Dear Listers,
I've followed the postings on this topic with great interest and even greater
concern. The "transcripts" of phone conversations with Lee Holland give cause
for more questions than they answer. Here's a few immediate
questions...........
<<a. HR-4205 is named the "Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization
Act" by the House of Representatives in honor of his imminent retirement;
there is nothing more he has to do with this bill.
f. It was NOT sponsored by Floyd Spence, his only connection is it is named
in his honor>>
QUESTION. Who has made THIS statement? Apparently, no-one has YET spoken to
Spence (and Lee Holland has already said he WILL NOT speak to Spence).....so
where has this statement come from? If it is not "Spence's Bill", then why
not ASK SPENCE ....."whose idea is it, then?"...... and let's establish the
FACTS here.
<<g. Origins of bill has not been determined, but it APPEARS that it MIGHT
be someone from within the Department of the Army >>
QUESTION. Who has said this? Is this guesswork or knowledge by Lee Holland?
Once again, as SPENCE is the proponent of this Bill (it is in his name, after
all), why not get the full story from SPENCE.
<<j. The identity of the legal team will not be disclosed to preclude
compromise of their mission and methods.>>
QUESTION. So who in MVPA decided on this particular "legal team"? What was
the criteria for their selection, and what timescale are they working to?
<<k. DO NOT WRITE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AT THIS TIME - >>
So, don't contact your Representatives, and don't ask questions about who the
MVPA has selected, what their mission or timescale is, nor their fees, I
presume.
QUESTION. Does this advice "hang together", seeing that it comes from someone
representing an Organisation that has shown little regard for democracy and
openness recently (ie the Jim Gilmore saga... of which we are all
aware)....... ?
I had presumed that contacting your Representative at any time, with matters
of concern, was not only a fundamental right, but a DUTY, in a Democracy.
I don't generally give advice unless asked for, but I'll make an exception
here....
those of you who are MVPA members, and feel bound to obey the advice from Lee
Holland as in the "transcripts"....... then obey !
As for everyone else, feel free to do whatever you think is necessary to heat
up the debate on this Bill. If that means writing to your Senators,
Representatives, going to see SPENCE and getting the real story........ then
do so. And if SPENCE is due to retire, has the Republican party chosen a
potential successor? Then what about going to see his successor and making it
clear to him/her that SPENCE's Bill is objectionable and that the successor
could very well feel the backlash of this at voting time.
Kind regards,......
Ken
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Sep 02 2000 - 09:32:35 PDT