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From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #4 Reply-To: abolition-usa-digest Sender: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk abolition-usa-digest Friday, July 24 1998 Volume 01 : Number 004 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 13:12:45 -0700 From: Shundahai Network <shundahai@shundahai.org> Subject: (abolition-usa) NUCLEAR WASTE MOVES QUIETLY ACROSS NORTHERN NEVADA Las Vegas Review Journal Article posted below. Hello Friends, This is Reinard Knutsen. I wanted to post this article below because I have not seen too much coverage of these shipments on the net (see Las Vegas Review Journal article below). On a personal level, (not as a representative of Shundahai Network) I think the title for the article says it all. I feel the anti-nuclear movement has suffered a major setback by letting this shipment into the country and pass through from Concord to INEEL with out any major demonstrations or blockades. I feel that Shundahai Network is as responsible for this setback as any of the other organizations organizing around nuclear issues, ( I know that we are bogged down with our own action preparations to stop the next subcritical tests, protest Yucca Mountain and interim storage and reclaim the Nevada Test Site, (Stay tuned for future alerts on these actions.) and we are 400 miles away from the shipment route) I know that all of the organizers out there are swamped respounding the many crisisis of our time and this is certainly not a critique of personal efforts. I know that many people worked long and hard on education and outreach before the shipments. It is a statement on our movement in general and American society. The fact is that we let this major shipment (299 spent nuclear fuel rods) pass without any major expression of outrage. The main anti-nuclear organizers that were quoted on this issue in our local papers over the past three days all had quotes that said things like "We do not plan to interfere with this shipment." "We certainly don't expect to be able to stop this shipment." "We are relieved that it passed safely." "We are upset that the DOE did not respond to our concerns" "It didn't seem to attract a lot of attention." There were no quotes that expressed outrage other then to say we are upset. And I think that we should be outraged, just as we should be outraged when ever the U.S. government prepares to do a subcritical nuclear weapons tests. This shipment just like the subcritical nuclear tests is a crime, because it does nothing to solve the nuclear waste problem, it just contributes to the problem. I think in the wake of the thousands of people protesting in Germany, blockading a shipment, and the international outcry of the shipment from France to Japan, our response in this country was like a kittens meow when we should have been roaring like lions. I think the rest of the world which still has somewhat of a boooming nuclear industry (promoted by the US) are looking to see how our government handels our nuclear waste problems. I think that we have failed in our message to the media. The articles I have seen gave more area to the DOE to say how safe these shipments are while portraying anti-nuclear activists as whiny and paranoid when they should be showing that we are outraged. Also I did not see any media coverage of alternatives to this shipment. We have to let the media and press know that these shipments are not neccessary right now and that there are safer ways to deal with our radioactive material then shipping it half way around the world and moving it here and there until it finally gets dumped in a hole in the ground. I think it is a sad statement of the movement that in San Francisco, home to a huge number of environmentally concerned folks, that only 15 people showed up to vigil silently while the train passed through Martinez. There are stories of one man who was arrested for standing in the tracks at the Concord Navel Weapons Station hours before the shipment left. I am glad he was there, but i am sad that he was the only one. We should have had at least hundreds on the tracks and I do wish there had been some kind of resistance to the ship entering the port. I have heard organizers express concerns over the safety of such actions. As a direct actionist who has blockaded truck shipments of radioactive waste before, (and watched many videos of Greenpeace ship actions) I do belive that there are safe ways of blockading. Of course there is an inherent risk in any action, but it does not have to be much more then say driving on a freeway in rush hour. I believe that we have to have people along each transportation route who are willing to say, "I will not let these shipments pass through my neighborhood, town or city. You will have to physically remove me." This statement would be much more effective then a silent vigil to witness the fact that these shipmetns are taking place. A couple of years ago the Shoshone Bannock Tribal police blocked the path of a nuclear waste train heading into Idaho. It can be done! And it can be done relatively safely. I think without