81 women state legislators sign on to letter to Congress about federal budget priorities

WiLL circulated the letter below, and delivered it on Monday, March 7, 2005, to all Members of Congress.

If you're interested in signing on, click here.

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March 7, 2005

Dear Member of Congress:

As you address the Fiscal Year 2006 budget resolution, we urge you to provide only the inflationary increase to the Defense Department and the nuclear weapons portion of the Department of Energy budget. We support shifting the Administration’s proposed real increase in the Pentagon budget to non-military security--such as domestic preparedness and nonproliferation in order to prevent nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands.

We understand that when considering FY06 budget priorities, national security is at the top of list in Congress. However, simply increasing funding for the Pentagon budget while cutting funds for other vital programs is not a good tactic for making Americans more secure. In FY05, we are spending $420 billion on the Pentagon. The Administration’s request is $439 billion for FY06, which is a real increase (that above inflationary growth) of $8.2 billion.

We believe this Pentagon increase is unnecessary and not a smart use of federal tax dollars. We know that in addition to the Pentagon’s budget allotment, taxpayers are also expected to pay for the huge costs of funding the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

We are equally troubled that the Administration’s budget request proposes funding cuts for programs that can truly increase security at home. We need increases, not cuts, for our first responders, our police and firefighters, education and job training, public health, and veterans’ health care. Adequate funding for all of these programs, which contribute to the day-to-day security of our citizens, will fall on the shoulders of state budgets.

In addition, although it claims to be committed to nuclear non-proliferation, the Administration is requesting $8.5 million for the nuclear bunker buster and should be spending more than it is for nonproliferation.

We urge you to revise the Administration’s funding requests, which we believe provide Americans with less, not more, security. As state legislators, we are particularly concerned about funding for
domestic preparedness because needs unmet by the federal government must be included in our already besieged state budgets. It is our duty to protect our constituents as best we can by training and equipping first responders, enhancing our public health capacities, and improving economic security for working families.

We are requesting more federal funds for these at-home security needs and less for large expensive weapons systems that are funded out of the Pentagon budget. Members of Congress who intend that federal budget priorities truly reflect the security needs of Americans should work to redirect funds from the $8.2 real increase in the Defense Department to domestic preparedness and nonproliferation.

As public leaders from your states, we urge you to make the smartest decisions regarding the safety of our constituents and to work with us to meet the needs of all our citizens.

Sincerely,

State Representative Merika Coleman, Alabama
State Senator Bettye Davis, Alaska
State Representative Linda Lopez, Arizona
State Representative Joyce Elliott, Arkansas
State Assemblymember Judy Chu, California
State Assemblymember Christine Kehoe, California
State Representative Alice Borodkin, Colorado
State Senator Toni Harp, Connecticut
State Representative Andrea Stillman, Connecticut
State Senator Frederica Wilson, Florida
State Senator Gloria Butler, Georgia
State Senator Regina Thomas, Georgia
State Representative Roberta Abdul-Salaam, Georgia
State Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, Georgia
State Representative Pat Gardner, Georgia
State Representative Nan Grogan Orrock, Georgia
State Representative Michele Henson, Georgia
State Representative Jane Kidd, Georgia
State Representative Alisha Morgan, Georgia
State Representative Nikki Randall, Georgia
State Representative Georganna Sinkfeld, Georgia
State Representative LaNett Stanley-Turner, Georgia
State Representative Pam Stephenson, Georgia
State Representative “Able” Mable Thomas, Georgia
State Senator Suzanne Chun Oakland, Hawaii
State Representative Marilyn Lee, Hawaii
State Senator Billie Breaux, Indiana
State Representative Marilyn Canavan, Maine
State Delegate Shirley Nathan Pulliam, Maryland
State Delegate Karen Montgomery, Maryland
State Delegate Salima Siler Marriott, Maryland
State Senator Pam Resor, Massachusetts
State Representative Deborah Blumer, Massachusetts
State Representative Patricia Jehlen, Massachusetts
State Representative Kay Khan, Massachusetts
State Representative Anne Paulsen, Massachusetts
State Representative Marie St. Fleur, Massachusetts
State Senator Elizabeth Brater, Michigan
State Senator Gilda Jacobs, Michigan
State Representative Paula Zelenko, Michigan
State Senator Ellen Anderson, Minnesota
State Senator Sandy Pappas, Minnesota
State Representative Mindy Greiling, Minnesota
State Representative Phyllis Kahn, Minnesota
State Senator Joan Bray, Missouri
State Representative Beth Low, Missouri
State Senator Elaine Stuhr, Nebraska
State Senator Maggie Carlton, Nevada
State Assemblywoman Ellen Koivisto, Nevada
State Representative Barbara Conner French, New Hampshire
State Representative Naida Kaen, New Hampshire
State Representative Barbara Hull Richardson, New Hampshire
State Representative Marjorie Smith, New Hampshire
State Representative Gail Beam, New Mexico
State Representative Mimi Stewart, New Mexico
State Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg, New Jersey
State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer, New York
State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, New York
State Senator Ellie Kinnarid, North Carolina
State Representative Beverly Earle, North Carolina
State Representative Catherine Barrett, Ohio
State Senator Ginny Burdick, Oregon
State Senator Avel Gordly, Oregon
State Senator Vicki Walker, Oregon
State Representative Diane Rosenbaum, Oregon
State Representative Linda Bebko-Jones, Pennsylvania
State Representative Babbette Josephs, Pennsylvania
State Senator Edith Ajello, Rhode Island
State Senator Rhoda Perry, Rhode Island
State Representative Anastasia Williams, Rhode Island
State Representative Gilda Cobb Hunter, South Carolina
State Representative Kathryn Bowers, Tennessee
State Representative JoAnne Favors, Tennessee
State Representative Jessica Farrar, Texas
State Representative Senfronia Thompson, Texas
State Representative Karen Morgan, Utah
State Representative Helen Head, Vermont
State Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Washington
State Senator Harriet Spanel, Washington
State Representative Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, Washington
State Delegate Bonnie Brown, West Virginia