STATEMENT: Pentagon Budget Increase is Unconscionable
WASHINGTON,DC: WAND's Executive Director, Nancy Parrish, released the following statement in reference to the reports that President Biden will propose increasing the Pentagon budget to $715 Billion:
"It is beyond disappointing to have fought so hard to rein in fiscally irresponsible and morally unconscionable defense spending during the four years of the last administration only to be met with a proposed increase in the Pentagon budget from the Biden administration.
"Couched in terms of a modest increase of 'only' 1.5% minimizes the reality that the Biden administration is proposing to add more that $10 billion dollars to an already bloated Pentagon budget that threatens to bankrupt the country. We can no longer afford to line the pockets of the defense contractors at the taxpayers' expense.
"If we have learned anything in the last year, it's that the billions of dollars allocated to the Pentagon every year do little to address the security threats that Americans face every day. We can't bomb our way out of the COVID 19 pandemic, which has killed nearly 600,000 Americans so far and wreaked havoc on our economy. Proposing to increase the Pentagon budget is a slap in the face to every American who lost a loved one, had to shutter their small business, or struggled to continue to work without school or childcare for their children.
"At the heart of it, we all want the same thing: protection and prosperity for our families and loved ones. These days, protection and prosperity looks less like boots on the ground and more like stable jobs, healthy relatives, and good education for our young ones. An increase to the Pentagon budget does not reflect that reality.
"After enduring this last year in the grips of a global pandemic, a nationwide social justice movement no longer willing to accept the murder of Black people at the hands of law enforcement, and the loss of untold numbers of jobs and small local businesses, the idea that the Biden administration proposes to increase the Pentagon budget is inconceivable."