Washington, D.C. — October 31, 2017 — In response to the new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on the projected costs ($1.2 trillion) of U.S. nuclear forces from 2017-2046, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Peace Action, released the following statement:
“It’s truly fitting that the CBO’s new projections are coming out on Halloween, as there are few scarier government plans underway than the nuclear weapons spending spree that’s fueling a new nuclear arms race. In 2015, the estimate was $1 trillion over three decades. Two years later, we’re looking at $1.2 trillion and Pentagon contractors rarely come in under budget. Nuclear weapons don’t make us safer, they’re a liability to our country and the world. At a time when we are asking the world to limit nuclear weapons, when the Trump administration looks to cut funding for diplomacy and other security and human needs, aren’t there better ways to spend $1.2 trillion of taxpayers’ hard-earned cash than on nuclear weapons?”
###
Founded in 1957, Peace Action (formerly SANE/Freeze), the United States’ largest peace and disarmament organization, with over 100,000 paid members and nearly 100 chapters in 36 states, works to abolish nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs, encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights and support nonmilitary solutions to international conflicts. The public may learn more and take action at http://www.PeaceAction.org.