In this world of contentious and polarized politics, listening to differing points of view has sadly become a rarity. Here is an experience of one of those exceptions.
As members of FCNL’s Advocacy Team — a nonpartisan citizen group — we are lobbying our members of Congress to ask them to end U.S. complicity in the war in Yemen.
Because we’d not been able to schedule a meeting, we decided to show up in person, at Chris Stewart’s office in Bountiful. We met a genial staffer and said that we were operating on the premise that members of Congress want to hear from their constituents. She concurred, and graciously gave us 30 minutes.
Our ask was for Rep. Stewart to co-sponsor and/or publicly support H.J. Res.87 — directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress. She was open and receptive to the information that we shared about the dire situation in Yemen. Just as we were preparing to leave, Rep. Stewart popped in the door. We talked with him for nearly 10 minutes and found that he was well-informed on the issues in Yemen. While there are many complexities involved, we are seeking cessation of U.S. involvement based on moral grounds. It is our ongoing effort to end the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet. We were heartened by the authenticity of our conversation with Rep. Stewart.
While we may not agree on all political issues, it seems there just might be a way to discuss them with passion and concern and respect, and perhaps reach some life-affirming results.
We are hoping to get a meeting with Sen. Romney’s staff in the next few weeks to discuss this critical issue.
Heidi Van Ert, Salt Lake City
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