September 18, 2002

Dear Member of Congress:

As we write, we are greatly distressed that the U.S. Navy recommenced military maneuvers in Vieques, Puerto Rico on September 3 and are scheduled to continue as long as September 26th.

We, the undersigned, people of faith and conscience, working with religious and human rights organizations, call upon you to do what many of your colleagues in Congress have recently done: write an individual letter to President Bush respectfully requesting him to issue an Executive Order for the immediate and permanent end to the use of Vieques, Puerto Rico by the United States Navy for bombing and other military training.

We applaud President Bush's verbal acknowledgement that it is time for the Navy to leave Vieques. Yet the people of Vieques and their allies throughout the United States deserve more than words. After more than 60 years of continuous bombing and shelling, an Executive Order must be issued guaranteeing that the Navy will not drop one more bomb in Vieques and will leave the island no later than May 1, 2003.

The people of Vieques have suffered too much for too long. Their health has been decimated and their beautiful island -- its lands, waters, flora and fauna -- has been devastated by heavy metals and other contaminants from six decades of Naval exercises. The suffering of the children, the despair of scores of cancer patients, the threats to endangered species in Vieques and the voices of the vast majority of the people of Vieques and their leaders have not received adequate attention by U.S. officials. It is time for the U.S. government to demonstrate that government responds to its people.

President Bush has the power through the stroke of a pen to put a halt to this injustice. He can issue an Executive Order immediately and permanently putting an end to this violation of basic human rights against the people and environment of Vieques. His order should guarantee that following the Navy's departure from Vieques the land will be returned to the municipality of Vieques and that there will be a thorough cleanup of all toxic and explosive substances left behind.

There is ample precedent for Executive Orders of this kind. Through similar written orders, President Gerald Ford terminated training on the island of Culebra, Puerto Rico, in 1975, and President George H.W. Bush ended the bombing in Kaho'olawe, Hawaii, in 1990.

Your letter exhorting President Bush to issue an Executive Order will be an important step toward finally bringing peace to Vieques, both to the people and the environment. We enclose a copy of a letter from the U.S. religious community to President Bush.

Thank you for consideration of this request. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. We look forward to your positive response.

Doctors for Global Health