Port Townsend Friends Encourage Jefferson County to Oppose Nuclear Weapons and the Bangor Wharf Expansion

Jefferson County Democrats on Tuesday night June 28, 2011) adopted the attached resolution calling for cuts in military spending and specifically opposing the Bangor wharf expansion.

CUT MILITARY SPENDING:

DO NOT FUND THE EXPANSION OF THE EXPLOSIVES HANDLING WHARF AT NAVAL BASE KITSAP/BANGOR

WHEREAS, unprecedented budget deficits and national debt threaten the stability of our economic and social systems, and have already necessitated deep cuts to essential government services at every level of government; and

WHEREAS, only the U.S. military budget has thus far escaped such cuts and in fact has now risen to more than half of the federal discretionary budget, and accounts for almost half of ALL military spending worldwide; and

WHEREAS, a substantial portion of the military budget is dedicated to weapons programs the Pentagon does not require for current missions and/or which are not in compliance with international strictures against weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear weapons; and

WHEREAS, the new START Treaty, ratified in 2010, calls for a 50 percent reduction in nuclear launchers within the decade, and international policy since the original ratification of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 1969, reaffirmed by President Barack Obama in his Prague speech of April 5, 2009, calls for the total elimination of these weapons as soon as practicable; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Navy, in clear contradiction of these policies and treaties, proposes to more than double the size of the explosives handling wharf facilities located at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor to service the Trident nuclear submarine fleet for another 30 years, at a cost estimated at $783 million;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that no funds should be allocated for this or any other project which seeks to expand or maintain at current levels the U.S. nuclear launching capacity; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that funding for all nuclear weapons programs, apart from those essential to the safe dismantling of the nuclear arsenal, be eliminated as soon as practicable, as an example and demonstration of good faith to the world; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Congress and President seek every possible avenue to cut the military budget to free funds for vital programs to rebuild a sustainable society and heal an ailing planet.