City of Boston 
In City Council 

Resolution to Support Our Troops By Bringing Them Home From Iraq and Afghanistan And To Cut The Military Budget In Order To Have The Resources That We Need At Home 

By Councilors Chuck Turner, Felix D. Arroyo, Charles C. Yancey, Sam Yoon, and Michael Ross 

February 14, 2007 

Whereas, the US invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan has cost more than $357 billion and the deaths of over 3,000 US GI’s and over 650,000 Iraqis, and 

Whereas, the 2007 budget for the Pentagon (Defense Department), excluding the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, is expected to exceed $500 billion dollars, and 

Whereas the President of the United States is expected to seek an additional $100-200 billion dollars to pursue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and 

Whereas, the money that is being spent on the Pentagon and on the US invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan has been taken from programs that porr and working people desperately need – jobs, healthcare, housing and education, and 

Whereas, official of the Boston Police Department have testified at City Council hearings that a major difficulty in maintaining the number of officers on the streets at the 1990 levels results from the cut backs in federal resources that were provided during that period, and 

Whereas, officials of the City’s Department of Education have acknowledged in City Council hearings that the City has no ability to make all the necessary repairs to bring all schools up to an appropriate levels of health and safety without federal financial assistance, and 

Whereas, officials of the City’s Department of Neighborhood Development have testified at City Council hearings that one of the major difficulties in providing the subsidies necessary to increase affordable housing in Boston is the cut back in federal housing funds; and 

Whereas, the Bush Administration has been threatening to drastically reduce the Section 8 program which is the major federal initiative to provide affordable housing across the country by taking away vouchers from people who are presently using them to house themselves and their families; and 

Whereas, officials of the Boston Housing Authority have testified at City Council hearings that there has been a continual cut back in federal allocations for the operation of the Boston Housing Authority as well as other housing authorities across the country, and 

Whereas, officials of the Boston Housing Authority asserted three years ago that they had to terminate the employment of youth workers at all developments in the City since those workers had been paid through federal funds that were no longer available; and 

Whereas, officials of the Boston Housing Authority requested and received approvals from the Boston City Council last year that allowed them to turn over the Franklin Hill Housing Development to a private developer so that federal tax credits could be obtained for the development since BHA could identify no other source of funds to provide the rehabilitation necessary give the absence of federal fund; and 

Whereas, an official of the Boston Housing Authority told Whittier Street Task Force representatives three years ago estimated that it would cost approximately a billion dollars to provide the rehabilitation necessary for Boston’s 65 state and federal public housing developments; and 

Whereas, Mayor Menino acknowledged in his State of the City speech three years ago as well as in other speeches that one of the major financial problems facing Boston is the cut back in federal funds available for local needs; and 

Whereas, the Boston City Council in 2005 declared a State of Emergency for HIV/AIDS in Boston for Communities of Color; and 

Whereas, as of October 1, 2006 an estimated 6,700 individuals were living with HIV/AIDS and facing an estimated $3 billion in federal Ryan White HIV funding cutbacks from the Boston Public Health Commission due on March 1, 2007, and 

Whereas, the November, 2006 national elections are viewed as an overwhelming vote against the war by the American people, and 

Whereas, in the words of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr ,Feb 1967 “The security we profess to seek in foreign adventures we will lose in our decaying cities. The bombs in Viet Nam explode at home. They destroy the hope and possibilities for a decent America. Poverty, urban problems and social progress generally are ignored when the guns of war become a national obsession” Therefore Be It 

Resolved, that in view of the above outlined drastic decline in federal resources available to the City of Boston since the beginning of the wars in the Middle East, the Boston City Council calls on the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation to work with their fellow members to develop policies that will lead to a safe withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and a significant increase in federal resources available for meeting the domestic needs of the people of Boston and the rest of the country, and Be It Further 

Resolved, that the Boston City Council supports gatherings such as the one that will take place in Washington, D C, on March 17, 2007 which show the support of the people of this country for policies such as those outlined above