By David Whitney and Kim Minugh
March 23, 2007
Sacramento Bee [1]

Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1

As protesters of the Iraq war sat in their district offices reading the names of U.S. troops and civilian Iraqis who have died in the 4-year-old war, Democratic Reps. Doris Matsui and Mike Thompson said Thursday they will cast their votes today for an additional 18 months of war funding.

Thompson, D-St. Helena, and Matsui, D-Sacramento, have been the targets of repeated demonstrations by protesters hoping to persuade them to vote against spending more money on the war and to bring troops home now.

The 52nd consecutive work day of protests in Matsui’s downtown Sacramento office ended Thursday with the arrest of seven demonstrators who refused to leave the lobby at the end of the business day.

George Main, president of the Sacramento chapter of Veterans for Peace, said he and six others were handcuffed by an officer with the Federal Protective Service — the agency that polices federal buildings — in the lobby of Matsui’s office and escorted to a building at 650 Capitol Mall. There, the seven protesters were cited for failure to comply with the lawful order of a police officer and released, Main said.

David Gump, deputy U.S. marshal in Sacramento, said Thursday night that federal officers took protesters into custody and removed them from the Congresswoman’s office.

Matsui and Thompson said they will vote for the $124 billion funding bill that also includes disaster money for farmers hurt by the recent Central Valley freeze and fishermen harmed by the radically shortened salmon season last year, because it calls for bringing the troops home by the fall of 2008.

“I opposed this war from the beginning,” Matsui said in an interview. “It’s been four years. Democrats won the election in part because of all the disillusionment over where the war is going.

“This is not a perfect bill,” she said. “But we have a fixed timetable. I wish it was a quicker withdrawal. But we had to figure out a way to bring along more conservative members of our caucus.”

Thompson, whose Woodland office was occupied by protesters for several hours Thursday as they read from the list of names, said he should be counted as a reluctant vote for the bill.

“My vote is going to be based on how I feel in my heart of hearts,” Thompson said. “I feel it will get us out of Iraq as soon as we can and still protect our troops already there.

“I don’t think this is the bill any of us want to vote for, but it is our best opportunity,” he said.

On a larger scale, he said, today’s vote will send a message to President Bush that “he is not operating in the best interests of the country or the Iraqi people.”

The vote could be close, with most Republicans expected to join a handful of liberal Democrats in opposing it. Republicans object to the timetables, which have drawn the threat of a presidential veto.

Matsui, Thompson and other congressional Democrats received some cover this week from liberal organizations like MoveOn.org and the Council for a Livable World, which circulated letters on Capitol Hill urging approval of the measure.

“Defeat of the legislation will be interpreted by President Bush and Vice President Cheney as giving them a free hand to pursue the Iraq war as they wish,” wrote leaders of the council.

But for Sacramento peace activist Maggie Coulter, protesting in front of the Robert T. Matsui Federal Courthouse, where the congresswoman has her district office, Matsui’s and Thompson’s votes will be a severe disappointment.

“I’m horrified,” Coulter said in an interview on her cell phone. “I am horrified that Democrats, including Matsui and Thompson, are playing games with the lives of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi citizens.”

Coulter said the deadlines in the House bill are more about Democrats winning the hearts of voters than ending the war, because the measure calls for bringing the troops home just before national elections in November 2008.

“It’s a despicable ploy,” Coulter said. “How these two people can say they oppose the war and still vote for this makes me ill.”

Main, a 56-year-old Democrat from Sacramento, chastised Matsui for participating in what he described as “a game of political chicken.”

“I can’t believe the Democratic Party is able to (sacrifice the safety of troops) so they have a better chance of winning the next election,” he said. “I don’t care how they spin it, that’s what I believe is happening.”