actions like these to inspire others our movement will continue to wither. And each shipment they make without outraged vocal protests and physical nonviolent direct action is going to make it easier to make the final shipment to the big hole in Yucca Mountain, WIPP, Skull Valley Reservation.... Well, I pledge to do all that I can to express my outrage at this shipmment and demand that all future shipments be stopped and that we work with the foriegn countries on designing and running above ground retrievable storage until there is an end to the generation of nuclear waste and that we work on this issue as a global issue not just one to be controlled by the U.S. government. I will start by writing a letter to the editor, and I will carry this message on in my nonviolent direct actions. I look forward to hearing from anyone on this subject. Peace, Reinard Las Vegas Review Journal, Thursday July 23, 1998 NUCLEAR WASTE MOVES QUIETLY ACROSS NORTHERN NEVADA RENO- (Associated Press) A train carrying spent nuclear fuel rods passed protesters in California on Wednesday and began a much quieter 400 mile trek across Northern Nevada desert in route to a laboratory in Idaho. "I haven't heard that much about it," said Chuck Duffy, bartender at bruno's Country Club in Gerlach, which sits fifty feet from the railroad tracks about 100 miles northeast of Reno. "It seems to have snuck up on everybody here," he said just before the train passed through the town of 350 at the edge of the Black Rock Desert about noon. The unusual presence of a dozen police officers and firefighters had been the only viable sign the train would be moving through Gerlach, home of land speed records and the annual counter-cultural event known as 'Burning Man." The DOE refused to specify the trains location but confirmed that it was on it's way to Idaho on Wednesday. "I can only say that the shipment is safely underway and is continuing as planned." DOE spokesperson Jim Gaver said. About 15 protesters held a silent vigil as the train passed through Sacramento at 3:14 am. Two security helicopters hovered, joining forces on the train in keeping eyes on the demonstration. Only one formal protest was scheduled in Nevada but some residents along the route complained the about the secrecy of the trip. "This is a small community with a lot of children and everything in it," said Bob Couch of Winnemucca, where the train was expected to pass later that day. "It would be nice for there to be something in the paper or something like that saying it really is going to happen." By mid morning the train had passed safely through California's Feather River Canyon, a mountainous region where washouts and landslides are common. Anti-nuclear activists had considered the canyon passage one of the most dangerous elements of the trip. The train entered into Nevada 40 miles north of Reno about 10:20am with no signs of anti-nuclear activists. Citizens Against Nuclear Waste in Nevada planned a protest at a library in Reno on Wednesday night long after the train had passed through the area. The train rolled through Winnemucca near the middle of the State about 2:15pm with a sheriffs's helicopter hovering about 200 feet overhead. The engineer waved and gave a long blast of the whistle but didn't slow as the train made its way through the small Humboldt County town in less then two minutes. It arrived at Elko another 125 miles east about 6pm for refueling and a crew change. It was headed for Wendover, Utah, then on to Ogdon, Utah. "It's been real quiet through the state. It's going smooth, ahead of schedule," Lt Greg Petrie of the Nevada Highway Patrol said from Elko. He said there were no protests and the train was expected to be moving across Utah late Wednesday night or early today. John Hadder of Citizen Alert in Reno said his group was relieved that the train cleared the Feather River Canyon safely. "But we are upset that the DOE hasn't responded properly to our forecast of uncertainty," He Said. "We will continue to press DOE to respond." State officials in Nevada were playing down any safety threats. "Anyone within 100 miles of the rail line had training," said Steve Frady, a spokesperson for the Nevada Division of Forestry in Carson City. Northern Nevadans were more likely to be hit by a train trying to cross busy tracks in downtown Reno then they were to be exposed to radiation from a nuclear waste shipment, said Ralph Keeney, who teaches risk analysis at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. *************************************************************** SHUNDAHAI NETWORK "Peace and Harmony with all Creation" *Breaking the Nuclear Chain* 5007 Elmhurst Ln., Las Vegas, NV 89108-1304 ph(702)647-3095 Fax: (702)647-9385 Email: shundahai@shundahai.org http://www.shundahai.org Shundahai Network is proud to be part of: Healing Global Wounds Alliance, a multi-cultural alliance to foster sustainable living and break the nuclear chain; and Abolition 2000: A Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons **************************************************************** - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 16:40:54 -0700 (MST) From: swv1@ctaz.com (Save Ward Valley) Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) NUCLEAR WASTE MOVES QUIETLY ACROSS NORTHERN NEVADA I fully agree with Reinard from Shundahai--WHERE WAS EVERYBODY? We all scratch our heads and wonder how it is the nuclear industry and government run all over us. Well, here's a good example of why. There are more than enough people in the Bay Area and Sacramento to have lined the tracks with people all the way to the Sierras. No one need have made a move; just the sight of thousands of people along the tracks standing in protest would have made national news. Instead, the first of these shipments goes "quietly across Northern Nevada." Each day I read my e-mail from many different lists regarding nuclear weapons, power, waste, and testing. I tend to be a positive thinker but all of this is really starting to make me wonder whether it may really be just plain too late!!!! The nuclear industry and military complex have almost single- handedly destroyed this planet. Having learned of all the leaking dumps, Russian dumping of radioactive materials into rivers and the ocean, the contamination at weapons plants, and problems at places like Sellafield I have discovered that all we can do now is damage control. If we were stop all of this NOW we still could not stop the continuing damage that will be done by the radioactive materials already contaminating this earth--remember some of these materials are deadly for a QUARTER OF A MILLION YEARS!! We've got to stand up and fight, folks. We've got to take a lesson from Europe where thousands showed up to try to stop waste shipments. WE'VE GOT TO START TO CARE!!!!!!! It's all up to us--we can sit and complain or stand and fight. What will it be? For Environmental Justice, Molly Johnson Office coordinator, Save Ward Valley Save Ward Valley 107 F St. Needles, CA 92363 ph. 760/326-6267 fax 760/326-6268 http://www.shundahai.org/SWVAction.html http://earthrunner.com/savewardvalley http://www.ctaz.com/~swv1 http://banwaste.envirolink.org http://www.alphacdc.com/ien/wardvly4.html http://www.wildrockies.org/cmcr http://www.greenaction.org - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 22:26:33 -0400 From: peace through reason <prop1@prop1.org> Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) NUCLEAR WASTE MOVES QUIETLY ACROSS NORTHERN NEVADA Good comments, Reinard. And we should be outraged with our government when Iran tests a missile, and India and Pakistan test nuclear weapons, and India seeks a nuclear submarine, because it's the behavior of the "haves" that has led to this equally criminal behavior by the "wanna haves" -- why don't nation-states catch a clue from families with children? The simple rules you use to raise a responsible child should apply to diplomacy as well: Practice what you preach. If you make a promise, keep it. Listen to what is said, and show you're listening. Don't talk down. Don't bully. Never strike out in anger. Above all, don't be a hypocrite. Kids can see through it. American adults, it seems, have lost that touch. >I think in the wake of the thousands of people protesting in Germany, >blockading a shipment, and the international outcry of the shipment from >France to Japan, our response in this country was like a kittens meow when >we should have been roaring like lions. I think the rest of the world which >still has somewhat of a boooming nuclear industry (promoted by the US) are >looking to see how our government handels our nuclear waste problems. Haven't you noticed that many Americans are zombies? I've been observing people's behavior closely for fourteen years outside the White House, and the problem is getting worse and worse. Under Reagan, people were hostile, patriotic, but ALIVE. Now, so many people have just given UP. (Sometimes the temptation is great to do the same.) >I think it is a sad statement of the movement that in San Francisco, home >to a huge number of environmentally concerned folks, that only 15 people >showed up to vigil silently while the train passed through Martinez. Be happy there were 15. >There are stories of one man who was arrested for standing in the tracks at the >Concord Navel Weapons Station hours before the shipment left. I am glad he >was there, but i am sad that he was the only one. As Norman Mayer said to Thomas, who was fasting in 1982, "You can't quit, because as long as you're here people won't be able to ignore the problem." Be grateful there was one! Not to undermine what you're saying. You're right that coordinated action is needed. I'm sure NIRS would agree. Love, Ellenn Thomas _______________________________________________________________________ * Peace Through Reason - http://prop1.org - Convert the War Machines! * _______________________________________________________________________ - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 02:45:30 EDT From: <DavidMcR@aol.com> Subject: (abolition-usa) Tactical Manual for Day Without the Pentagon / ready While this is of primary interest to those in the US, the October 19th Day Without the Pentagon in Washington, DC certainly is of interest to our friends and