Dear John,

President Biden released his proposed fiscal year 2023 budget yesterday. It calls for $813 billion in military spending, a 4 percent, or $30 billion increase, from the 2022 budget, which was a 5 percent increase from the 2021 military budget, which was a $733 million increase from the 2022 budget, which was 4.4 percent increase from the 2019 budget… 

If passed by Congress, the FY2023 budget will spend 18 times more on the Pentagon than on mitigating the climate crisis. Contact your members of Congress now and tell to CUT THE PENTAGON! They must oppose Biden’s 2023 military budget. 

Here is what the Biden administration wants to spend almost $1 trillion on: 

• $773 billion for the Pentagon specifically;
• $34.4 billion for nuclear weapon modernization;
• $24.7 billion for missile “defense” programs;
• $24.5 billion for the space force program;
• $6.9 billion for the European Deterrence Initiative (aka boosting U.S. military presence in Europe); and 
• $1.8 billion for expanding U.S. military presence in the Indo-Pacific region.”

Yesterday, Ukrainian and Russian officials held  another round of  high-level negotiations in Turkey. Ukraine says it will accept neutral status and be a non-nuclear country and Russia says it will reduce some military activity "to increase mutual trust." While these developments give some reason for optimism, Biden’s proposed FY2023 does the opposite. 

Contact your senators and representative now and tell them CUT THE PENTAGON, not increase it. 

Following Biden’s budget announcement, Senator Bernie Sanders released a statement as the Senate Budget Committee Chairman. He criticized Biden’s budget proposal for doing far too little to address the climate emergency, failing to create needed good-paying jobs to transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy, and for unnecessarily increasing the already bloated Pentagon budget.

Now that the president has proposed his budget, the ball moves into Congress’s court to review the proposal, introduce amendments, and vote. Contact your senators and representative now and tell them to join Bernie in calling for a budget that prioritizes human needs rather than preparations for WWIII. 

As the brutal war in Ukraine has now entered its second month, now more than ever, we must raise our voices to CUT THE PENTAGON. The future of humanity and the planet depend on it. 

Towards peace,
Ariel and the entire CODEPINK team: Ann, Audrey, Clay, Danaka, Emily, Farida, Jodie, Justina, Kelly, Leonardo, Marcy, Mark, Medea, Michelle, Nancy, Olivia, Paki, Presleigh, Samantha, Teri, Shea, and Suzie

P.S. Wear your CODEPINK peace mask to start the conversation for Peace every day!