Friends,
Baltimore Peace Action has vetted this letter. Let us know if you want to sign on to the letter. Let us know if you are signing representing an organization.
This letter will be emailed to aides representing these representatives. We have Hoyer, Ruppersberger and Sarbanes covered. If you are a constituent of Brown, Mfume or Trone, can you send this to the respective aide. Thanks.
Kagiso, Max
Representatives Brown, Hoyer, Mfume, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes, and Trone
We will be frank. You voted in favor of a $740.5 billion windfall for the Pentagon, over half of which went to military contractors [https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2020/Peltier%202020%20-%20Growth%20of%20Camo%20Economy%20-%20June%2030%202020%20-%20FINAL.pdf]. You did this before you provided desperately-needed funds to deal with the effects of COVID-19. There are enormous lines at food banks across the country, income inequality has worsened, and evictions will soon make countless Americans homeless. Yet the military contractors are doing very well, thank you.
The real security needs of Americans—for housing, food, medical care, and the Green New Deal —are ignored. Instead, we get the F-35 boondoggle, along with other unnecessary and ridiculously expensive weapons, endless wars, and nuclear weapons upgrades.
A budget is a moral document. This bloated Pentagon budget shows how skewed Congressional priorities have become. Lockheed-Martin, Raytheon and Northrop-Grumman surely welcome this largess, but we the people are incensed. Only thirty-seven Democrats (one of whom was Jamie Raskin) voted against this bill. We are extremely disappointed that you did not join your progressive colleagues in opposing it.
But here is something you can do going forward: commit to support a ten percent reduction in the Pentagon budget next year. Such a proposal was initiated in the House of Representatives by Barbara Lee and Mark Pocan, who have been tireless advocates for saner federal spending priorities. They have also created the Defense [sic] Spending Reduction Caucus, which we strongly encourage you to join.
Earlier this year, more than 100 members of Congress voted for a 10 percent reduction in the Pentagon budget through the NDAA amendments process. The members of Maryland's congressional delegation who voted for these amendments included Representatives Mfume, Raskin and Sarbanes and Senators Cardin and Van Hollen. We appreciated those votes, but we are appalled that such a reasonable amendment did not pass.
You probably know that the United States spends more on the military than the next ten nations combined, more on nuclear weapons systems than any other nation, and maintains about 800 military bases on foreign soil, eclipsing all other countries combined. While we spend an immense amount on "national security," life expectancy in the United States ranks 46th in the world [https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/life-expectancy/]; the US has the highest child mortality rate compared to 20 rich countries [https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2018-01-11/us-has-highest-child-mortality-rate-of-20-rich-countries]; and the US leads the world in COVID-19 deaths [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/world-surpasses-40-million-covid-19-cases-u-s-leads-n1243889].
Why are wealthy military contractors prioritized over people in need? Of course, there is a relationship between military contractor lobbyists and the ever-increasing military budgets. Military contractors get increases in funding, while our health care system is overwhelmed. Every tax dollar we spend on endless wars and unneeded weapons is a dollar that should have been invested in our communities.
We urge you to become a leader in re-defining security and work to convince others in Congress to take corrective action. We look forward to your response about supporting the 10 percent reduction and joining the Defense [sic] Spending Reduction Caucus.
Donations can be sent to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206, Baltimore, MD 21212. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
