[pjw] NEWS: US Conference of Mayors Opposes Military Spending (Public News Service 6/27)

[Peace and Justice Works]

Happy almost holiday with "bombs bursting in air" over our river

Below is news that the US Conference of Mayors, which met from June 23-26, 
passed unanimous resolutions to redirect money from the military budget 
(and nuclear weapons in particular) to human needs. Portland already has a 
similar policy and the conference has passed such resolutions in the past.
  http://pjw.info/wardollars_city_final.html
  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/us-mayors-afghanistan_n_880370.html

Portland's Mayor Ted Wheeler was there
http://legacy.usmayors.org/85thAnnualMeeting/preregisteredmayorsphotos.asp
which means we need to hold him to the resolution calling for public 
hearings looking at redirecting military spending.

Text of the military spending resolutions is here:

http://legacy.usmayors.org/resolutions/85th_Conference/proposedcommittee.asp?committee=Metro%20Economies

  * NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of
  Mayors urges the United States Congress to move our tax dollars in
  exactly the opposite direction proposed by the President, from
  militarism to human  and environmental needs.

  *NOW,THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of
  Mayors calls on the Mayors of each of our cities to promptly hold public
  hearings that examine what each of city's Departments needs to carry out
  the goals of the Department and the work it is assigned and what they
  could accomplish if funds were available that now go to the military
  [and several "further resolved" clauses]

and the one about reducing nuclear weapons is here:
http://legacy.usmayors.org/resolutions/85th_Conference/proposedcommittee.asp?committee=International%20Affairs

  *NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of
  Mayors (USCM) calls on the United States Government, as an urgent
  priority, to do everything in his power to lower nuclear tensions though
  intense diplomatic efforts with Russia, China, North Korea and other
  nuclear-armed states and their allies, and to work with Russia to
  dramatically reduce U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles; and

  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors
  welcomes the historic negotiations currently underway in the United
  Nations, involving most of the world.s countries, on a treaty to prohibit
  nuclear weapons, leading to their total elimination
  [and several "further resolved" clauses].

Thanks to Betty for the tip on this info.
dan h
peace and justice works


     http://worldbeyondwar.org/conference-mayors-opposes-trump-military-spending/
Conference of Mayors Opposes Trump Military Spending
    By Andrea Sears, Public News Service - NY, June 27, 2017

    NEW YORK - An annual gathering of mayors from around the country is
    calling on Congress to reverse course by moving funding out of the
    military budget and into human and environmental needs.

    The U.S. Conference of Mayors on Monday unanimously passed three
    resolutions opposing deep cuts in social and environmental programs to
    increase funding for the military.

    David Swanson, director of World Beyond War, notes President Donald
    Trump has proposed increasing military spending by $54 billion.

    "These resolutions say, "No,'" he states. "'Take money out of the
    military budget - and, in particular, take money out of nuclear weapons
    - and put that money into increasing the budgets of things that
    actually serve humanity and the environment."

    The mayors of Ithaca, N.Y., and New Haven, Conn. introduced two of the
    resolutions, numbered 59 and 60. Both call for a reversal of priorities
    in the federal budget and, Swanson adds, resolution 60 issues a
    nationwide call for action.

    "The mayors of all the cities need to hold public hearings, make public
    the trade offs involved here, send notification to their members of
    Congress and request responses back," he stresses.

    The mayors of 19 cities sponsored the third resolution, number 79.

    According to Swanson, it calls on Congress to cut off funding for new
    nuclear weapons and to join other nations in drafting a United Nations
    treaty to ban all nuclear weapons.

    "Nothing could be more important while the United States and Russia are
    in a more hostile relationship than they've been in decades," he
    states.

    The Trump administration budget proposes an 11 percent increase in
    spending on nuclear weapons, while slashing federal programs for
    diplomacy and foreign aid.