Nuclear Weapons Vote Next Week!
Help us place this adDespite strong grassroots pressure, the Senate failed to fully halt the administration's push for new nuclear weapons. On September 16, the Senate voted 53 to 41 to table (kill) Senators Feinstein and Kennedy's amendment to the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. The amendment would have prohibited funding for new, more "usable" nuclear weapons.
Senators were able, however, to slow down the administration's plans. An amendment by Senators Reed (RI) and Levin (MI) was unanimously accepted which ensures that money for new nuclear weapons goes toward research only and not development. While not the victory we had hoped, this is an important step toward warding off a new arms race.
In just a few days, senators will vote on an issue of great importance - the funding and development of new, more "usable" nuclear weapons. The senate's decision could put this country on a perilous road: a US decision to build a new breed of nuclear weapons is likely to spark a new global arms race. North Korea is on the edge of going nuclear, and our government's support of new nuclear weapons could push them over that edge, with other countries to follow.
We've been down this path before. It led to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Cold War, bomb shelters, the Cuban Missile Crisis, massive instances of thyroid cancer from nuclear testing, widespread fear, and global power structures based on countries' relative ability to unleash apocalypse. At the core of it, this is an issue of survival.
Early next week, the Senate will take up the issue of funding for a modified nuclear weapon, called the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, or nuclear bunker buster. This bomb is intended for use against bunkers buried deep within the earth. Funding for a new generation of smaller, low-yield nuclear weapons intended for actual use on the battlefield will also be addressed as part of what's called "advanced concepts." The administration wants to build these new nukes despite the fact that our existing nuclear arsenal is capable of destroying the world a few times over.
In the words of activist Joanna Macy: we need a massive outbreak of sanity in this country. Thankfully, there are many Members of Congress who agree. In July, the House of Representatives stood against the President's request by cutting most of the funding for these new nuclear weapons. Next week, a few principled Senators will offer amendments for similar cuts to these programs in the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill.
Peace Action has already taken the call for sanity in nuclear and foreign policy to more than half a million Americans through our successful "We found the Weapons of Mass Destruction" advertising campaign. We have today, and Monday, to swamp our Senators' offices with calls against any funding for new nuclear weapons.
Here are 3 things you can do:1. If you haven't yet called your senators, do it right now. Find out who represents you at www.senate.gov then call the Congressional switchboard: 1-800-839-5276.
Tell your senators to support amendments that will block funding for new nuclear weapons in the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill.
2. Get others to call. Forward this message to your email buddies. Use this flyer to get friends, family and even strangers to call their senators too.
3. Drop by your senator's office. Register your opinion with your senators' staff in person by stopping by over your lunch break or on your way to work. Tell them that funding for nuclear weapons is a dangerous move that will send the wrong signal to the rest of the world. We'll increase global security by reducing nuclear weapons, not making more.Don't forget to urge your senators to support better principles for this country's foreign policy. Tell them to sign on to Peace Action's Pledge for a New Foreign Policy, and make a long-term commitment toward disarmament, for human rights and democracy, and for international cooperation.