coworkers around the world (and we would be happy to have their involvement as observers or participants). The 8 1/2 by 11, 32 page Tactical Manual is ready -- it arrived at the WRL offices on Wednesday. $2 will get you a copy. Maps, photos, outlines for arrests, for legal vigils, etc. Essential for local organizers to answer questions. Send your $2 to WRL, 339 Lafayette St., NYC 10012 and be the first in your block to have the manual! Peace, David McReynolds - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 03:00:13 EDT From: <DavidMcR@aol.com> Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: Tactical Manual for Day Without the Pentagon / ready Friends, In my haste to post this info (which just got sent) I forgot to list the web site for this major action. Please check out: www.nonviolence.org/wrl/nopentagon.htm Peace, David << Subj: Tactical Manual for Day Without the Pentagon / ready Date: 7/24/98 2:45:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time From: DavidMcR To: abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com To: abolition-caucus@igc.apc.org CC: wrl@igc.apc.org >> - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 06:46:02 -0700 (PDT) From: cloudflowers@igc.org (mesa's) Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) NUCLEAR WASTE MOVES QUIETLY ACROSS NORTHERN NEVADA Hi Reinard - yes, I agree, that is why one of my "fantasies" has been to activate people on the nuke routes throughout the country. I discussed this on the WIPP conference call with Tom and everyone, and there is agreement that doing this nationally bringing in ALL nuke routes is the way to go. I sincerely hope the Saturday "Mark the Route" action in CO and NM is the beginning of an action to be held perhaps every last Sat of the month at high noon across the nation. What do you think? There are shipments planned to come in to basically NV and NM from all over the world, and it has begun at Savannah River, now INEEL. I am as alarmed as you that there were not thousands of activists out in the hotbed of activism - San Francisco! If we do this road action nationally, the media will HAVE to notice as well as the sleeping masses of 2-leggeds. . Peace and blue skies, Suzanne at CCNS, Santa Fe >Las Vegas Review Journal Article posted below. > >Hello Friends, > >This is Reinard Knutsen. I wanted to post this article below because I have >not seen too much coverage of these shipments on the net (see Las Vegas >Review Journal article below). > >On a personal level, (not as a representative of Shundahai Network) I think >the title for the article says it all. I feel the anti-nuclear movement has >suffered a major setback by letting this shipment into the country and pass >through from Concord to INEEL with out any major demonstrations or >blockades. I feel that Shundahai Network is as responsible for this setback >as any of the other organizations organizing around nuclear issues, ( I >know that we are bogged down with our own action preparations to stop the >next subcritical tests, protest Yucca Mountain and interim storage and >reclaim the Nevada Test Site, (Stay tuned for future alerts on these >actions.) and we are 400 miles away from the shipment route) I know that >all of the organizers out there are swamped respounding the many crisisis >of our time and this is certainly not a critique of personal efforts. I >know that many people worked long and hard on education and outreach before >the shipments. It is a statement on our movement in general and American >society. > >The fact is that we let this major shipment (299 spent nuclear fuel rods) >pass without any major expression of outrage. > >The main anti-nuclear organizers that were quoted on this issue in our >local papers over the past three days all had quotes that said things like >"We do not plan to interfere with this shipment." "We certainly don't >expect to be able to stop this shipment." "We are relieved that it passed >safely." "We are upset that the DOE did not respond to our concerns" "It >didn't seem to attract a lot of attention." > >There were no quotes that expressed outrage other then to say we are upset. > >And I think that we should be outraged, just as we should be outraged when >ever the U.S. government prepares to do a subcritical nuclear weapons >tests. This shipment just like the subcritical nuclear tests is a crime, >because it does nothing to solve the nuclear waste problem, it just >contributes to the problem. > >I think in the wake of the thousands of people protesting in Germany, >blockading a shipment, and the international outcry of the shipment from >France to Japan, our response in this country was like a kittens meow when >we should have been roaring like lions. I think the rest of the world which >still has somewhat of a boooming nuclear industry (promoted by the US) are >looking to see how our government handels our nuclear waste problems. > >I think that we have failed in our message to the media. The articles I >have seen gave more area to the DOE to say how safe these shipments are >while portraying anti-nuclear activists as whiny and paranoid when they >should be showing that we are