Available for Interview-On 70th Anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings, Nuclear Weapons Expert in Hiroshima & Nagasaki

On the 70th Anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings (August 6th and 9th), Paul Kawika Martin, the policy and political director of the Unites State's largest peace organization, Peace Action, is available for phone, in-person or Skype (paulkawika) interviews in Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Okinawa. He is the guest of Gensuikin, one of the largest Japanese groups working on nuclear weapons issues.

Topics:

• Nuclear Weapons issues (The U.S. plans to spend $1 Trillion over next 30 years)
• The recent Iran agreement and congressional review
• The U.S. Military bases on Okinawa and the U.S. Military Budget
• The politics behind all the above issues

Schedule:

Hiroshima: Now - Aug 7, Ark Hotel Hiroshima, +81-82-263-6363 Room 551

Nagasaki: Aug 7 - Aug 10, 13:25, Hotel JAL City Nagasaki, +81-95-825-2580

Okinawa (Naha): Aug 10 - Aug 14

About his visit to Japan, Mr. Martin, Peace Action's political and policy director said, "On the 70th Anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we remember the hundreds of thousands of casualties caused by the most basic of nuclear weapon designs and know that we never want another populous to suffer from such a bomb. Even worse, today's nuclear weapons are several to hundreds of times more destructive. The agreement reached with Iran will verifiably block it from getting such a weapon, making it paramount that the U.S. Congress support the accord."

About Paul Kawika Martin:

For over twenty years, Paul Kawika (ca vee' ca) Martin, Peace Action's organizing and political director has worked with numerous environmental, peace, animal rights and human rights organizations including Greenpeace and the Nobel prize winning Physicians for Social Responsibility. Mr. Martin worked with a Clinton Presidential Commission and spent a year campaigning in twenty countries on Greenpeace ships including the Rainbow Warrior.

Mr. Martin uses his expertise on nuclear weapons and U.S. foreign policy to lobby Congress and to mobilize Peace Action's 100,000 paid members and 100 chapters around social change. Peace Action is the largest grassroots peace organization in the U.S. The White House, NGOs, Members of Congress and their staff consult with him on legislation and strategy around the issues of abolishing nuclear weapons, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and reducing the Pentagon budget. Former Rep. Barney Frank asked him to join the Sustainable Defense Task Force which released the influential report, Debt, Deficits, and Defense: A Way Forward, on reducing the U.S. military budget. Mr. Martin founded several influential coalitions working on Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan policy. As Peace Action's PAC director, he uses his electoral expertise to fund and endorse progressive candidates.

His work has appeared in countless international, national and local television, radio and print media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Politico, Nightline, CNN, MSNBC and Democracy Now! Mr. Martin served on the Community Advisory Board of a Washington, DC television station. He is currently on the board of the National Priorities Project, PeacePAC and the Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship.

Mr. Martin has traveled to nearly 35 countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon and Cuba. He received his bachelors at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) in Environmental Studies and Global Peace and Security and currently lives in Washington, DC where he enjoys his passions of Italian motorcycles, the arts and the outdoors.