Andenet -- As you are all aware, a bill on the current human rights condition and economic freedom in Ethiopia (HR-4423) has recently been introduced by Congressman Christopher Smith, Chairman of Subcommittee for Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations.
The bill will move through the House in the following order: Starting December 6, 2005 It will be deliberated among members of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations. The subcommittee will most likely vote on it before December 15, the last day of session for the year.
Upon passage by the subcommittee, the bill will be sent to the House Committee on International Relations. The Committee on International Relations will most likely deliberate on it in early January 2006. It may make amendments or send it as is to the floor for a vote by the entire House. It is likely that the entire House will vote on it in late January or early February of 2006.
Passage of the bill by the entire House will be a tremendous victory for the Ethiopian people. However, it requires a lot of hard work on our part. Therefor we suggest that we mobilize our joint efforts in making our voices heard to the congressmen and women by implementing the following plan of action.
We believe that tackling the issue in phases will likely ensure success. In Phase 1, our task will be to call all members of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations between December 6 and 14, 2005. In carrying this out, we recommend using the strategy of flooding the office of each congressman/woman with telephone calls, following a strict schedule. In other words, we suggest that each one of us call only the congressmen/women designated for that particular day as shown in the schedule below. We believe that our calls should be courteous and just asking for their support of the bill. Our goal is that each congressman/woman listed below receive phone calls from at least 3,000 Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia. To do that, we recommend strictly following the schedule shown below:
Tuesday, December 6 Congressman Christopher Smith: (202) 225-3765; Congressman Edward Royce: (202) 225-4111
Wednesday, December 7 Congressman Thomas Tancredo: (202) 225-7882; Congressman Donald Paine: (202) 225-3436
Thursday, December 8 Congressman Jeff Flake: (202) 225-2635; Congresswoman Barbara Lee: (202) 225-2661
Friday, December 9 Congressman Mark Green: (202) 225-5665; Congresswoman Betty McCollum: (202) 225-6631
Monday, December 12 Congressman John Boozman: (202) 225-4301; Congressman Brad Sherman: (202) 225-5911
Tuesday, December 13 Congressman Jeff Fortenberry: (202) 225-4806; Congressman Gregory Meeks: (202) 225-3461
Wednesday, December 14 Congresswoman Diane Watson: (202) 225-7084
Victory for the Ethiopian people!
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