War protestors plan rally on Thursday
Will present letters to congressman
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
GALESBURG - A peace rally is scheduled for noon Thursday outside the office of Congressman Phil Hare, 261 N. Broad St.Karen Kampwirth, a political science professor at Knox College, said of Thursday's event, "Basically what it is, is to present a bunch of letters that have already been written to Congressman Hare, thanking him for his opposition to escalation of the war (in Iraq) and asking him to use all the powers of Congress to bring an end to this war."
Hare, D-Rock Island, is in his first term in office. He was chosen by precinct committeemen to take Lane Evans' place on the ballot. Evans won the 2006 primary, but announced soon afterward that he would not run in November 2006 because of complications due to Parkinson's disease. Hare defeated Republican Andrea Zinga.
Hare has spoken out against the war and supports a plan to bring all U.S. troops home by the end of 2008.
Kampwirth said there also likely will be petitions available for people who have not sent letters. She said she is unsure how many letters have been written because, "We're doing this in conjunction with moveon.org." The Web site is a political action Web site opposed to the war.
"Basically, they have sent out requests for letters to people who live in the 17th District," Kampwirth said.
She said there also may be speakers Thursday.
"It's a fairly informal thing," she said. "The people who show up may say why they are there."
