For Immediate Release: September 25th, 2002
Contact:
David Potorti, Co-Director, Peaceful Tomorrows
919-608-7322 (cell)
Kelly Campbell, Co-Director, Peaceful Tomorrows
415-518-1991 (cell)
WASHINGTON, DC – Family members of September 11 victims will join Congressman Dennis Kucinich and a coalition of members of Congress who oppose the war in Iraq in calling on the Bush Administration and Congress to seek effective alternatives to the proposed military action there.
Members of September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, representing New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas and California, will hold a joint press conference with Kucinich and the Congressional coalition at the Cannon Terrace, Wednesday, September 25 at 1pm.
In a letter sent to President Bush this week, the family group expressed its concern that a war in Iraq will divert necessary resources from the task of apprehending and bringing to justice those responsible for the September 11 attacks; will jeopardize the international coalition sharing that goal; and will destabilize the Middle East region. The group also asked the President to consider the loss of innocent human life that would accompany such a war.
Peaceful Tomorrows member Andrew Rice–a Houston, Texas resident who lost his brother David at the World Trade Center–said, -I am disappointed that the Bush administration has used the crimes of September 11 as a reason to invade Iraq, a nation with no proven connection to the terrorist attacks that took my brotherês life. I believe the best way to honor the dead is by seeking justice through non-violent means, not by starting new wars.”
Terry Kay Rockefeller, a Boston resident who lost her sister Laura at the World Trade Center, said, -Although she was taken from us much too soon, I would like to believe that my sister died as the citizen of a nation that honors international law, respects its obligations to the United Nations, and recognizes that its actions today will establish precedents for how other nations settle disputes in the future.”
-We have learned, first hand, the human cost of terrorism and war,” added Ryan Amundson, a Hartville, Missouri resident who lost his brother Craig at the Pentagon. -We would not wish this on any other family, anywhere in the world. We must remember that lives will be lost–both American servicepeople and civilians, as well as Iraqi civilians–in a military campaign, which could fuel the fires of future terrorist attacks. We must exhaust all other possibilities before embarking on this course of action.”
September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows (www.peacefultomorrows.org) is an advocacy organization formed by family members of September 11 victims. Its mission is to seek effective, nonviolent responses to terrorism, and to identify a commonality with all people similarly affected by violence throughout the world.
Peaceful Tomorrows members Ryan Amundson, Barry Amundson, Myrna Bethke, Kelly Campbell, Colleen Kelly, Rita Lasar, David Potorti, Andrew Rice and Terry Kay Rockefeller will attend the press conference and make themselves available for comment. The full text of Peaceful Tomorrows’ letter to President Bush can be found by visiting www.peacefultomorrows.org.
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