December
2001/January 2002
The
Courage to Vote No
By Claudette Silver
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When Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) voted in
the U.S. House of Representatives against Senate Joint Resolution 23
authorizing the use of military force in response to the attacks of
September 11th, she stood alone. The resolution passed 98-0 in the Senate,
and 420-1 in the House, granting the President sweeping military power
based on the War Powers Act of 1973. Barbara Lee, while clearly committed
to responding to the attacks, disagreed that military action was the
best solution. “I am not convinced that voting for the resolution
preserves and protects U.S. interests,” said Lee. In the following
weeks, Lee’s office was been over-run with correspondence from
more than 30,000 people. Roughly 60 to 70 percent nationwide have expressed
their support, according to Lee, with the number reaching up to 80 percent
in her home district that includes Oakland and Berkeley, California.
Of course, not everyone supports her vote. Following her vote, Lee received
several death threats and required a police escort.
In an interview with John Nichols of The Nation, Lee reveals her surprise
at being the only representative to vote no. “It never dawned on
me that I would cast the only vote against this resolution.” She
believes that although her fellow Representatives voted in favor of
the resolution, many still favor a restrained military response. “If
you read the floor statements, you’ll see that there are many members
of Congress who share my concerns...when I cast that vote, I was speaking
for other people in Congress and outside Congress who want a more deliberative
approach.”
Lee’s opposition to war, while perhaps shocking to some in light
of the magnitude of the WTC tragedy, is not unprecedented. In fact,
Lee also stood as the lone dissenter just two years ago in the 424-1
House vote against the bombing of Serbia. Her desire to seek alternatives
to military action is reminiscent of another U.S. Congresswoman—Jeanette
Rankin of Montana. She, too, chose to vote her conscience regardless
of the consequence.
In 1916, Rankin became the first woman elected to the House of Representatives
at a time when women could not vote in most states. She ran as a Republican
on a progressive platform that included national women’s suffrage
and child protection laws. Not long after she took office, President
Woodrow Wilson called a special session of Congress, and on April 6,
1917, the Senate passed a resolution declaring war against Germany.
When it came time for the House to vote, Rankin was one of only 50 members
who opposed the measure. According to Rankin, “I knew that we were
asked to vote for a commercial war, that none of the idealistic hopes
would be carried out, and I was aware of the falseness of much of the
propaganda.”
Rankin’s dedication to democracy and social justice led her to
decades of work in Washington, DC. After her first term in Congress,
from 1917 to 1919, Rankin worked as a lobbyist for groups such as the
Women’s Peace Union and the National Council for the Prevention
of War. She also founded the Georgia Peace Society in 1928 after establishing
a residence in Athens, GA.
In 1940, Rankin returned to Congress, this time running on an openly
anti-war campaign. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Congress debated
on the declaration of war against Japan. Again, she opposed the measure,
this time casting the sole vote in both the House and Senate against
the war. Said Rankin, “As a woman, I can’t go to war and I
refuse to send anyone else.”
Although this marked an end to her political career, Rankin never left
the realm of peace and social justice. She traveled to India seven times
between 1946 and 1971 to study the nonviolent teachings and strategies
of Mahatma Gandhi. She also actively opposed the war in Vietnam, and
on January 15, 1968, led more than 5,000 women, who called themselves
the Jeannette Rankin Brigade, to a demonstration on Capitol Hill.
Decisions such as these were a struggle for both Lee and Rankin, who
looked to their conscience to guide them. Rankin, although a committed
pacifist, agreed to wait until the last minute to vote on the declaration
of WWI. She explained, “I said I would listen to those who wanted
war and would not vote until the last opportunity; and if I could see
any reason for going to war, I would change it.” Nothing that was
said changed her mind. Similarly, Lee reached her decision after attending
a memorial service for those killed in the World Trade Center attacks.
She writes, “I have agonized over this vote. But I came to grips
with opposing this resolution during the very painful memorial service
today. As a member of the clergy so eloquently said, ‘As we act,
let us not become the evil that we deplore.’”
Rankin’s famous quote “You can no more win a war than you
can win an earthquake” speaks to the futility and downward cyclical
nature of violence. Similarly, Lee believes that solutions to international
crises exist outside the realm of military maneuvering. “Military
action is a one-dimensional reaction to a multi-dimensional problem,”
says Lee. With hope, she adds, “Finally, we have a chance to demonstrate
to the world that great powers can choose to fight on the fronts of
their choosing, and that we can choose to avoid needless military action
when other avenues to redress our rightful grievances and to protect
our nation are available to us.”
At times like these, the bravery of Jeanette Rankin and Barbara Lee
to vote their consciences inspires hope in those of us who search for
non-military and diplomatic solutions to conflict.
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