Washington, D.C. — February 26, 2017 — In response to reports that President Trump’s budget proposal will ask for “sharp increases in Defense Department spending,” and major cuts to other departments like the EPA, Jon Rainwater, executive director of the United States’ largest grassroots peace organization, Peace Action, released the following statement:

“More Pentagon spending won’t make Americans safer, particularly when it comes at the expense of departments like the EPA that are working to address the dangers of climate change. The U.S. military budget is already larger than the next seven countries’ military budgets combined. Pie charts of our discretionary budget look like Pac-Man because the Pentagon is gobbling up over 50% of the pie. Education, healthcare, and a host of other critical investments are left with the scraps.

“Wherever you look, Trump is leading our country in the wrong direction. When people wonder why they can’t afford to put their kids through college, or why they can’t afford to pay their medical bills, the bloated Pentagon budget should be the first thing on their minds.”

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Founded in 1957, Peace Action (formerly SANE/Freeze), the United States’ largest peace and disarmament organization, with over 100,000 paid members and nearly 100 chapters in 36 states, works to abolish nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs, encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights and support nonmilitary solutions to international conflicts. The public may learn more and take action at http://www.PeaceAction.org.

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