Lawless Signs Letter to President Bush Regarding the War in Iraq, Urges Congressman Langevin to Follow Her Lead

WARWICK, RI - Jennifer L. Lawless, along with 122 members of Congress and more than 500,000 Americans, has signed onto Representative John Conyers’ (D-MI) letter to President Bush calling on him to answer questions regarding a secret U.S.-UK agreement to attack Iraq. This agreement, dubbed the “Downing Street Memo,” contains the minutes of a clandestine meeting between Prime Minister Tony Blair and other high-level British government officials. The letter, which Congressman Conyers personally delivered to the White House yesterday, calls into question many assertions by the Bush Administration in the build-up to the war with Iraq.

“I believe it is absolutely imperative that this Administration be open and straightforward with the American people about the steps they took to bring us to war with Iraq,” Lawless said. “The Washington backroom politics must end. We need leaders in Washington who consistently promote open and transparent government, leaders who work to hold the Bush Administration accountable.”

Lawless is calling on Congressman Langevin to back Representative Conyers’ letter publicly. “It is time for Congressman Langevin to join Congressman Kennedy, 121 of his colleagues, and hundreds of thousands of Americans by getting behind Representative Conyers’ letter to President Bush,” Lawless said. “The attempts of the American people to get answers have repeatedly been stonewalled by this Administration. By signing the Conyers letter, I expressed my belief that the American people deserve answers, and that the President must respond directly.”

Representative Conyers’ letter calls on President Bush to respond publicly to five questions about the timing and decision to go to war with Iraq. For example, the British government document quotes a top-level British official as stating that, by July 2002, President Bush had made up his mind to take military action against Iraq. Two months later, however, President Bush publicly stated that he was still willing to “look at all options” and that there was “no timetable” for war.