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The First Draft Of City Council's Anti-War Resolution - Submitted October 22, 2002


Res. No. 549

Resolution calling upon the Council of the City of New York to oppose the Congressional Resolution allowing President George W. Bush to unilaterally declare war against Iraq without the authority of the United Nations, or without evidence that the United States is in imminent danger due to actions by the government of Iraq.

By Council Member Perkins and Stewart

Whereas, At this fragile moment in our history, each misstep in our judgment has the potential of being magnified exponentially, and could bring with it the most devastating consequences imaginable, not just in the Middle East but to our own shores as well; and

Whereas, The resolution authorizing the President to make war and any ensuing actions that our Government might take must therefore be grounded in a solid and responsible understanding of the real consequences of such actions; and

Whereas, A preemptive attack without evidence of imminent danger to our country would shatter the rule of international law, and would clear the way for similar actions by other rival states such as China and Taiwan, and India and Pakistan, among others; and

Whereas, If we are to rally around to the cause of eradicating what many in Congress believe is a corrupt and highly volatile regime, and an equally dangerous dictator, we must first consider such intangibles as the risks to our troops, especially with the knowledge that Saddam Hussein has used chemical weapons in war and would most likely do so again; and

Whereas, We must gauge the level of support from countries in the Middle East and that of other U. S. allies; we must also gauge the potential for escalation of the war to draw in other countries in the region; and

Whereas, While the members of Congress struggle with the President's demand for open-ended authority to go to war, domestic issues of the greatest concerns are being ignored: the budget is in severe deficit and education programs to improve our public schools have not been funded; and

Whereas, As consumer confidence also wanes and the public's faith in our business leaders diminishes with each new revelation of financial impropriety, we must ask ourselves if this administration does indeed have a plan to defray the economic costs of the war, and if so how these costs will be shared by our allies; and

Whereas, If we are to commit ourselves to such a drastic course of action, one that will undoubtedly produce an unknown number of casualties for the young men and women of our nation, we must be certain that our actions are deemed absolutely necessary, and only after every other approach to solving this problem has been exhausted; and

Whereas, Before we commit ourselves to what will be a severe military campaign, one unlike any other we have ever fought, one that will tear at the seams of our national conscience, we must first demand that our President explain himself and present his reasons in the most emphatic, most intelligible and in the clearest of ways; and

Whereas, We should not be swayed by the President's use of allegory to defend and define his call to war — it is not, nor was it ever simply a question of good versus evil, or right versus wrong — these distinctions simplify, reduce and attempt to justify a course of action that is problematic at best, and by no means morally sound in judgment; and

Whereas, We are a nation with a keen moral conscience, with the ability to reason through even the most trying circumstances that history has created; as such we should be resolute and morally determined to not repeat the same mistakes our leaders have made in the past, mistakes that have cost thousands of lives and, if perpetuated in the President's unilateral declaration of war, will undoubtedly cost thousands more; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York opposes the Congressional Resolution allowing President George W. Bush to unilaterally declare war against Iraq without the authority of the United Nations, or without evidence that the United States is in imminent danger due to actions by the government of Iraq.

 

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A New Executive Order


While walking back home from work, Chris Un was harassed by two men who shouted, threw soft drinks and threatened to hurt him. Un thought about calling the police, but remembered that a friend from the consulate had warned him about a new crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

"I was afraid that the police were going to arrest me instead," said Un, a former student who had overstayed his visa.

These kinds of fears were why the city had not allowed the police and city workers to question anyone's immigration status. But that changed in May when Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued Executive Order 34 allowing the city's agencies, including police, to report illegal immigrants to the federal government.

Un is among many of the 400,000 illegal aliens in New York who came to believe that the order was an anti-immigrant measure.

After months of intense pressure from immigrant advocacy groups and the City Council, Bloomberg finally issued a new executive order in September.

Executive Order 41, dubbed as "don't ask, don’t tell," replaces Executive Order 34 and prohibits city agencies from inquiring or disclosing immigration status of New Yorkers who come into contact with city government.

"This gives assurances to all law-abiding New Yorkers… that the confidentiality of information you give to the city will stay with the city," Bloomberg said.

Some argue that the mayor simply failed to clarify what Executive Order 34 was supposed to do, since similar policies have been successfully implemented with support from immigrants in other cities.

Designed to comply with the 1996 federal law, the language of Order 34 was vague enough that a literal reading of the order would allow police to make "sweeps of immigrants who are not suspected of any crime," attorney Scott Rosenberg told the Village Voice.

Until Order 34, every mayor since Ed Koch had followed a "don't tell" policy and didn't cooperate with the federal immigration agency. In 1996, Congress passed a law that said the city cannot forbid city workers from voluntarily reporting illegal aliens. Mayor Rudy Giuliani resisted but lost when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the federal law and ruled in 1999 that Koch's policy was illegal.

