Patriot of the Month

East Bay's Lee, other lawmakers arrested during D.C. rally

- San Francisco Chronicle

Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland was among seven members of Congress who were arrested today when they blocked the front entrance at the Embassy of Sudan in Washington, D.C.

"Already too many, far too many people have died or been displaced, have been raped, villages have been burned down," Lee told a crowd of protesters. "The people of Darfur deserve to return home."

Lee, who has traveled twice to Darfur with congressional colleagues, is the most senior Democratic woman on the House International Relations committee, where she serves on the Africa Subcommittee. She has been a leader in the movement to divest state pension funds and university endowments from companies doing business in Sudan.

"I saw the desperation in the eyes of the people. I saw the violence, the results of the violence, the results of the genocide," Lee said. "We saw and talked with people who wanted to go home. We saw the gloom and felt the pain and suffering of what is taking place."
Full story here.

Representative Lee is a truly outstanding American. We desperately need more people like her in Washington. Good job, Barbara.

It is also of extreme importance to point out, for those who don't know already, that Barbara Lee was the only dissenting vote in both the House and the Senate against the resolution authorizing President Bush to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against anyone associated (or not associated) with the terrorist attacks of September 11.

You know what that means, don't you? It means Representative Lee is the only person on Capitol Hill with a fully-functional bullshit detector.

You can click on Barbara's picture in the upper right hand corner to go to her official site.