February 20, 2003

Councilmember _________ Saginaw, Michigan

Dear Councilmember ________:

By way of this letter, members of the Saginaw community in favor of a peaceful resolution to the conflict with Iraq wish to invite you and the City Council to consider a resolution expressing your support for peaceful diplomacy. 93 city councils across the country have already made this move, including Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ferndale, Traverse City, and Kalamazoo in Michigan.

Cities like ours need the federal government to spend its money on education, health care, and social services rather than military adventurism. Our economy is in a state of crisis and laid-off workers in Saginaw are struggling to feed their families due to the stinginess of the federal government's unemployment benefits. I have a good friend who is being denied Medicaid when it is the only way she can get treatment she must have before she will be able to work again. How can our government be so stingy and wasteful simultaneously?

A war against Iraq will have serious repercussions for our country's relationship with the rest of the world, where there is vociferous opposition to our war plans. If enough cities speak out for peace, perhaps Bush will honor the United Nations process which has thus far done an excellent job of slowly but surely disarming Saddam Hussein of any weapons of mass destruction and preventing him from using them on anyone.

Please read over this draft resolution and let us know if you have any suggested changes. We have carefully written it to be a principled statement that avoids unnecessary controversy. We are hoping the Council can consider this at its Monday meeting, which many people from Saginaw in favor of peace will be attending.

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,