ITHACA,
NY - May 11 - As the United States and NATO enter their seventh week of bombings
on Yugoslavia and Congress considers a bill to provide the Pentagon with a special
appropriation of more than $13 billion, 37 individuals from 16 states and the
District of Columbia meeting in Asheville, N. C. over the weekend (May 7-9) declared
they will refuse to pay for the U.S./NATO bombing campaign .
Today, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee released the groups
declaration which is entitled "A Call to Non-Cooperation with War on Yugoslavia."
(The text of the public statement and list of signers accompanies this release.)
The signers, as conscientious objectors to war, will redirect their taxes to organizations
providing relief for war victims in Yugoslavia and assistance to poor people in
this country. The statement encourages all those who decide to refuse to pay their
taxes to use the money withheld to heal the wounds of war.
The signers began today to circulate their statement to other potential signers
around the country and will issue updates as the number of signers increases in
the coming weeks. When the U.S. launched a bombing campaign over Iraq in December
of 1998, the NWTRCC issued a similar statement signed by over 150 individuals.
On releasing the call, Bill Ramsey, one of the signers from St. Louis, MO said,
"Every time President Clinton decides to drop bombs, whether it is on Iraq or
Yugoslavia, he goes to Congress seeking more money for the Pentagon. This time,
if Congress approves it, the money will come from the Social Security surplus.
We oppose this diversion of public money to a new war, but most urgently we are
refusing to pay for war on Yugoslavia because it is killing people in Kosovo,
Serbia, and Montenegro.. We are choosing to redirect our taxes to heal people."
To arrange interviews with signers of the call or those taking part in delegations
to Iraq call the contact persons listed above A Call to Non-Cooperation with the
War On Yugoslavia
As Congress considers approval of $13.1 billion for the U.S. and NATO war on Yugoslavia,
we, as conscientious objectors to war, refuse to pay federal taxes for the war.
The brutal bombings of Yugoslavia both have greatly escalated the Yugoslavian
military's killings and expulsions and have driven refugees from the country.
U.S. bombings are destroying Yugoslavia's civil infrastructure and threaten starvation
and disease for millions of people. Sending NATO ground troops into Yugoslavia
or funding the Kosovo Liberation Army will lead to an even greater human and environmental
catastrophe.
About half of our federal taxes support past, present and future military efforts,
arms sales and wars, rather than human needs. We call on all those who oppose
the war on Yugoslavia to refuse to pay for it, and instead to redirect their federal
tax money to preventing war and healing the wounds of war. We ask people of conscience
to refuse to pay the federal excise tax on their telephone bills, and/or to refuse
to pay some or all of their federal income taxes on April 15, 2000, as a clear
signal to our government that war is wrong.
Signed:
Bruce Baechler, Chapel Hill, NC
Ruth Benn, New York, NY
Sharon Bigger, Asheville, NC
Judy Conrad, Celo, NC
Carol Coney, Atlanta, GA
Suzanne Day, Cinnamison, NJ
Tana DeVietti, Portland, OR
Jonathan Edwards, Nashville, TN
Judith Felker, Minneapolis, MN
Dorothy Foote, Mount Airy, NC
John Hammar, Mt. Airy, NC
Clark Hanjian, Vineyard Haven, MA
Clare Hanrahan, Asheville, NC
Helen Holifield, Asheville, NC
Martin Kelley, Philadelphia, PA
Lars Johnson, Kent, WA
Cicada La Fey, Asheville, NC
Lola La Fey, Asheville, NC
Mary Loehr, Ithaca, NY
Dan Lundquist, Minneapolis, MN
Steve Magin, Asheville, N.C.
Karen Marysdaughter, Monroe, ME
Steve Magin, Asheville, N.C.
Andrew McKenna, Washington, DC
Karl Meyer, Nashville, TN
Pete Meyers, South Bend, IN
David Miller, Asheville, NC
Carol Moore, Washington, DC
Bill O'Connell, McIntosh, AL
Susan O'Neil, Asheville, NC
Geov Parrish, Seattle, WA
Ed Pearson, Nellysford, VA
Bill Ramsey, St. Louis, MO
Robert Randall, Brunswick, GA
Judy Scheckel, Burnsville, N.C.
Ginny Schneider, Schelburne, MA
David Waters, Birmingham, AL
Andy Weatherly, Asheville, NC
David Zarembka, Gaithersburg, MD
(For more information call 314-534-1048 or 1800-269-7464)
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