Bush Wants New Nuclear Weapons
Stop Funding for New Nuclear Weapons
| What is your most urgent priority for the American people? Is it to create a new set of nuclear weapons? Here is an alert from the Friends Committee on National Legislation (the Quakers). |
The Bush administration this year is reviving its proposal for a new generation of "usable" nuclear weapons. Your actions and the efforts of thousands of others helped efforts by Rep. David Hobson (OH) to eliminate funding for these weapons in 2004. Now we need to mobilize again to slam the door shut on these new nuclear weapons before the administration's 2005 proposal gains momentum.
In 2004, Congress eliminated the money for new nuclear weapons in the final appropriations bill.
The Bush administration has in 2005 once again proposed a new set of nuclear weapons, including a "bunker busting" nuclear bomb that would penetrate the ground before exploding, in order to be maximally destructive. The Energy Department budget request includes $4 million to develop this new nuclear bomb, also known as the "Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator." Read FCNL's fact sheet on these weapons at http://capwiz.com/fconl/utr/1/HHRLEMWMYU/EOJWEMXRQE/
The administration is also asking for $4.5 million in the Air Force budget for non-nuclear tests that would evaluate the new nuclear weapon's ability to penetrate into the earth before exploding.
While the amount requested at first seems small relative to the overall military budget, spending any funds on the bunker buster keeps alive a program that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars once it moves from research to production. In addition to the cost to the taxpayer, the program undermines U.S. efforts to convince other countries not to develop nuclear weapons.
The administration is also asking for $9 million for a second nuclear weapons program: the "Reliable Replacement Warhead." This program, if continued beyond the planning stage, would also result in hundreds of millions of dollars being spent to replace current warheads and could lead to the resumption of nuclear testing.
Your efforts and the efforts of thousands of others to successfully eliminate funds for the bunker buster in 2004 shows that the public does not support these weapons. Now we need to mobilize again to slam the door shut on new nuclear weapons.
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Please contact your representatives. Urge them to call for the elimination of all funding for the bunker buster nuclear weapons from the defense authorization bill and the energy and water appropriations bill that Congress is now drafting.
Also, you might thank Congress for eliminating funding for the bunker buster weapons last year. Tell your representatives that new nuclear weapons will not make the world more secure. Developing new nuclear weapons sends a message to the rest of the world that nuclear weapons are usable. This undermines U.S. security. Contacting your members of Congress is easy. You can email or fax your member of Congress for free by going to http://capwiz.com/fconl/utr/1/HHRLEMWMYU/KECMEMXRQD/ Once there, you will also find talking points to help you write your letter. It is best to put your message in your own words, since congressional staff often ignore "form letters." |
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The Friends Committee on National Legislation says: "We seek a world free of war and the threat of war. We seek a society with equity and justice for all. We seek a community where every person's potential may be fulfilled. We seek an earth restored."
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