Yesterday, the Discharge Petition for H. Res. 543, the resolution introduced by Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) to get a full and open debate on the Iraq War got its 106th signature, edging towards the half-way point in the race for 218.  April has reaped 29 (almost 1/3) of the signatures, including 4 Republicans who are willing to defy their own party leadership in order to represent their constituents' concerns about the war.

Then we learn from the Hill newspaper yesterday that John Boehner (R-OH), the House Majority Leader, now favors a "lengthy debate" on the Iraq War: Read the Hill article.  

What a coincidence!  Listening to Boehner in a closed-door meeting of the Republican Conference, Walter Jones (R-NC) and Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) were apparently pleased.  I wonder if they're considering withdrawing their signatures.  I wonder if other Republicans concerned about their re-election prospects are now breathing a sigh of relief that their leadership is giving them some cover...

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(cross-posted from dailykos)

[Update: As keshini noted in the comments, as of COB today, HR 543 gained 3 new signatures, bringing us to 80! New signers: Benjamin L Cardin (D-MD), Michael M Honda (D-CA), and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO). If these are your guys, send them some positive feedback.]

(For background on HR 543 developments, see here, here, and here.)

Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 5 is National Call-In Day, when DC for Democracy and other groups are asking you to call your Representatives to ask them to sign HR 543. HR 543 is Discharge Petition to bring 17 hours of debate to the floor of the House of Representatives, under Open Rules, which means that any and all amendments introduced must be debated and voted upon.

Also tomorrow, at 11:00 am, there will be a press conference on the Hill, where 3 Republicans will join 3 Democrats, adding 3 new Republican signatures to the DP.

Where will your Representatives be? Have THEY signed?

If you are in the DC area, come to DC for Democracy's MeetUp at Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street, where we will be discussing ways to take action locally. If you are elsewhere, contact your local DFA group and see what efforts they are working on for "Change the Course".

Yesterday (read on)...

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This coming Wednesday, April 5th, three Republican and three Democratic members of Congress will announce their support for a resolution that will ensure a full and open debate on the Iraq War in the floor of the House. Read the reprint of the Roll Call article that reported this event..

Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Ike Skelton (D-MO), and Marty Meehan (D-MA) will join Walter Jones (R-NC), Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), and Ron Paul (R-TX) to publicly declare their support for the measure.  These three Republicans will then march to the well of the House to sign the resolution, joining 76 Democrats and Jim Leach of Iowa (the first Republican), who've already paved the way.  

Could it be that the People's House will actually start to represent the people, who are deeply concerned and divided about our course in Iraq and wonder why Congress is AWOL on this issue?!!!

More below...

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