John,

We’re watching the Israeli government commit horrific crimes against humanity with our tax dollars, including burning Palestinians alive, starving them, and bombing hospitals and killing aid workers in Palestine and Lebanon. Our government must stop supporting and funding these atrocities now.

In addition to spending $18 billion on military aid to Israel over the past year, our government passed another record-breaking military budget—spending nearly a trillion dollars on the Pentagon, half of which will line the pockets of military contractors that are already profiting from this ethnic cleansing.

Every year Congress passes massively wasteful budgets for war and destruction, accounting for 40% of the world’s military spending. When my colleagues in Congress vote to support wars and weapons manufacturing, many are profiting financially.

Between 2019 and 2021, 97 members of Congress or their family members financially invested in companies that make military equipment, and 25 of them sat on committees directly responsible for shaping military policy and funding. These are unacceptable conflicts of interest, which is why I introduced the Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act to ban members of Congress from investing in weapons contractors.

Can you sign on to support the Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act, as one step in the push for our government to divest from war and invest in life?

Our country always seems to have enough money to bomb people, but year after year elected officials tell us that there is no money to invest in lifesaving programs for the communities they claim to represent—where people are sleeping on the streets, struggling to access health care and feed their families, and are in need of disaster relief.

In 2022’s election cycle, the weapons industry donated more than $10 million to members of Congressional committees that determine our always-expanding military budget. In the same year, according to the organization Corporate Accountability, “The top five U.S. weapons contractors—Lockheed Martin, RTX (formerly Raytheon), Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and General Dynamics—split over $194 billion in arms-related contracts.” ¹

We can’t let our elected officials continue to prioritize the profits of military corporations over people’s needs. We must rein in the weapons industry’s influence over politics and hold policymakers accountable to their constituents.

Add your name to stop members of Congress from profiting when they invest in death and endless war.

Thank you. I promise I will continue to fight like hell to prioritize funding for the Child Tax Credit, affordable housing and healthcare, clean air and water, and bold climate action with the future of our planet at stake.

Together, we’ll keep fighting for a government by and for the people, where everyone can thrive.

In solidarity,

Rashida

1. Corporate accountability and the military industrial complex

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Rashida Tlaib
Date: Sun, Oct 20, 2024
Subject: Sign on to support the “Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act” and push our government to divest from war and instead invest in life.
To: [email protected]

John,

Our neighbors are watching their loved ones being slaughtered in Lebanon and Palestine with U.S. tax dollars and weapons. With our government’s help, Israel’s government is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity including burning people alive, bombing hospitals, starving people, and killing aid workers.

Since last October, our government has sent $18 billion to fund the ethnic cleansing and extermination of Palestinians. And each year Congress overwhelmingly passes yet another record-breaking military budget—this year it topped $886 billion, with half of that lining the pockets of military contractors. This budget is impossible to justify when our neighbors are struggling to put food on the table, fighting to keep a roof over their heads, and rationing their medication.

Why do we always have money for war, but not enough to feed the poor, as Tupac Shakur wrote decades ago? Part of the problem is the deep ties between lawmakers and the weapons industry. The organization Corporate Accountability explains: “The [weapons] industry employed 858 lobbyists in 2022—more than one for every member of Congress.”¹ Most Secretaries of Defense come directly from this industry, which has spent $250 million on lobbying and $56 million in direct campaign donations between 2022 and 2024.

Corporations like Raytheon, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin spend millions to re-elect Congresspeople who serve on committees that determine military funding. Many of those same members of Congress and their spouses also invest directly in weapons contractor stocks, so when they vote to send more bombs or send our loved ones to war, they profit personally. That’s why I introduced the Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act.

Please add your name if you agree: Lawmakers should not be profiting financially when they vote to support wars and weapons manufacturing. It’s time to ban members of Congress from investing in weapons contractors.

It’s shameful that my colleagues continue to funnel billions of U.S. tax dollars to the very same military contractors that many of them are invested in and taking campaign donations from.

If passed, the Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act will prohibit members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children from having any financial interests in corporations that do business with the U.S. Department of Defense—including banning members from trading defense stocks.

Members of Congress were elected to serve the public, not to serve their stock portfolios. They shouldn’t be able to use their positions of power to get rich while voting to pass more funding to bomb innocent civilians.

Unfortunately, the weapons industry exerts incredible influence not just in our political system, but also in our education system. Many U.S. universities have boards of trustees that include military corporations’ executives, who have been pressuring schools to crack down on campus speech and suppress anti-war student efforts.

We can’t let our institutions prioritize the profits of military corporations over people’s needs. I support the long-overdue dismantling of our country’s military-industrial complex so that we can finally put a stop to forever wars and reinvest into providing our communities with the resources they need and deserve.

Please sign on to support the Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act as one necessary step in the push to ensure our government divests from war and death and instead invests in life.

Thank you for continuing to demand better from our government. I will continue to fight like hell to rein in military spending and corporate greed, invest in working families, and work towards a future that values diplomacy and peace over the military industrial complex.

In solidarity,

Rashida

¹ Corporate accountability and the military industrial complex