Bring the National Guard Home

August 11, 2005

A group of activists in Massachusetts is organizing a campaign to place a binding initiative on the November 2006 ballot requiring the governor to recall the Massachusetts National Guard from Iraq.

http://www.traprockpeace.org/national_guard_bill_ma.html

On Wednesday, August 3, 2005, seventeen registered voters in Massachusetts submitted their signatures to the Attorney General, asking that a binding referendum be placed on the 2006 ballot to bring the Massachusetts National Guard home from Iraq. Signers included members of Brookline Peace Works and the Executive Director of Traprock Peace Center, in Deerfield, Massachusetts.

Harold Hubschman of Brookline, Massachusetts is a political consultant specializing in referenda. He is available to meet with volunteers and organizers in western Massachusetts on August 19, 20, 26 or 27, preferring August 20, and to discuss the initiative with key organizers in all regions of the state. Before this initiative was submitted, Hubschman spoke with several attorneys to discern the requirements of the law. Miller interviewed Hubschman about the initiative on August 4. He explains that Massachusetts is one of twenty-four states and first on the calendar in a sequence of deadlines for submitting a referendum. In each state the Attorneys Generals are the offices to call to find out your deadline for submission.

On September 7 the Attorney General will announce whether that language will be meet technical requirements here. We expect to then begin to collect 100,000 signatures to put this referendum on the ballot beginning September 21. Volunteers from all cities and towns in Massachusetts are invited to help.

If you would like to help collect signatures in your Massachusetts town, or at fall festivals and cultural events in Massachusetts, please send your contact information now to:
bringmassguardhome@traprockpeace.org

The exact legal language of the initiative is as follows:

An Act To Bring Our Troops Home

Be It Enacted By The People And By Their Authority:

SECTION 1. The governor shall take all necessary steps under G.L. c. 33, s. 39 and all other provisions of law or the Constitution and issue all necessary orders to bring about the immediate withdrawal of all Massachusetts National Guard troops subject to his authority from Iraq and their return to, or retention within, the Commonwealth.

Hear Harold Hubschman's interview by Sunny Miller
http://www.traprockpeace.org/audio/hubschman_04aug05_48ks.mp3
18:08 minutes; 6.3 mb at 48 kbps mono (suitable for radio airplay)

See FAQ at
http://www.traprockpeace.org/national_guard_bill_ma.html