|
John,
The House of Representatives is poised to consider a bill to authorize nearly $780 billion dollars (yes, that’s billion with a “B”) on the Pentagon.
That’s more than three-quarters of a trillion dollars. At these levels, the Department of Defense will receive more money than the Departments of State, Justice, Education, Transportation, Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency combined.
One reason this number is so high is that, just last month, the House Armed Services Committee voted to add a whopping $23.9 billion dollars on top of the President’s request to Congress for the military.
But the fight isn’t over.
Right now, champions in Congress are trying to cut these funds back down and reclaim taxpayer dollars for true human needs. U.S. Representatives Lee (D-CA) and Pocan (D-WI) are being joined by Representative Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would reverse the $23.9 billion increase. Reps. Pocan and Lee are also leading a separate amendment to push a 10% cut to overall Pentagon spending.
Call your Representative today and urge them to vote “yes” on both amendments — Rep. Lee’s amendment to reject the $23.9 billion committee increase to the Pentagon budget (Amendment 41) and Rep. Pocan’s amendment to cut overall Pentagon spending by 10% (Amendment 40).
We have an opportunity right now to cut the military’s sky-high budget and invest in our communities, but it can’t happen without your help.
You can call your representative directly, or call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Congress may vote on these amendments as soon as today, so now is our time to make a difference!
If there was ever a time to look after our neighbors and say no to defense contractor greed, it’s now.
Call your representatives — we need to send a strong message to the military-industrial complex.
In solidarity,
Lindsay, Ashik, Lorah, and the NPP team at IPS
|
