Getting Rid of Loose Nukes: How Did Your Rep. Vote?

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Persistence pays off. For years, FCNL has been working with you and others throughout the country to increase funds for securing the "unsecured" nuclear weapons around the world. Last week, this advocacy paid off again: the House overwhelmingly voted to increase the funding for a key nonproliferation program. How did your representative vote?

This amendment, offered on the House energy and water appropriations bill, moves $17 million from a plutonium fuel program to the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI). The GTRI helps keep vulnerable bomb-grade nuclear material out of the hands of violent extremists. In the last two years alone, the GTRI has removed more than 882 pounds of highly enriched uranium--enough to produce 16 nuclear weapons--from 10 countries.

Take Action: Respond to Your Rep's Vote

Together, we can assure that funding for this program, which is threatened in an era of tight budgets, is maintained. President Obama had proposed to cut this program's budget significantly next year, and some in Congress are advancing the short-sighted approach that the U.S. shouldn't spend this money. Respond to your member of Congress' vote on this amendment and help reinforce the importance of nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation programs. Our action alert will direct you to a page that will show you a sample letter based on how your representative voted.

There are also those in Congress who want to spend more money to build new nuclear bomb plants. Fortunately, as part of this same legislation, the House did not fund construction of a $5.8 billion new nuclear bomb plant at the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico.

It's particularly important that your representative hear from you now. Not all the news coming out of Congress recently has been good on the nuclear disarmament front. Just last month, the House passed legislation that, if it becomes law, will be a serious setback to a world without nuclear weapons. The House military authorization bill would block implementation of the New START treaty with Russia and encourage the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea for the first time since 1977.

Your faithful, persistent advocacy makes a difference. I hope you will continue to work with the FCNL community to reinforce the positive position many members of Congress have taken on this recent nonproliferation vote. Your action will be key to encourage members of Congress to work for nonproliferation in the future.

Sincerely,

Diane Randall
Executive Secretary

P.S. Your advocacy is important to this work's success, and so is your financial support. Thank you to everyone who has already donated to help us make our challenge match of $25,000 before the end of June. So far we've raised $5,000 - help us get over the top by making a donation today!