Though similar to Koch's order, city officials said, Order 41 does not violate federal law since it follows guidelines from the 1999 ruling by making confidential a larger class of information -- for example income tax records, sexual orientation, status as a victim of domestic violence -- not just immigration status.

Critics added that the mayor's change of heart comes at a time when he needs immigrant support, especially from the Hispanic community, to help boost his sinking job approval rating.

"Given the general erosion of his position in the opinion polls, Bloomberg really needs to have a strategy for rebuilding support in these constituencies," John Mollenkopf of the Center of Urban Research told the New York Times.

However, others are pleased with the new initiative and don't think that it matters whether the mayor has a political agenda. "What is really important is not the mayor's reasons … but the end result of his decision to amend the order," wrote columnist Albor Ruiz in the Daily News. "Bloomberg actually made [Executive Order 41] the strongest local confidentiality policy in the nation."

But as Bloomberg took steps to protect New York City's illegal alien population, Congress was taking another to toughen federal immigration law. This past July, Representative Charles Norwood of Georgia introduced the Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal (CLEAR) Act, which would allow local police to enforce federal civil immigration law. At the moment, local police can only enforce criminal immigration law. No one is quite sure how the CLEAR Act would affect Bloomberg's executive order.

An immigrant from Bangkok, Thailand, Chaleampon Ritthichai is the editor of The Citizen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time To Pull The Plug


The New York Post Editorial

August 17, 2005 Wednesday

TIME TO PULL THE PLUG

The Uniformed Firefighters Association's decision yesterday to withdraw support for the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, citing two controversial museums proposed there, may have ended the threat of institutionalized activism at Ground Zero.

Good for the UFA.

The union's "membership and our 9/11 families believe that the memorial design will take away from the memory and sacrifice of the firefighters who bravely gave their lives during the most horrific terrorist attacks our country has had to face," UFA President Steve Cassidy said.

Good for Steve Cassidy.

It's going to be especially hard now for the International Freedom Center and the Drawing Center to buck the opposition to their presence at Ground Zero.

The UFA speaks from the moral high ground: 343 firefighters died on 9/11.

Interestingly, the UFA announcement came on the very day that The New York Times - among the staunchest backers of the IFC and the Drawing Center - was reduced to attacking the sister of a pilot killed on one of the 9/11 planes, Debra Burlingame.

In a scathing editorial, the paper said criticizing the IFC's plans "may mean little more than subjecting them, essentially, to the veto of Debra Burlingame."

"Neither Ms. Burlingame nor her followers can be allowed to dictate the future [of Ground Zero]," it continued.

But Debra Burlingame is "dictating" nothing. Neither are the firefighters.

They are simply insisting that anti-American activism of the sort implicitly embedded in the IFC and the Drawing Center is inappropriate at any memorial site. And they are right.

The Times should be ashamed.

Happily, the tide is shifting: The Drawing Center has all but withdrawn, and the IFC was read the riot act last week by Gov. Pataki's main man at the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., Chairman John Whitehead.

If, by Sept. 23, officials aren't satisfied with the IFC's plans, "we will find another use or tenant . . . for that space," Whitehead said.

Again, for the record, there's nothing wrong with critical debate or even negative portrayals of America.

Just not at Ground Zero, where nearly 3,000 innocent people died.

The Times, of course, thrives on trashing America. And where better to do that than at Ground Zero?

But this paper has run scores of editorials, columns and news reports on the issue. So have numerous other publications.

Web sites are abuzz.

Plus, folks all over have joined the movement; 40,000 have signed its petition. (Indeed, grassroots America is taking note: Today, the tiny town of Anthony, Kan., will join in a "Take Back the Memorial" rally. Way to go, Anthony!)

At home, three local congressmen have threatened to work to bar federal funding for the memorial. Philanthropists, too, are balking - as Whitehead relentlessly reminds everyone.

So it's hardly just Burlingame and family members. And now add the UFA, representing 22,000 firefighters and wielding exquisite moral authority, as a foe.

Ironically, the Times, for all its personal vitriol toward Burlingame, essentially admitted she's right: that a chief concern is that the center will be "a place where people engage in free speech."

Now, three cheers for "free speech."

But there's a place for unfettered, raucous, rollicking, disrespectful-for-effect political debate - and that place, purely and simply, is not at the Ground Zero memorial.

To be sure, the Times got one thing right yesterday: It decried Pataki's lack of strong leadership regarding the two museums. He should have pulled the plug on them weeks ago.

So here's hoping the UFA's announcement will give him the cover he apparently feels he needs to do the right thing.

Which is to exorcise the IFC and the Drawing Center from Ground Zero, once and for all.

 



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