Support People Over the Pentagon. Tell Congress to Cut the Bloated Military Budget July 13, 2022
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Starting TODAY, the House of Representatives will vote on amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2023, a mammoth bill to fund the Pentagon. President Biden requested $813 billion for the military. And last month the House Armed Services Committee (with a Democrat chair and majority) voted to ADD a whopping $37 billion on top of the President’s budget.
The Pentagon budget is already the largest in the world — and it is larger than the sum of the next nine highest military budgets. This ridiculous level of military spending is not about defending the American people. It’s about lining the pockets of corporations like Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman.
These Committee actions to further increase an already bloated military budget–including unnecessary and dangerous nuclear weapons “modernization” — rob the areas of American society that need this funding the most. The Pentagon is slated to have a higher budget than the Departments of State, Justice, Education, Transportation, Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency combined.
This is not how it should be — and we need your help to stop it. PSR and our allies in the People Over Pentagon coalition are determined to challenge these priorities.
Right now, champions in Congress are trying to cut these funds back down, reclaim taxpayer dollars, and reinvest them to fund human needs. U.S. Representatives Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Mark Pocan (D-WI) have introduced two terrific amendments that deserve our support: one amendment to roll back the $37 billion dollar increase from committee, and a separate one to reallocate $100 billion from the military budget to meet human needs.
These funds need to be reinvested back into our communities to the people that need it most. Following the Poor People’s Campaign Moral March on Washington, let’s keep the momentum going to pressure our government to prioritize the people over profit. Now is our time to make a difference.
Contact your U.S. Representative today, and demand that they vote “yes” on both amendments from Reps Lee and Pocan. It is time to challenge the military-industrial complex and support humanity.