A New Generation of Nuclear Annihilation

Apr 17, 2007

Dear Friend,

The United States should be dismantling nuclear weapons, not building new ones.

But instead, Congress will be voting soon on whether to approve the Bush Administration’s latest request to pursue a new generation of nuclear weapons.

Don’t let the administration further devastate our nation by building a new, unneeded arsenal of civilization-shattering nuclear weapons. Please call your Senators and Representative to ask them to vote “no” on funding a new generation of nuclear weapons.

The Administration requested $119 million to develop the nation’s first new nuclear bomb in two decades, officially called the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW).

It is both hypocritical and counter-productive for the United States to build new nuclear weapons at the same time that it is trying to convince countries such as Iran and North Korea not to develop nuclear arsenals of their own.

The false rationale the Bush administration gives for building this new warhead is to maintain long-term confidence in the reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. The truth, however, is that multiple independent studies have shown that the nuclear weapons stockpile will remain “safe and reliable” for at least another 50 years.

The United States’ hard earned reputation throughout the world has been ruined by the Bush administration’s belligerence.

It is imperative that concerned American citizens contact their Senators and Representatives to ask them to vote “no” on funding for a new generation of nuclear weapons.

The United States should demonstrate to the world that these horrific weapons should eventually be abolished by dismantling most of our nuclear arsenal. Instead, the Bush Administration has been trying to find new uses for nuclear weapons when we still have nearly 6,000 operational nuclear weapons, far beyond any rational need.

Former Senator Sam Nunn recently testified that moving ahead with this new nuclear weapon will be: “Misunderstood by our allies; exploited by our adversaries; complicate our work to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons… and make resolution of the Iran and North Korea challenges all the more difficult.”

Even with the frustrating policy environment that the Bush administration has created with the “endless” war in Iraq, Council for a Livable World and our allies won a major victory in recent years when, with your help, we stopped the development of the “nuclear bunker buster” bomb. We can’t afford to lose ground now by developing the Reliable Replacement Warhead.

The victory against the Bush Administration’s “nuclear bunker buster” proved that these battles can be won, and our legislative strategies work, but only if we get your help.

Please contact your two Senators and Representative to ask them to vote “no” on funding for a new generation of nuclear weapons.

Sincerely,

John Isaacs & Guy Stevens

P.S. We’ve been working on the Hill as the public interest lobby of the peace and security community since 1962. Our work is only possible because of concerned citizens like you who regularly support us with contributions of financial support. If you value what we do, please consider donating to us after calling your Congressional delegations.