July, 14 2017, 05:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Paul Kawika Martin, pmartin@peace-action.org, Gabe Murphy, gmurphy@peaceaction.org
PEACE ACTION: Congress Votes Again for Unconstitutional Wars and Pentagon Pork
WASHINGTON
In response to the passage of the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Peace Action, released the following statement:
"Today the U.S. House of Representatives voted again to continue our endless wars and for a military budget that's almost as large as all other countries combined. Every year, Congress authorizes billions of dollars of Pentagon pork at the expense of other security needs and other taxpayer priorities. While war profiteers rejoice, voters wonder why the government cannot provide for education, job creation, healthcare and needs in their community.
"Worse, continued Pentagon largesse actually makes Americans less safe because we fail to invest in the long-term solutions to violent extremism and solving international tensions: diplomacy, poverty alleviation and humanitarian aid to name a few.
"Some of the Pentagon boondoggles include continued spending that will ultimately result in a $1.2 trillion escalation of spending on nuclear weapons and their delivery systems.
"While some representatives love to tout their support for the troops, others like Jim McGovern (D-MA), Walter Jones (R-NC) and Thomas Cole (R-OK) actually work to ensure we don't send them into battle for the wrong reasons and that we take care of them when they return. They, with much bipartisan support, have rightly called for Congress to uphold its constitutional responsibility to declare war. Yet, for political reasons, House Republican leaders refuse to debate the current U.S. military activities in a half dozen countries.
"Among the bill's silver linings were two amendments offered by Rep. Nolan (D-MN) and Rep. Davidson (R-OH) that would effectively force the administration to stop refueling Saudi coalition warplanes that have been indiscriminately bombing civilians in Yemen, potentially accelerating an end to the disastrous war in Yemen and saving countless innocent lives."
Peace Action is the United States' largest peace and disarmament organization with over 100,000 members and nearly 100 chapters in 34 states, works to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs and encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights.
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Trump has picked Harmeet Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She has stated that it must be "made unsafe" for hospitals to provide trans care, and frequently shares Libs of TikTok posts. She intends to target trans people in blue states. Subscribe to support my journalism.
[image or embed]
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) December 10, 2024 at 8:14 AM
Reed continued:
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