JANUARY-FEBRUARY ACTIONS FOR MEMBERS AND BRANCHES!
See details below this index of actions
(many details are below, but the site should improve in by tomorrow after I figure how to do it better without the guidance of our great webmaster, Dave Onion and if I can get access to the internet while traveling. Carol Urner)
1. More great opportunity to stop the rebuilding of our nuclear weapons complex for the benefit of war profiteers! Submit your comments to the Department of Energy before April 10
Second stage in the NEPA process for Complex Transformation begins 1/11. Congress voted down funds for this project supporting rebuilding our nuclear weapons stockpile , including the Reliable Replacement Warhead, in 2007. Nonetheless the Department of Energy (Do E)and the Pentagon continue with plans under a different name. Last year it was Complex 2030, this year it is somewhat redesigned and called Complex Transformation. We regard this as a big boondoggle for the nuclear weapons contractors. Final deadline for comments is 4/10/08. Access details here on Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) including talking points and where to send your comments, as well as the DoE report to to Environmental Protection Agency on impact of the project on the environment.. You can also find a basic fact sheet on FCNL web pages.
Public hearings re Complex Transformation in areas where we have Branches will be in Tracy, California (3/18). Lawrence Livermore (3/19), and Washington D.C. (3/25). For info on public hearings and submission of comments also go to ANA. Last year Mary Day Kent testified for WILPF in Washington D.C. and Branch members submitted significant testimony. Many WILPF members also mailed or emailed their testimony, and some Branches that had no opportunity to testify at public hearings also took their comments to their Congressional offices. We were part of a successful effort to side rail that first attempt. We hope members and Branches will join us in responding to this new NEPA process. It is one of our most effective ways to stop dangerous and costly programs like this one.
2. Second article in the Wall Street Journal from Kissinger, Schultz, Perry
and Nunn, calling for abolition of nuclear weapons. This is even
more powerful than the first letter published a year ago in 2007. Read
it and send it to your own Congress person with your personal plea
for the abolition of nuclear weapons. And express your strong resistance to
the RRW and the rebuilding of the nuclear weapons complex! That is a dangerous
detour our nation cannot afford to take! We in WILPF disagree on much these
men have done in the past, but if even they can see the danger and folly of
nuclear weapons it is possible for our world to take a step forward toward their
abolition. Other nations of the world are ready to move, and Costa Rica has
introduced a model treaty that can form as the basis for forward progress.
A year ago two members of the DISARM team delivered the 2007 letter from the same four men, along with WILPF resources and a cover letter from Mary Day Kent, to all 100 Senate offices in Washington D. C. Our message was that if hawks like these four men and doves like ourselves in WILPF can agree we must move forward now on abolition of nuclear weapons, then surely Republicans and Democrats in Congress can do the same.
3. WILPF visits to Congress 2/19 - 2/29: Ellen Barfield and Carol Urner of DISARM delivered your Peace is Possible post cards, and those calling for lifting of the siege on Gaza, to Congressional offices in D.C. WILPF Branches and members in California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Missouri all had collected cards for delivery. Many were on H Res 146 and called for an end to violence against women and observance of UNSCR 1325. Others touched on a wide variety of topics. Read Carol Urner's blog for details on the delivery!
Tzili Mor joined them to meet with foreign policy aides of Senator Feinstein (CA) and Representative Gloria Moore (WI) re the WILPF shadow report on U.S. compliance with the Child Soldier Protocol. Tzili had delivered the report in Geneva on February 7 to the Commission on the Rights of the Child. Note that 30 other organizations working on counter-recruitment in the United States endorsed the report and contributed information to on abusive recruiting of children for the U.S. military which begins in Middle School or even earlier. As a result the Commission has sent queries on these practices to the U.S. government which it is expected to answer by March 31. Read Tzili's statement to the UN Commission on the Rights of the Child in Geneva. Also read the AHR/CEDAW background information on the shadow report process.
Carol Urner also met with foreign policy aides of Eddlie Bernice Johnson (TX), John Conyers (MI) and Grace Napolitano (CA) to give them copies of the Shadow Report, the UN questions to the U.S. government and other background information. The DISARM team was pleased to cooperate with AHR/CEDAW on this effort and we hope foundations have been laid for future work on this issue of so much concern to U.S. WILPF members. Watch for Carol's blog on all of these meetings with suggestions for actions. Senator Feinstein's aide suggested we work for a hearing in the Armed Services Committee. and keep sending our documentation on abuses to her offices. Let us establish relationships with other relevant Congress people who will receive our documentation in preparation for Congressional action, hearings or legislation.
4. UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) 2-25 - 3/7, New Yorkat the United Nations: There was a workshop on Nepal and UNSCR 1325 the first week and special WILPF meetings. Our DISARM WILPF workshop on will be at the end of the CSW sessions March 6. Leadership team members Ellen Barfield, Jean Verthein, Carol Urner and Elisabeth Leonard plan to be at the CSW along with many others with concerns for demilitarization from U.S. Branches and other Sections .
Our DISARM workshop on Women, War and Budgeting for Peace took placeone
6 March, 11:45am - 1:15pm. U.S. DISARM is bringing Mary Beth Sullivan
of Global Network to serve on the panel, and WILPF at the UN is asking Frida
Berrigan (NewYork) and a representative from Costa Rica will speak. The WILPF
workshop on UNSCR 1325 with Columbia as a Case Study will be sometime during
March 5-7.
5. Register for the WILPF co-sponsored international conference on Keeping Space for Peace in Omaha Nebraska April 11 to 13. See details here. WILPF is sponsoring the workshop on Space Law or War in Space with Rhianna Tyson and Jennifer Nordstrom, both formerly with Reaching Critical Will.
6. And/or join Alliance for Accountability for D.C. days April 13 to 16.. These are well organized and effective lobby days, and you will be joining dedicated "nuke watch dogs" and activists who monitor our nuclear waste and weapons production sites around the nation. This page will give you access to the brochure with basic informaiton and program, and also to the registration form. Also watch for the excellent ANA Fact sheets which should be available soon from the site. You can use these for education, action and contacts with your Congress people for the rest of the year.