WAND Represents at 2011 Ecumenical Advocacy Days

Over 700 people from faith communities across the United States came to DC March 25-28 to participate in the 2011 Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD), including Arkansas WAND members JoAnne Mills and Susan Sims! Focusing on the EAD theme Development, Security and Economic Justice: What’s Gender Got to Do with It?, JoAnne and Susan met with their Congressional representatives to urge them to consider cutting wasteful military spending instead of making deep cuts to domestic and international programs that support women and children. Thank you to JoAnne and Susan for representing WAND at EAD, and for putting your faith into action!

WAND was also involved in educating EAD participants about the defense budget. WAND Policy Director Kathy Robinson joined a panel of women experts to lead the workshop Budget Hysteria: How Can we be Both Fiscally and Morally Responsible on the Budget? Kathy discussed how our nation’s unbalanced budget priorities are compromised byexcessive military spending, including money spent on nuclear weapons.

At the WAND table, staff used a “bean poll” to survey EAD participants about how they would spend their tax payer money. Results indicate that most EAD attendees would rather have more of their taxes go towards education, health care, and the environment instead of the military! Even our nation's leaders are speaking out about military spending. See what our elected officials have to say!

Let’s continue to build on the momentum of the federal budget debates to reduce wasteful military spending and fund basic human needs!