WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representatives Lynn Woolsey (Petaluma), Barbara Lee (CA), Maxine Waters (CA) and Maurice Hinchey (NY) are calling on Members of Congress and the President to work together to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq, while helping the Iraqis regain control over their country and their future.

What:

Congressional Forum on Bringing the Troops Home

When:

Thursday, April 27, 2006
9:00 AM – 11:00 AM ET

Where:

2325 Rayburn House Office Building
Capitol Hill, Washington, DC

Who:

U.S. Representatives Lynn Woolsey (CA), Barbara Lee (CA),

Maxine Waters (CA) and Maurice Hinchey (NY)

Witnesses include:

· Faiza al-Arji:  Ms. Al-Arji will speak about her family’s experiences in Iraq before and during the war and subsequent occupation.

· Dr. Dahlia Wafsi:  Dr. Wafsi put her medical career on hold to visit with family members in Iraq, and recently returned from a three-month stay in Basrah and Baghdad.  Dr. Wafsi will describe her experiences in Iraq and discuss the daily life of Iraqis.

· Charlie Anderson (Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class, U.S. Navy – Ret.).  He served as a Navy Hospital Corpsman with the Marine Corps’ Second Tank Battalion during the invasion of Iraq and is the Southeast Regional Coordinator of Iraq Veterans Against the War.  He will discuss his experiences in the military during the war in Iraq.

· Dr. Paul Pillar, Former National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000-2005 and author of Foreign Affairs feature article in March/April issue entitled “Intelligence, Policy, and the War in Iraq”

· U.S. Congressional sponsors of pending legislation specifying plans and timelines for concluding U.S. military operations in Iraq.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, the first Member of Congress to call on the President to develop and implement a plan to bring U.S. troops out of Iraq, has requested hearings in the U.S. House International Relations Committee and the U.S. House Armed Services Committee to discuss plans to bring the troops home while helping the Iraqis regain control over their country and their future.

Since her requests of the President and the Republican controlled Congress have been ignored, this is the second forum that Congresswoman Woolsey has organized to discuss strategies to achieve military disengagement while still playing a constructive role in the rebuilding of Iraqi society.