PSR Supports the People Over Pentagon Act  February 24, 2023

On February 22, Representatives Barbara Lee (CA) and Mark Pocan (WI) reintroduced the People Over Pentagon Act (H.R. 1134) in the House of Representatives, with these additional original cosponsors: Representatives Blumenauer (OR), Bush (MO), Garcia (IL), Grijalva (AZ), Holmes Norton (DC) Jayapal (WA)  Omar (MN)  McGovern (MA) Tlaib (MI) and Watson-Coleman (NJ).

PSR is a proud supporter of this legislation and firmly believes that a $100 billion reduction in military spending is the minimum we must re-allocate if we are to transform our society from a war economy to a sustainable economy of community care.

The National Defense Authorization Act passed by Congress last December is the largest Pentagon budget ever, at $858 billion, an $80 billion increase over what was authorized in 2021. The USA spends more on its military than the next 9 countries combined. No nation can afford this! About half of this astronomical amount goes to corporations in the military-industrial complex (and their executives), and purchases obscenely expensive weapons, including delivery systems for nuclear weapons.

According to the National Priorities Project, $100 billion redirected from the military budget could: 

• Hire 892,745 nurses to address the current nursing shortage, or
• Provide either 35 million children or 20 million adults with health care coverage or
• Provide over seven million military veterans with medical care, or
• Create over 570,000 clean energy jobs to help combat the ongoing climate crisis, or

Instead of wasting hundreds of billions of dollars on endless wars, failed weapons programs, and enriching the Pentagon’s corporate cronies, that money could clearly be much better spent addressing the root causes of our domestic and human insecurities. PSR will continue to advocate for a just transition, providing health care for the uninsured, redirecting public funds to combating the ongoing climate crisis, ending poverty, eradicating food deserts, investing in a robust public health infrastructure, and more.