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| Sample Letter to Your Senator |
Please
write a letter to your senator in support the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act.
[Date]
[Click here to find your senator's address]
Dear Senator _________,
As a writer and member of PEN, the international writers’ organization that defends writers facing persecution around the world, I am writing to urge you to support the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act (S. 1651).
Since the fall of 2005, PEN has been working to resettle Iraqi writers, journalists, and translators who have been targeted for death for their efforts to build an open society in Iraq. These women and men have lost everything and fear for their lives because they worked with U.S.-led forces or Western organizations, assisted foreign media outlets, or published pro-democracy writings in the Iraqi press. Our organization has helped several of our Iraqi colleagues resettle in European countries, but despite the obvious debt our country owes them, we have not yet successfully assisted a single one of our colleagues in reaching the United States.
The Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act commits the United States to processing and resettling Iraqi refugees who are endangered by their associations with U.S.-based organizations and institutions. It is humane and necessary legislation. Many have already paid the ultimate price for these assocations. Acting to ease the suffering of those who are still targeted for their work is the least we can do.
Sincerely,
[Your name and signature]
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