page_title: Berkeley Marine Corps Recruiting Center protests
section_title: Responses
hierarchical_section_title: Berkeley Marine Corps Recruiting Center protests / Responses
caption_attribution_description: Guy Houston on February 12, 2008 in Berkeley, California. He was the to support the pro-military protesters in the Berkeley marines recruiting controversy of 2008.
context_page_description: The Berkeley Marine Corps Recruiting Center protests began in September 2007 when a small group of protesters from Code Pink began periodically protesting in front of a United States Marine Corps Officer Selection Office located in Downtown Berkeley, California at 64 Shattuck Avenue by standing in front of the office holding banners and placing signs. The recruiting center had been located in Berkeley since January 2007. On October 17, 2007, the group Move America Forward held a counter protest.
  On January 29, 2008, the Berkeley City Council passed a series of motions concerning the recruiting center. The most controversial motions ordered the city clerk to draft a letter calling the Berkeley Marines "unwelcome intruders" and another motion gave Code Pink a parking permit on Wednesdays and a noise permit. The motions drew national media coverage. Some veterans groups and conservatives were angered by the motions. National and state laws were drafted to remove funding for Berkeley. The Berkeley City Council changed the wording in the letter February 13, 2008, to remove the most controversial wording and communicate support for the troops but opposition to the war.
context_section_description: The position taken by the Berkeley City Council was interpreted by many across the country as a sign that they did not support the troops. Berkeley's motion was followed by a backlash in conservative blogs and among conservative lawmakers, including introduction of the "Semper Fi Act" in Congress to cancel several million dollars in specific federal funding for public primary and secondary education programs, the University of California, Berkeley, and key transportation programs including a proposed state-operated ferry service to Albany and Berkeley.  In response to the council's vote, on February 1, 2008 Senator Jim DeMint said that he would introduce legislation that would strip Berkeley of its $2,392,000 in federal funding. On February 6, 2008 Jim DeMint was joined by Saxby Chambliss, Tom Coburn, John Cornyn, James Inhofe, and David Vitter in the Senate to introduce the Semper Fi Act of 2008 which would strip federal funding from Berkeley. In total, the bill was co-sponsored by 10 senators. The bill strips $243,000 from the Chez Panisse Foundation which provides school lunches to children in Berkeley, and $975,000 allocated to build the Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service at the University of California, Berkeley which would have created an archive of Robert Matsui's papers and a new endowment. The bill was defeated on March 13, 2008.
  UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau sent a letter to 52 lawmakers in Washington stating that UC Berkeley had no connection to the council's decision, that the UC campus and the city of Berkeley are completely separate institutions, that the Berkeley City Council has no authority over the UC campus, that UC Berkeley has long standing ROTC programs, and that he believed the council proposals were "ill advised, intemperate and hurtful, particularly to the young men and women and their families who are sacrificing so much for our country." City Council member Gordon Wozniak criticized the act as unfair, stating "These people have nothing to do with the council's action. They should not be penalized just because they happen to live in Berkeley." Representative John Campbell sponsored a similar bill in the house that had 71 co-sponsors. The Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, which received 140 emails that stated they would no longer do business in Berkeley if the motions held, considered withholding business licensing taxes.
  Republican Assemblyman Guy Houston of San Ramon announced that he will introduce legislation to withhold state transportation funds from Berkeley until they rescind their "war on the U.S. Marine Corps." Houston's proposed bill intends to withhold $3.3 million in state funds from Berkeley. Houston's bill failed to pass the California State Assembly Committee on Transportation by one vote.
caption: California Assembly member Guy Houston authored legislation to remove over $3 million in transit funding from Berkeley. He also appeared at the February 12 protest.
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