Resolution Condemning the Actions of President George W. Bush and
Calling for His Immediate Removal or Resignation from Office
WHEREAS, Democracy is a
core value that defines, informs, and guides our professional practice and is
the base on which rests the foundation of modern librarianship; and
WHEREAS, The American
Library Association affirms the responsibility of the leaders of the United
States to protect and preserve the freedoms that are the foundation of our
democracy; (ALA Resolution on the USA Patriot Act and Related Measures That
Infringe on the Rights of Public Library Users); and
WHEREAS, The actions of
the current President, George W. Bush, have violated that responsibility in
unprecedented ways that threaten the very foundation and form of a Democratic
government. Those actions, many of which are indictably criminal, are as
follows:
1. Entering
into an illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, based upon fabricated and
erroneous information;
2. Funding
military operations in Iraq with billions of dollars, while cutting funding
for human services in the US and failing to provide adequate aid for
survivors of Hurricane Katrina;
3. Crafting
of policies adopted since September 11, 2001, including provisions in the USA
PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56) and PATRIOT ACT II and related executive
orders, regulations and actions which threaten fundamental rights and liberties
by:
a)
expanding the authority
of federal agents to conduct so-called “sneak and peek” or
“black bag” searches, in which the subject of the search warrant is
unaware that his property has been searched, thereby increasing the likelihood that the activities of library users,
including their use of computers to browse the Web or access e-mail, may be under
government surveillance without their knowledge or consent
b)
granting law
enforcement and intelligence agencies broad access to personal medical,
financial, library and education records with little if any judicial oversight;
c)
permitting the FBI to
conduct surveillance of religious services, internet chat rooms, political
demonstrations, and other public meetings of any kind without having any
evidence that a crime has been or may be committed;
d)
diminishing personal
privacy by removing important checks on government surveillance authority;
e)
reducing the
accountability of government to the public by increasing government secrecy;
f)
granting expansive new
immigration powers to the Attorney General which are subject to abuse, particularly with regard to immigrants from
Arab, Muslim and South Asian countries.
g)
expanding the
definition of “terrorism” in a manner that threatens the
constitutionally protected rights of Americans, and
4. Approval
of the use of torture (including practices such as hooding, shackling,
drugging, sleep deprivation, etc.) in the interrogation of suspected terrorists
or their suspected accomplices in his “war on terror.”
5. Illegal
detainment of so called “enemy combatants” and others who are jailed
on the merest suspicion, refusing them legal counsel and either holding them
indefinitely or secretly deporting them.
6. Authorization
of warrantless electronic surveillance of people within the United States,
including U.S. citizens, by the National Security Agency (NSA).
7. Promoting policies that erode the
division of Church and State.
8. Openly
asserting executive power in attempts to override the U.S. Constitution, U.S.
Congress, and the U.S. Judicial system, thus ignoring the system of checks and
balances fundamental to democratic government.
WHEREAS, Librarians are
among the preeminent defenders of intellectual freedom and government openness
in the US; and
WHEREAS, Intellectual
freedom, our primary value as librarians, is seriously violated by the current
political climate which allows for suppression, attack and even criminalization
of dissent; and
WHEREAS, The Library Bill
of Rights states that Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups
concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to
ideas; and
WHEREAS, The broad social
responsibilities of the American Library Association are, in part, defined in
terms of the contribution that librarianship can make in ameliorating or
solving the critical problems of society, and the willingness of the ALA to
take a position on current critical issues with the relationship to libraries
and library service set forth in the position statement (ALA Policy Manual,
1.1);
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,
That President George W. Bush, as the head of the administration that is
leading the US in its current political direction, should immediately step down
from the office of the President of the United States, whether by resignation
or impeachment; and,
RESOLVED, That AFSCME Local 2083 calls on the
administration and Congress to immediately fund badly needed human services,
including the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, rather than continuing to spend
billions on the war in Iraq; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That AFSCME
Local 2083 supports growing movements, including the organized efforts of the
group World Can’t Wait ( Drive Out the Bush Regime, calling on President
Bush to step down, whether by resignation or impeachment; and,
RESOLVED, That AFSCME
Local 2083 will introduce this resolution at the AFSCME International
Convention; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED,
That this resolution be forwarded to the President of the United States, to the
Attorney General of the United States, to Members of both Houses of Congress,
to the library community, and to others as appropriate.
Dated this 7th
day of April, 2006
AFSCME Local 2083
Seattle, Washington