Nevada lawmakers prepare for protest

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Feb. 21, 2003 | 9:26 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Staffers for Nevada lawmakers said they will field calls as best they can from a national anti-war group that intends to inundate each member of Congress with a call every minute on Wednesday.

The liberal group MoveOn.org claims to have more than 600,000 "online activists," many of whom are mobilizing to deluge lawmakers with phone calls, e-mails and faxes during a "Virtual March on Washington."

Group leaders, with backing from a coalition of groups that includes the National Organization for Women, the Sierra Club and the NAACP, say Congress and the mainstream media are ignoring U.S. citizens who oppose war.

"When it becomes clear that our 'representatives' don't represent the public, the foundations of democracy are in peril," the group says on its website.

Staffers in the office of Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., have discussed the group's intention to tie up phone lines on Capitol Hill, and Ensign aides are prepared to answer the calls.

"We really have no choice but to bear the brunt of it," Ensign spokesman Jack Finn said. "We can't shut our office off because there are constituents who are trying to contact us with legitimate concerns. It's unfortunate and irresponsible, but we'll deal with it."

MoveOn.org's "Win Without War" campaign asserts that weapons inspections should be allowed to continue and that Iraq can be disarmed without war. Group activists plan to stress to lawmakers that many innocent people, including young Americans, could die, and that the long-term costs of occupying Iraq are too great.

The group has garnered national media attention and launched campaigns on other issues, including gun control and campaign finance reform. It actively fought President Clinton's impeachment.