October 2000

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Citizens and Candidates on National Missile Defense and the Build-up of Nuclear Arms

George W. Bush has often stated that the US must design and deploy "quantum leap weapons" that would dominate the battlefields of the future. Many believe he was talking about space-based lasers when he predicted that laboratories like Sandia and Los Alamos in New Mexico would play a critical role in the development of "weapons that will allow America to define how wars are fought." When told of Clinton's delay decision Bush stated that, "Should I be president, I'll seize the moment and develop an effective antiballistic missile system." Al Gore supported Clinton's decision, saying that a delay allowed more time for "additional testing" and would "allow the next President time to conduct updated discussions with other countries." But Gore concluded, "If I am elected President, I would also plan to use the extra time for a serious bipartisan dialogue about defensive systems aimed at establishing a consensus that clearly does not exist at this time." Green Party candidate Ralph Nader and Socialist Party candidate David McReynolds both have taken the position that Star Wars deployments are destabilizing and are a waste of taxpayer dollars.

-- Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space <globalnet@mindspring.com>

On Thursday evening, September 7, 2000, the Northampton City Council, with a 7 to 2 vote, upheld its August 17, 2000 resolution which calls upon the governments of all nuclear weapons states to take all nuclear weapons off alert status and to begin negotiations to prohibit and eliminate all nuclear weapons, beginning with the decision not to deploy a ballistic missile defense system. The resolution further asks that Congress and the President begin immediately to re-prioritize federal spending in support of the health, education, and housing of our citizens.

Supported by data provided by the National Priorities Project, the Council's statement read, "the $3,595,000 paid by Northampton taxpayers [during the last fiscal year] for the cost of development and maintenance of nuclear weapons, could have instead provided Head Start and child care services for 600 children; or built fifty-one affordable housing units; or provided health insurance for 2,669 children who now lack adequate coverage..."

Activist Frances Crowe of Northampton, one of the lead pro-resolution organizers, offered, "...we addressed all the issues that the Millennium Summit addressed--war, poverty, and the environment--all wrapped up in the resolution."

In passing this resolution, the Northampton City Council joined hundreds of municipalities throughout the world, each calling for an end to senseless, dangerous global weapons expansion. Crowe continued, "The work is now to stay with it, to help this campaign be implemented. Whenever budget cuts come up, we have to be there to make the connections. This represents a people's rebellion against militarism."

Anyone interested in receiving relevant literature or flyers should contact Frances Crowe at 413/586-4950 or frances@hge.net
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Action Alert: Senate "Mini-Nuke" Plan Could Lead to Nuclear Testing

The Defense Authorization Bill has passed both the House and the Senate. In September, staff will meet in conference to work through the differences in the two bills. One provision that Women's Action for New Directions (WAND) is particularly concerned about is Section 1018 in the Senate version.

Section 1018 would allow development of a new nuclear weapon, a "mini-nuke" with an explosive yield of less than 5 kilotons. Senators John Warner (R-VA) and Wayne Allard (R-CO) placed this provision in the bill. The provision pushes the US closer to a renewal of nuclear testing, which would wreck the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and could promote a new arms race.

Senators Warner and Allard acted in response to an Air Force request that would require the weapons labs to develop an earth-burrowing nuclear warhead that could be used in regional wars, such as the Gulf War or Kosovo, to destroy underground bunkers. The military would regard it as "usable," given the relatively small 5 kiloton (KT) explosive yield (the Hiroshima bomb was a 15 KT weapon).

Development of a "mini-nuke" has been banned since 1993 when Reps. Elizabeth Furse (retired) and John Spratt (D-SC) ensured passage of a measure preventing the labs from doing design and development work on "mini-nukes." The House and Senate Armed Services Committees supported this 1993 ban.

The House version of the FY 2001 defense authorization bill does not contain this "mini-nukes" clause. This presents an opportunity to strike the provision altogether when the House-Senate conference committee meets in September.

The legislators listed below are all on the conference committee. In parentheses is the name of each congressperson's defense aide. Call yours, and make clear your opposition to development of a "mini-nuke." Ask her/him to support removal of the Warner-Allard provision from the final language of the FY 2001 defense authorization bill. (All area codes are 202.)

AR-Snyder (Mike Casey) 225-2506; CA-Thompson (David Flanders) 225-3311; CA-Tauscher (Jeff Cohen) 225-1880; HI-Abercrombie (Mike Velasquez) 225-2726; IL-Evans (Tom O'Donnell) 225-5905; MA-Meehan (Bob Schubert) 225-3411; MA-Kennedy (Menda Fife) 224-4543; ME-Allen (Todd Stein) 225-6116; ME-Snowe (Thomas Vecchiolla) 224-5344; MO-Skelton (Jim Schweiter) 225-4158; MS-Taylor (Stephen Peranich) 225-5772; MI-Levin (Richard Fieldhouse) 224-3871; NM-Bingaman (Wayne Glass) 224-5521; SC-Spratt (Hugh Brady) 226-7200; VA-Robb (Bill Sutey) 224-4024

For more information, contact WAND, 110 Maryland Ave. NE #205, Washington DC 20002; 202/543-8505; www.wand.org
There was a small item in the (Lowell MA-based) Eagle-Tribune Sept. 15th describing a mystery in Winsted CT. Giant sunflowers were sprouting all over the downtown area and it wasn't known if they were planted or if they grew from seeds carried by the wind. Back on June 4, 1996, William J. Perry, who was then US Secretary of Defense, joined Russian and Ukrainian defense ministers in a ceremony celebrating the Ukraine's official renouncement of nuclear weapons. As the defense ministers planted sunflowers on a former missile base, Secretary Perry said: "Sunflowers instead of missiles in the soil would ensure peace for future generations." Good idea. Let's plant sunflowers all over America to show the Pentagon and our Government that we want to be nuclear free, too, and ensure peace for the future generations of this country and the rest of the world.--Jane Cadarette, Andover MA

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