July 8, 2010
Dear Congresswoman Lee,
As constituents of the 9th District and members of local Bay Area organizations, we urge you to lend your support and ethical leadership in bringing about a peaceful resolution to the unended Korean War. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Korean War in which an estimated four million died and the U.S. came devastatingly close to using atomic weapons. This conflict was only temporarily settled by an uneasy armistice rather than a genuine peace treaty. To this day, the U.S., South Korea, and North Korea pour billions into bloated military budgets, and millions of families, on the peninsula and within the global Korean diaspora, continue to be tragically separated. Although a return to active fighting will mean the deaths of untold thousands of civilians, the Korean War is still the basis from which U.S.-Korea relations proceed.
We have long admired your courage and vision in holding firm as the lone voice of conscience who dared oppose granting the President unchecked war-making authority following the September 11, 2001 attacks. You have spoken with enormous wisdom and clarity about the %u201Cboundless consequences%u201D that follow decisions to go to war. With the Korean War now sixty years unresolved, we accordingly turn to you for leadership in pushing for peace not only in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also on the Korean peninsula.
In commemoration of the July 27, 1953 Armistice Agreement, we urge you to make a statement on the floor of Congress that calls for a peaceful resolution to the Korean War.
Congresswoman Lee, we thank you for supporting the cause of peace.