outraged. > >Also I did not see any media coverage of alternatives to this shipment. We >have to let the media and press know that these shipments are not >neccessary right now and that there are safer ways to deal with our >radioactive material then shipping it half way around the world and moving >it here and there until it finally gets dumped in a hole in the ground. > >I think it is a sad statement of the movement that in San Francisco, home >to a huge number of environmentally concerned folks, that only 15 people >showed up to vigil silently while the train passed through Martinez. There >are stories of one man who was arrested for standing in the tracks at the >Concord Navel Weapons Station hours before the shipment left. I am glad he >was there, but i am sad that he was the only one. We should have had at >least hundreds on the tracks and I do wish there had been some kind of >resistance to the ship entering the port. > >I have heard organizers express concerns over the safety of such actions. >As a direct actionist who has blockaded truck shipments of radioactive >waste before, (and watched many videos of Greenpeace ship actions) I do >belive that there are safe ways of blockading. Of course there is an >inherent risk in any action, but it does not have to be much more then say >driving on a freeway in rush hour. > >I believe that we have to have people along each transportation route who >are willing to say, "I will not let these shipments pass through my >neighborhood, town or city. You will have to physically remove me." This >statement would be much more effective then a silent vigil to witness the >fact that these shipmetns are taking place. > >A couple of years ago the Shoshone Bannock Tribal police blocked the path >of a nuclear waste train heading into Idaho. It can be done! And it can be >done relatively safely. > >I think without actions like these to inspire others our movement will >continue to wither. > >And each shipment they make without outraged vocal protests and physical >nonviolent direct action is going to make it easier to make the final >shipment to the big hole in Yucca Mountain, WIPP, Skull Valley Reservation.... > >Well, I pledge to do all that I can to express my outrage at this shipmment >and demand that all future shipments be stopped and that we work with the >foriegn countries on designing and running above ground retrievable storage >until there is an end to the generation of nuclear waste and that we work >on this issue as a global issue not just one to be controlled by the U.S. >government. I will start by writing a letter to the editor, and I will >carry this message on in my nonviolent direct actions. > >I look forward to hearing from anyone on this subject. > >Peace, Reinard > > >Las Vegas Review Journal, Thursday July 23, 1998 > >NUCLEAR WASTE MOVES QUIETLY ACROSS NORTHERN NEVADA > >RENO- (Associated Press) A train carrying spent nuclear fuel rods passed >protesters in California on Wednesday and began a much quieter 400 mile >trek across Northern Nevada desert in route to a laboratory in Idaho. > >"I haven't heard that much about it," said Chuck Duffy, bartender at >bruno's Country Club in Gerlach, which sits fifty feet from the railroad >tracks about 100 miles northeast of Reno. > >"It seems to have snuck up on everybody here," he said just before the >train passed through the town of 350 at the edge of the Black Rock Desert >about noon. > >The unusual presence of a dozen police officers and firefighters had been >the only viable sign the train would be moving through Gerlach, home of >land speed records and the annual counter-cultural event known as 'Burning >Man." > >The DOE refused to specify the trains location but confirmed that it was on >it's way to Idaho on Wednesday. > >"I can only say that the shipment is safely underway and is continuing as >planned." DOE spokesperson Jim Gaver said. > >About 15 protesters held a silent vigil as the train passed through >Sacramento at 3:14 am. Two security helicopters hovered, joining forces on >the train in keeping eyes on the demonstration. > >Only one formal protest was scheduled in Nevada but some residents along >the route complained the about the secrecy of the trip. > >"This is a small community with a lot of children and everything in it," >said Bob Couch of Winnemucca, where the train was expected to pass later >that day. > >"It would be nice for there to be something in the paper or something like >that saying it really is going to happen." > >By mid morning the train had passed safely through California's Feather >River Canyon, a mountainous region where washouts and landslides are >common. Anti-nuclear activists had considered the canyon passage one of the >most dangerous elements of the trip. > >The train entered into Nevada 40 miles north of Reno about 10:20am with no >signs of anti-nuclear activists. > >Citizens Against Nuclear Waste in Nevada planned a protest at a library in >Reno on Wednesday night long after the train had passed through the area. > >The train rolled through Winnemucca near the middle of the State about >2:15pm with a sheriffs's helicopter hovering about 200 feet overhead. The >engineer waved and gave a long blast of the whistle but didn't slow as the >train made its way through the small Humboldt County town in less then two >minutes. > >It arrived at Elko another 125 miles east about 6pm for refueling and a >crew change. It was headed for Wendover, Utah, then on to Ogdon, Utah. > >"It's been real quiet through the state. It's going smooth, ahead of >schedule," Lt Greg Petrie of the Nevada Highway Patrol said from Elko. > >He said there were no protests and the train was expected to be moving >across Utah late Wednesday night or early today. > >John Hadder of Citizen Alert in Reno said his group was relieved that the >train cleared the Feather River Canyon safely. > >"But we are upset that the DOE hasn't responded properly to our forecast of >uncertainty," He Said. "We will continue to press DOE to respond." > >State officials in Nevada were playing down any safety threats. > >"Anyone within 100 miles of the rail line had training," said Steve Frady, >a spokesperson for the Nevada Division of Forestry in Carson City. > >Northern Nevadans were more likely to be hit by a train trying to cross >busy tracks in downtown Reno then they were to be exposed to radiation from >a nuclear waste shipment, said Ralph Keeney, who teaches risk analysis at >the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. > >*************************************************************** > SHUNDAHAI NETWORK > "Peace and Harmony with all Creation" > *Breaking the Nuclear Chain* > > 5007 Elmhurst Ln., Las Vegas, NV 89108-1304 >ph(702)647-3095 Fax: (702)647-9385 Email: shundahai@shundahai.org > http://www.shundahai.org > > Shundahai Network is proud to be part of: >Healing Global Wounds Alliance, a multi-cultural alliance to >foster sustainable living and break the nuclear chain; and >Abolition 2000: A Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons >**************************************************************** > >- > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 08:43:07 -0700 (PDT) From: maureen eldredge <meldredge@igc.apc.org> Subject: (abolition-usa) Markey Resolution, Dear Colleague Enclosed is the dear colleague that Rep. Markey sent out today. - -M July 24, 1998 DON'T LET STOCKPILE STEWARDSHIP UNDERMINE U.S. NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION GOALS COSPONSOR H. CON. RES. 307 Dear Colleague: Currently, the Department of Energy's Stockpile Stewardship Program squanders billions of dollars on facilities to research and design new warheads, and continue nuclear weapons development as if the Cold War had never ended. In doing so, this program bolsters the nuclear weapons aspirations of other nations who follow our lead, and puts our real security at risk. It is time to stop this wasteful approach and develop a custodianship program more adequately suited to modern needs. In order to advance this objective I have introduced H. Con. Res. 307, which urges DOE to cease its ill-advised stockpile stewardship program and develop a program that is less costly, less provocative, and less likely to spend billions on facilities with little relevance to the safety of the arsenal. Many experts have suggested that there are alternatives to the Department of Energy's current stockpile stewardship program that can maintain the U.S. nuclear arsenal at a significantly lower cost. None of these alternatives are currently being seriously considered by DOE. In reality, many of the projects presently funded under this program are nothing more than a jobs program for nuclear scientists, but a jobs program with serious non-proliferation consequences. Other nations already look to our massive investment into nuclear weapons research and use it to justify their expanding nuclear programs. To promote the kind of curatorship of the arsenal that is really needed with the end of the Cold War, H. Con. Res. 307 expresses support for a stockpile stewardship program that protects our national security without being a guise for new weapons programs that will further undermine the already unsteady international nuclear non-proliferation regime. I urge you to join in cosponsoring this resolution. Please call Mr. Jeff Duncan or Ms. Joleen Connolly at x52836 of my staff if your would like to cosponsor this resolution and help move towards a more sound nuclear policy. Sincerely, Ed Markey ********************* Maureen Eldredge Program Director Alliance for Nuclear Accountibility 1801 18th St. NW, Suite 9-2 Washington, DC 20009 202-833-4668/fax: 202-234-9536 (formerly the Military Production Network) A national network of watchdog organizations working on DOE's nuclear weapons complex. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 08:42:52 -0700 (PDT) From: maureen eldredge <meldredge@igc.apc.org> Subject: (abolition-usa) H. Con. Res. 307 Dear friends and allies: At long last, we have a resolution on stockpile stewardship introduced into the House of Reps. It is H. Con. Res. 307, I have posted the text below. I urge everyone to contact their Representative in Washington (Capital switchboard, 202-224-3121) and urge him or her to co-sponsor the Markey Resolution, H. Con. Re2. 