U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, drew fire in May in a town hall meeting for her support of continued funding for the Iraq war.
Eighty-five other Democrats in the U.S. House joined Gillibrand in voting on Thursday, May 24, for the bill, which extended funding of the Iraq War until September. The other 140 Democrats voted against it.
Gillibrand broke ranks with local Democrats on the vote as well. Reps. John Hall, D-Dover Plains, and Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, both voted against the bill, as did U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, also a Democrat.
Gillibrand was the target of a GOP radio ad in which she was compared unfavorably to U.S Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-California, despite the fact that Pelosi voted opposite Gillibrand on the war funding bill.
Gillibrand held a town hall forum on Tuesday, May 29, at Gowana Middle School in Clifton Park. The topic of the forum was the re-authorization of No Child Left Behind later this year, but some in attendance wanted to talk about the war instead.
Gillibrand defended her vote to the dozens of citizens at the forum.
The reason why I voted for that bill was not because I support the war, which I don’t, but because I’ve seen this president send our troops into battle without body armor, without the training they need, and without the equipment they need, Gillibrand said. `I don’t trust the administration to not put the entire burden on these troops.`
Peter Looker, a member of the Saratoga Peace Alliance, attended the forum wearing a shirt that read, `Either war is obsolete or men are.`
`I’m here to remind her that we need to do something,` Looker said. `The majority of people in this district are strongly against this war. This war is illegal, and it should be stopped.`
Leland Lakvitz, also a member of the Saratoga Peace Alliance, held a sign that read, `Fund education, not war.` He said he had mixed feelings about Gillibrand.
`She’s a lot better than we had before,` Lakvitz said. `But we’re holding her to account. War is a moral issue.`
Gillibrand said that Democrats tried to get stronger legislation passed.
`Two separate pieces of legislation focused on creating timelines to re-deploy our troops within the next several months and to begin to have accountability over the Iraqi people and the administration,` Gillibrand said. `That was a solid piece of legislation that Congress gave to this president, and he decided to veto it.`
Peace groups and Republicans are not the only political threats Gillibrand will face in her re-election bid next year.
Last week, Morris Guller, a liberal activist who ran for the U.S. House in 2004 as an Independent before dropping out and endorsing the Democrats’ nomination, announced that he planned to oppose Gillibrand in a 2008 primary.
`I represent everyone in this district so it is important for me to listen first and foremost to hear what the folks in our district want done in Washington,` Gillibrand said in a recent interview.
Gillibrand is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of 43 conservative and moderate Democrats in the U.S. House.
Gillibrand told the voters at the town hall forum she respected their opinions on the war.
`As a member on the Armed Services Committee, I feel a duty to those troops on the ground,` she said. `I know many people disagree, and I respect your disagreement.“