Tri-Valley CAREs / www.trivalleycares.org – 2004-09-06 22:38:22
http://www.ananuclear.org/action.html#senapprops#senapprops
With a simple phone call you can help stop a huge increase to nuclear weapons funding that would fund new, dangerous nuclear weapons concepts. After much back and forth, it looks like the Senate Energy & Water Appropriations Subcommittee is going to mark up its bill on Wednesday, Sept. 8. This subcommittee has many Senators from states with ANA groups, including:
• Domenici (NM),
• McConnell (KY),
• Craig (ID), Reid (NV),
• Hollings (SC),
• Murray (WA) and
• Feinstein (CA).
This is an important markup as we want the Senate to adopt the House cuts to nuclear weapons and also fully fund environmental cleanup, which was cut in the House. Please forward the alert below and call your Senators! Thank you,
ACTION ALERT: Urge Senate Appropriations Committee to Adopt House Nuclear Weapons Cuts & Free Cleanup Funding
• Urge the Senate Appropriations Committee to adopt the House cuts to nuclear weapons programs and provide full funding for ongoing environmental cleanup.
• Call or write your Senators if they are on the Appropriations Subcommittee or full Committee
• Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), Ranking Minority,
• Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), Subcommittee Chairman, and
• Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), Ranking Minority for the Subcommittee.
• Call your Senators at 202-224-3121_ (Congressional switchboard).
• Write your Senators using email at:
http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html
Suggested Message:
Please support the cuts to nuclear weapons programs made by the House Appropriations Committee and provide the $350 million in the Energy Department’s High-Level Waste Proposal for ongoing environmental cleanup. It is important that the Senate maintain all cuts including eliminating funds for the Modern Pit Facility and cuts to Life Extension Programs. (See sample letter below.)
Timing:
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy & Water Development is scheduled to mark up and approve its bill September 8th and full Committee markup will quickly follow.
Background:
In a stunning move, the House of Representatives zeroed out funding for key nuclear weapons programs the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability opposes including the nuclear bunker buster, advanced nuclear weapons concepts, and the Modern Pit Facility, and cut the budget for enhancing the readiness to test nuclear weapons in half.
The House expressed a desire to prioritize current mission requirements above new programs and doubled the budget for dismantlement to support a more consistent schedule for dismantling retired warheads. The Senate should adopt these cuts and follow suit in doubling the dismantlement budget.
The House rejected the Energy Department’s High-Level Waste Proposal that restricted $350 million in cleanup funding until Washington, Idaho and South Carolina cave to DOE demands to allow the reclassification of highly-radioactive nuclear waste so that additional waste can be abandoned in leaky underground tanks.
And the House cut some of these cleanup funds for Savannah River Site in response to Sen. Graham’s legislation in the Senate Defense Authorization bill providing DOE with the authority to reclassify waste in South Carolina.
The Senate, in considering the FY2005 Energy & Water Development appropriations bill, should free the $350 million in the DOE’s High-Level Waste proposal for ongoing cleanup.
Key Committee language on each of these programs from House Report 108-554 can be found by on the ANA website at http://www.ananuclear.org/HouseE&W05.html
ACTION
Please call and write your Senate if they are on the Appropriations Subcommittee or full Committee, listed below. If not, you can still call and write the Chairman and Ranking Minority of the Committee, Sen. Ted Stevens (AK) and Sen. Robert Byrd (WV) and the Chairman and Ranking Minority of the Energy & Water Subcommittee, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV).
• Senate Committee on Appropriations Member of Energy & Water Subcommittee
Republicans
Ted Stevens (AK) /(Chairman) / Robert Bennett (UT) * Christopher Bond (MO) * Sam Brownback (KS) Conrad Burns (MT) * Ben Nighthorse Campbell (CO) Thad Cochran (MS) * Larry Craig (ID) * Mike DeWine (OH) Peter Domenici (NM) * Judd Gregg (NH) Kay Baily Hutchison (TX) Mitch McConnell (KY) * Richard Shelby (AL) Arlen Specter (PA)
Democrats
Robert Byrd (WV) /(Ranking Member) */ Byron Dorgan (ND) * Richard Durbin (IL) Dianne Feinstein (CA) * Tom Harkin (IA) Ernest Hollings (SC) * Daniel Inouye (HI) Tim Johnson (SD) Herb Kohl (WI) Patrick Leahy (VT) Mary Landrieu (LA) Barbara Mikulski (MD) Patty Murray (WA) * Harry Reid (NV) *
SAMPLE LETTER
The Honorable [FIRST NAME, LAST NAME] United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 [ANA recommends emailing your letter due to delays caused by security measures. Email your letter using: http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html]
August, 2004
Attention: Defense Aide
Dear Senator [LAST NAME]:
I am writing to urge you to work in the Senate Appropriations Committee this September to cut the fiscal year 2005 budget for dangerous and proliferation-provocative nuclear weapons programs and fully fund environmental cleanup. In particular, I ask you to work to adopt the following changes from the administration’s request, most of which were adopted by the House in its own Energy & Water Development appropriations bill.
1. Provide NO FUNDS for the high-yield nuclear bunker-busting bomb called the “Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator,” cutting the $28 million requested;
2. Provide NO FUNDS for the “Advanced Concepts Initiative” for research on “mini nukes” and other advanced weapons, cutting the $9 million requested;
3. Provide NO FUNDS for the “Modern Pit Facility” for a new plutonium bomb core factory capable of producing up to 450 plutonium pits annually, including for new nuclear weapons designs, cutting the $30 million requested;
4. Provide NO FUNDS for “enhanced readiness” to resume nuclear testing in Nevada, cutting the $30 million requested to lower the time needed to conduct a full-scale underground nuclear test to 18 months;
5. REDUCE the overall nuclear weapons activities budget by an additional $95 million;
6. ADD $65 million for the dismantlement of nuclear weapons, and;
7. FULLY FUND environmental cleanup of nuclear weapons sites but free the Energy Department’s $350 million high-level waste proposal for ongoing cleanup of the highly radioactive waste tanks in Idaho, Washington and South Carolina.
Senator XXXX, as I reflect on the real threats to American security these days, I can think of no more pressing issue than nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. Please keep me informed of your progress.
Sincerely,
NAME: ______________________________
ADDRESS: ______________________________
CITY/STATE/ZIP:
Tara Dorabji Outreach Director Tri-Valley CAREs www.trivalleycares.org tara@trivalleycares.org ph: (925) 443-7148 fax: (925) 443-0177
Before the word, was the silence. In this silence existed neither thought nor judgment.
