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John,
The House of Representatives is poised to vote on the National Defense Authorization Act—a series of laws authorizing the annual budget for the U.S. Department of Defense. The House and Senate Armed Services Committees have proposed $886 billion in overall defense spending for FY 2024, in line with the spending caps McCarthy negotiated with President Biden.
The US military budget is more than China, Russia, and the next eight countries combined. Experts say that if current trends continue, it will not be long before defense spending exceeds $1 trillion per year.1
And, almost half goes to military contractors. An exhaustive six month investigation by 60 Minutes has exposed drastic price gouging by federal military contractors―with some raking up total profits near 40%!2 If that weren’t bad enough, House Republicans are attaching riders to the bill that would strip out equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts.
Our communities must be prioritized over corporate profits. Tell your representative that any NDAA must combat corporate greed—and they must maintain human needs investments in diverse communities.
According to the Institute for Policy Studies, if the U.S. were to cut just 10% of the military budget we could fund 10.95 million housing units for one year, or 8.45 million Head Start slots for low-income children, or low-income health care for 32.04 million children or 18.64 million adults.3
It’s time for Congress to stop doing the same old thing―handing hundreds of billions of dollars to military contractors while leaving vulnerable communities behind. The best way to protect our nation and national security is to invest in communities, not the military.
Send a direct message to your representative today and tell them to combat corporate greed and invest in our communities.
Thank you for all you do to advocate for diverse communities,
Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs
1 The U.S. Still Spends More on Its Military Than Over 144 Nations Combined
2 Weapons contractors hitting Department of Defense with inflated prices for planes, submarines, missiles
3 Trade-Offs: Your Money, Your Choices
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