Letter to Congress organized by WAND and NETWORK

REDIRECT EXCESS DEFENSE SPENDING TO HUMAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL NEEDS AND JOB CREATION

March 25, 2009

Dear Senator/Representative:

We are writing in support of reducing unnecessary Department of Defense (DOD) spending in the Fiscal Year 2010 budget resolution and appropriations subcommittee allocations.  Americans need a security strategy that keeps us safer and costs less.  We urge you to reduce excess Department of Defense spending to help meet domestic discretionary needs.

The President’s FY10 budget outline calls for $534 billion for DOD.  That is an increase of $9 billion beyond inflation.  In addition, separate supplemental appropriations continue to provide most of the money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, some $130 billion for FY10.  Nuclear weapons and some miscellaneous military costs could add an estimated $23 billion for a national security total of $557 billion.

Even though we are encouraged that this outline calls for a smaller increase than in recent years, it continues a relentless increase in DOD spending to a higher level than at any point since World War II.  This does not make sense in a time of fiscal crisis.  Indeed, this budget continues to fund strategies of a bygone era, against an enemy that disappeared last century.  Even commanding generals attest that many of today’s security challenges do not have military solutions.  We believe that if we do not begin to make actual reductions in military spending, we cannot adequately meet needs here at home. 

We must turn back the harsh trend of rising poverty, unemployment, hunger and homelessness.  We can extend opportunity and security for families in all walks of life by expanding health care coverage and affordable housing, making college attainable to more students, supporting the financial and nutritional needs of low-income families, investing in a far-reaching policy that will develop cleaner sources of energy and protect the planet by reducing global warming pollution, and generate good jobs to rebuild our middle class.

This is a time when we need to do all we can to boost programs that create jobs and stimulate the economy.  While military spending does create jobs, a study by University of Massachusetts economists* found that public dollars invested in health care, education, mass transit, or construction for home weatherization and infrastructure create more jobs than investing an equivalent amount in the military.

In today’s world, we need a broader definition of security; greater defense spending does not guarantee greater security.  True security for individuals and families lies in the ability to provide for their needs.

Sincerely,

 

National groups

American Friends Service Committee

Americans for Democratic Action, Inc.

Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs

Black Women's Health Imperative

British American Security Information Council

Catholic Mobilization Network

Church Women United

Coalition of Labor Union Women

Coalition on Human Needs

Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism

Common Cause

Community Action Partnership

Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Foreign Policy in Focus

Franciscan Action Network

Friends Committee on National Legislation

Gender Action

Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office

Methodists United for Peace with Justice

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA

National Organization for Women

National Priorities Project

NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

Peace Action

People with Disabilities for Social & Economic Justice, Inc.

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Washington Office

Progressive States Network

Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Women’s Focus Committee

Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, United States Province

3D Security Initiative

True Majority

United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries

The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society

USAction

Washington Office of Public Policy, Women’s Division, United Methodist Church

Women’s Action for New Directions

Local, State, and Regional groups

Protecting Arizona’s Family Coalition/Phoenix, Arizona

Marin Interfaith Task Force on the Americas/Larkspur, California

Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)/Livermore

St. Mark Presbyterian Church Peace and Justice Commission/Newport Beach

Interfaith Peace Ministry Orange County/Orange

Orange County Interfaith Coalition for Peace and Justice/Orange

California Church IMPACT/Sacramento

Sellers & Company/San Diego

Orange County Interfaith Coalition for the Environment/Tustin

Jewish Family Services/Danbury, Connecticut

Collaborative Center for Justice/Hartford

Pax Christi Northeast Florida/St. Augustine, Florida

Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda/Atlanta, Georgia

Georgia WAND/Atlanta

North Decatur Presbyterian Peace & Justice Committee/Decatur

Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Central Leadership/Nazareth, Kentucky

Peace Action Maine/Portland, Maine

Xaverian Brothers USA/Baltimore, Maryland

PeaceAction Montgomery/Brookeville

Nepal America Welfare Association/Somerville, Massachusetts

Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield

Gray Panthers of Huron Valley/Ann Arbor, Michigan

WAND Southeast Michigan/Southfield

Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs/Duluth

Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation Advisory Committee, Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls

People of Faith Peacemakers/Minneapolis and St. Paul

Women Against Military Madness/Minneapolis

Public Policy Center of Mississippi/Jackson, Mississippi

Leadership Team of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood/O'Fallon, Missouri

St. Louis Province of the Carondelet Congregation, U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph/St. Louis

West Midwest Justice Team, Sisters of Mercy/Omaha, Nebraska

NH Citizens Alliance for Action/Concord, New Hampshire

New Jersey Tenants Organization/Hackensack, New Jersey

YWCA of Binghamton & Broome County/Binghamton, New York

Reaching-Out Community Services Inc./Brooklyn, NY

West Side Campaign Against Hunger/New York, NY

North Carolina Fair Share/Raleigh, North Carolina

Oklahoma Therapeutic Foster Care Association/Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Albany Peace Seekers/Albany, Oregon

Corvallis Alternatives to War/Corvallis

Climate Crisis Working Group/Eugene

Community Alliance of Lane County, Eugene

Eugene Peace Works, Eugene

Oregon WAND, Eugene

Veterans for Peace – Squadron 13/ Eugene

Seeking Out Democracy/Junction City

Human Services Coalition of Oregon/Portland

Peace with Justice Ministries/Network Oregon-Idaho United Methodist Church Conference/Portland

Oregon PeaceWorks/Salem

PathWays PA/Holmes, Pennslyvania

Epiphany House, Inc./Lansdowne

Campaign for Working Families/Philadelphia

Just Harvest/Pittsburgh

Providence Connections Inc./Pittsburgh

Tennessee Citizen Action/Nashville, Tennessee

37th Legislative District Democratic Committee/Seattle, Washington

Peace Action Wisconsin/Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

Letter organized by NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

and Women’s Action for New Directions

NETWORK is a progressive voice within the Catholic community that has been influencing Congress in favor of peace and justice for more than 30 years.

www.networklobby.org

-30-