WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com)�Capitol Police are guarding California Democrat Barbara Lee, who has received death threats as a result of her lone vote against a resolution giving President Bush authority to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against anyone associated with recent terrorist attacks.

The Sept. 15 resolution passed 420-1 in the House and the 55-year-old lawmaker�s stance spawned a deluge of phone calls and email condemning, insulting and threatening her. Rep. Lee represents a liberal district that includes Berkeley and Oakland. The Senate vote was 98-0.

A self-described "army brat," whose father is a retired Army officer, Rep. Lee said she decided to vote against the resolution while attending a national prayer service, shortly after the bloody attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, and the Pentagon outside of Washington.

"I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States," Rep. Lee said on the House floor during the debate. "There must be some of us who say, �Let�s step back for a moment and think through the implications of our actions today�let us more fully understand the consequences.� "

In those emotionally tense hours so soon after the tragedy, her vote provoked a response that meant gridlock for the U.S. Capitol telephone system.

The daughter of a former Army Lt. Col. considers hers a vote of "conscience." Though in 1998 she was one of only five House members who voted against U.S. bombing of Iraq after that country expelled UN arms inspectors, and in 1999 she was the only member who voted against sending U.S. troops for peacekeeping duty in Yugoslavia, she does not consider herself a "pacifist."

On the House floor, she quoted former Oregon Republican Wayne Morse, one of only two senators who voted against the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which gave President Lyndon Johnson the power to wage war in Vietnam.

"I believe that history will record that we have made a grave mistake in subverting and circumventing the Constitution of the United States," Rep. Lee quoted Sen. Morse as saying at that time, adding: "Sen. Morse was correct, and I fear we make the same mistake today."

In the aftermath of her vote she was assigned 24-hour plainclothes police protection, but since that time, the tide of public opinion has shifted some, in her favor. "I believe that many people in our country�in the way the emails, the faxes, and letters are coming in�are beginning to understand what the use of restraint means," she told Mother Jones magazine. "And believe me, they understand when you explain that this resolution gives up a congressional role in declaring war against a sovereign nation.

"I believe that the fervor and the pain of the moment have caused people, understandably, to react emotionally. And all I�m saying is that Congress should step back. Congress has got to be the body of government that does that. We are not the CIA, we are not the FBI, we are not the White House, we are not the Defense Department. We are the United States Congress; we have our role. And we can�t give up that role during a national security crisis," she continued.

Ms. Lee has represented California�s 9th District since 1998, following the retirement of Democrat Ron Dellums.

�Askia Muhammad