Statement: Congress Must Reject Senate Plan to Boost Dept. of Defense Budget

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WASHINGTON — Win Without War Senior Washington Director Erica Fein released the following statement regarding the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 defense appropriations bill, released by the Appropriations Committee this afternoon:

“Our nation’s budget priorities are broken.

“As Congress and the media wring their hands over every last dollar in the Build Back Better agenda, the Senate Appropriations Committee has proposed a $726 billion Department of Defense spending bill, an increase of $19.4 billion above President Biden’s requested topline and $29.3 billion above last year’s enacted level. That would put the Pentagon budget at twice the annual cost of the entire Build Back Better Act.

“It simply should not be easier to fund nuclear bombs and endless warfare than it is to invest in education, infrastructure, and climate action for the people of this country.

“Congress should reject this $19.4 billion Pentagon budget boost and instead focus on fixing the broken status quo and investing in real human needs.

“If Congress cares more about the needs of working families across this country than it does the profits of wealthy weapons industry executives, now is the time to act like it.”

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Win Without War is a diverse network of activists and national organizations working for progressive foreign policy in the United States.