Action Alert -- Support Senator Feinstein's Amendment to Cut Nuclear Weapons

Action:
Please read through this action alert and do the following:

ONE -- If you are a Californian, call or write to Senator Dianne Feinstein and thank her for taking a leadership role in cutting the budget for new nuclear weapons.

TWO -- If you are a Californian, call Senator Barbara Boxer and ask her to join Senator Feinstein in cutting the nuclear weapons budget -- and to be a vocal leader on this issue. If you are NOT a Californian, call both your Senators and ask them to support the upcoming Feinstein amendment.

Here is the info you need to act ...

SENATE TO VOTE ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Action -- Support cuts to nuclear bunker buster (called the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator), "enhanced readiness" to conduct a full-scale underground nuuclear test in Nevada and the new Modern Plutonium Pit (bomb core) Facility.

IN BRIEF: The Senate will vote on at least one amendment to the Energy & Water appropriations bill in mid-late September. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has made a commitment -- hooray -- to offer an amendment to cut funding for the nuclear bunker buster, the nuclear weapons "advanced concepts" teams at Livermore Lab and Los Alamos Lab, enhanced test readiness in Nevada and the Modern Plutonium Pit Facility. Big hooray.

ACTION: Please contact your Senators and urge them to support the Feinstein amendment and other amendments cutting new nuclear weapons programs. Specifically, we urge you to:

1) Act quickly to organize a meeting with your Senators during recess (before Sept. 1)

2) Write a letter to your Senators and organize calls to their offices (see sample phone script below)

3) Write a letter to the editor of your local newpaper using the talking points below (see sample letter below)

4) Write Senator Dianne Feinstein a thank you letter, or call and thank her.

Call your district office or call the Capitol Switchboard to be connected to Senate offices. 202-224-3121.

Write: The Honorable Senator [name]
Attn: Defense Aide
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

BACKGROUND: In a remarkable move, the U.S. House of Representatives cut funding for the nuclear bunker buster, advanced concepts, enhanced test readiness and the Modern Pit Facility, part of a package of $262 million in cuts to the nuclear weapons activities budget in the Fiscal Year 2004 Energy & Water Appropriations bill. The Republican House is pushing a go-slow approach as the Administration has failed to issue stockpile requirements for the past two years. The House report states, "The [Dept. of Energy] National Nuclear Security Administration has not been able to reconcile the recently announced dramatic reductions planned for deployed operational nuclear warheads to its strategic weapons modernization plans, some of which will cost billions of dollars each, and which are currently structured to upgrade the maximum number of warheads . . . Because the results of the stockpile review will not be provided to Congress in time to justify the fiscal year 2004 budget request, the Committee has to view the significant budget growth proposed for the current program with skepticism." The Senate Appropriations Committee did not make equivalent cuts. Senator Feinstein is expected to offer an amendment on the floor after recess that mirrors the key cuts made in the House. Other Senators are considering similar amendments.

TALKING POINTS: Below are talking points on each of the key issues before the Senate. Additional talking points and related information can be found by going to the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability website via the links following each set of talking points or directly at www.ananuclear.org.

NUCLEAR BUNKER BUSTERS (Advanced Concepts teams and Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator info)

* A nuclear bunker-buster (which will be a high-yield nuclear bomb) would create massive collateral damage, killing thousands of innocent civilians in an urban setting and spreading dangerous contaminants if buried stockpiles of chemical and/or biological weapons were targetted.

* Low-yield nuclear weapons, such as those being developed by the so-called "advanced concepts" teams, blur the line between conventional and nuclear weapons, increasing the likelihood they will be used in conflict and encouraging other nations to also view nuclear weapons as usable.

MODERN PIT FACILITY

. The United States already has enough plutonium pits, with over 10,000 intact warheads and another 5,000-12,000 pits in reserve. Instead of building new pits, the United States should work with Russia to advance the schedule of reductions under the Moscow Treaty (limiting deployed weapons to around 2,000 per country) and dismantle non-deployed warheads to avoid massive stockpiles of warehoused weapons vulnerable to theft and terrorist use.

. The current stockpile is not about to fall apart. The DOE states that the average age of the current stockpile is 19 years and that "measurements to date have not shown any significant degradation of pits over approximately 40 years." Weapons scientists such as Richard Garwin believe pits will last 60-90 years or more.

. The Modern Pit Facility is being designed with the flexability to produce new-design pits. The Pentagon may not be willing to deploy them without testing, thus possibly prompting the U.S. to terminate observance of the CTBT and resume full-scale testing.

ENHANCED TEST READINESS

* The United States has conducted over 1,000 nuclear tests, allowing it to develop both an enormous, sophisticated nuclear arsenal and an unparalleled knowledge base. Resuming testing would lead other countries to test, eroding the U.S. advantage. The proliferation of more sophisticated arsenals in China, India and Pakistan or other countries would damage U.S. security.

* After 10 years of not testing, the U.S. nuclear stockpile has been consistently certified as safe and reliable. As recently as August 8, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell stated that "we have no need to [test nuclear weapons]."

SAMPLE PHONE RAP:

Hello. I'm a constituent of Senator [NAME] and I'm calling to ask the Senator to support Senator Feinstein's amendment to the Energy & Water bill to cut funding for new nuclear weapons programs. I am strongly opposed to a nuclear bunker buster that could kill thousands of innocent civilians and tempt other nations to view nuclear weapons as usable. I'm also opposed to US plans to build a new nuclear bomb plant. We don't need it and it sends the wrong message as we work to curb other nations' nuclear programs. I also oppose enhancing the readiness to test nuclear weapons as tests are not needed to establish the safety and reliability of the arsenal. Please urge the Senator to vote for the Feinstein amendment. Thank you. Good bye.

SAMPLE LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Return address

Date

To the editor:

In a surprise move, the U.S. House of Representatives cut the nuclear weapons budget this year, including most of the funding for the nuclear bunker buster, enhancing readiness to test nuclear weapons and the Modern Pit Facility, a proposal for a new bomb plant that would build plutonium pits, the cores to modern nuclear weapons. The House had good reason to cut the budget. For two years now the Administration has failed to provide details regarding future requirements for the stockpile given the drastic reductions anticipated as a result of the Moscow Treaty ratified earlier this year. Now Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is planning to offer an amendment to mirror many of the cuts made by the House when the Senate picks up the Energy & Water bill in September. The last thing we need are "usable" nuclear weapons, such as the nuclear bunker buster and just last week, Secretary of State Colin Powell declared there is no need to test. With over 10,000 weapons in the arsenal and anticipated reductions under the Moscow Treaty, we don't need to waste billions on a Modern Pit Facility. I hope Senators [NAMES of YOUR SENATORS] see the light vote for the Feinstein amendment.

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]

this action alert prepared by:

Jim Bridgman, Program Director
Alliance for Nuclear Accountability
322 4th Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002
202-544-0217; 202-544-6143 (fax)
jcbridgman@earthlink.net; www.ananuclear.org

with

Marylia Kelley, Executive Director
Tri-Valley CAREs
2582 Old First Street, Livermore, CA 94551
925-443-7148; 925-443-0177 (fax)
marylia@earthlink.net