Why
I Will Continue to Stand Up for Peace
Some people have asked me why I should be concerned about a national
issue like the war in Iraq, since I’m not running for Congress.
As a recipient of the Seattle United Nations Association’s Human
Rights Award and the Washington State Network for Human Rights Award,
I think the question is indicative of how we isolate issues and don’t
see the bigger picture.
In turn I ask, “What do you think would have happened if every
elected official in this country had stood up to an administration
that had been planning to invade Iraq before the election took place
– and said no. Would we have wasted more than $150 billion of
the nation’s resources, impacted the lives of millions of US
and Iraqi families with devastating loss of life, and squandered the
good will of people and governments across the world? Isn’t
it the sacred duty of every elected representative to promote the
security and general welfare of the populace?”
General Dwight D Eisenhower described the impact of military spending
most eloquently in 1953: “Every gun that is made, every warship
launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft
from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are
not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is
spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists,
and the hopes of its children.”
The theft from Washington State taxpayers so far is $4.1 billion.
According to estimates of the National Priorities Project based primarily
on government statistics, this amount could pay for
• 2,964, 558 children receiving health care or
• 453, 895 Head Start slots for children or
• 72,325 elementary school teachers or
• 610,846 housing vouchers
In addition, Washington’s share of the money recently approved
for new nuclear weapons could pay for
• 105,126 people receiving health care or
• 68,933 housing vouchers
The health, education, and welfare of Washingtonians is being injured
by the continued expansion of US military activity throughout the
globe. As your elected representative, I will stand up in the state
legislature, in the Democratic Party, and with our Senators and Representatives
for a shift in priorities away from war and the huge military budget
to a sensible security policy and more federal support for the pressing
needs of the people of Washington State.