Alex Cornell Du Houx, Greg Brown, 1Sky State Organizer and Andrew Campbell at todays press conference.
Two Iraq War Veterans spoke against the Murkowski Resolution which “would gut the authority of Senator Edmund Muskie’s Clean Air Act” at a press conference at city hall this afternoon. Portland resident Andrew Campbell and Alex Cornell Du Houx both served in the Iraq War which galvanized their beliefs that this country should not be dependent on foreign energy.
Du Houx first thanked Senators Snowe and Collins for not signing on to this resolution which could come before the U.S. Senate for vote on February 25th. “We send a billion dollars for oil to states who do not have our interests in mind. Some of those countries, like Saudia Arabia, use the money to fund terrorist organizations. We are funding both sides of the war,” “Du Houx said. Du Houx currently serves in the State Legislature. He served with the US Marines in Faluja where he was an “assault man.” He’s also with the Truman National Security Project.
The other Iraq veteran speaking at todays news conference was Andrew Campbell. A former Hill resident, Campbell served in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 in Mosul. “The US should not be dependent on only one source of energy,” he said. During his service, he experienced a violent backlash on US soldiers when Iraqi soldiers at the front line were unable to get enough fuel to defend themselves. Campbell is now studying psychology at USM here in Portland. He plans to go on to graduate school for school counseling.
The Murkowski resolution was introduced by US Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.