307. You should also consider making an appointment to meet with your Rep. over the recess in August when they will be home campaigning in your State, and ask them to co-sponsor the Resolution. If you do any election work, I also recommend that you raise this as a question to incumbents and candidates - as in "will you co-sponsor the Markey Resolution against our overblown, dangerous nuclear weapons program and support an alternative program that is cheaper and does not develop new nuclear weapons?", or "If elected, will you......" We have lots of fact sheets and information if you need talking points. Thanks, M Resolution: H.L.C. 105TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 307 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mr. MARKEY submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on lllllllllllllll CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the nuclear weapons stockpile. Whereas it is in the best interests of the Nation and the world to ban nuclear tests forever; Whereas the nuclear weapons arsenal of the United States has been extensively tested in the past, and the President again certified its safety and reliability on February 11, 1998; Whereas the nuclear weapons stockpile can be maintained without nuclear explosive testing; Whereas there exists an ongoing stockpile evaluation and maintenance program that has ensured the safety and re-liability of the arsenal for decades; Whereas the priority of the stewardship program should be the safety of the arsenal, and the United States should not design or develop nuclear weapons with new military capabilities or modify the nuclear explosive package in existing weapons; Whereas the proposed stockpile stewardship program, funded at $4,500,000,000 annually over ten years, is not needed to maintain the arsenal and many of its programs and facilities are unnecessary and hence a waste of taxpayer dollars; Whereas the proposed stockpile stewardship program is provocative to both nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states, and it runs counter to the obligations of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to pursue negotiations in good faith on cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament; Whereas nuclear weapons laboratories intend to use the current stockpile stewardship program to maintain and significantly enhance scientific and technical capabilities for undertaking ''development of advanced new types of nuclear weapons'' (as stated in the United States Department of Energy Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan, 1996); and Whereas a number of less costly and more appropriate alter-natives exist that can fulfill the stockpile maintenance re-quirements of the United States while complying with the obligations of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nu-clear Weapons: Now, therefore be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that- 3 H.L.C. 1 (1)the nuclear weapons stockpile can be main- 2 tained with a program that is far smaller, is less ex- 3 pensive, and does not require facilities or experi- 4 ments that are likely to be used for warhead design 5 or development; and 6 (2) the Secretary of Energy should direct the 7 Department of Energy program for custodianship of 8 the nuclear weapons arsenal toward less costly, less 9 provocative methods and cease the current stockpile 10 stewardship plans of the Department. F:\M5\MARKEY\MARKEY.048 July 22, 1998 (5:08 p.m.) Markey's Introductory Statement: INTRODUCTION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS CUSTODIANSHIP RESOLUTION STATEMENT BY REPRESENTATIVE EDWARD J. MARKEY (D-MA) JULY 23, 1998 Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a resolution to express the Sense of Congress regarding the proper direction of U.S. efforts to maintain the safety and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile in the post-Cold War era. Currently, the Department of Energy's Stockpile Stewardship squanders billions of dollars on facilities to research and design new warheads, and continue nuclear weapons development as if the Cold War had never ended. In doing so, it bolsters nuclear weapons aspirations of other nations who follow our lead, and puts our real security at risk. It is time to stop this wasteful approach and develop a custodianship program more adequately suited to modern needs. The resolution I am introducing today urges DOE to cease its ill-advised stockpile stewardship program and develop a program that is less costly, less provocative, and less likely to spend billions on facilities with little relevance to the safety of the arsenal. Many experts have suggested that there are alternatives to the Department of Energy's current stockpile stewardship program that can maintain the U.S. nuclear arsenal at a significantly lower cost. None of these alternatives have been seriously considered by DOE. In reality, many of the projects funded under this program are nothing more than a jobs program for nuclear scientists, but a jobs program with serious non-proliferation consequences. Other nations already look to our massive investment into nuclear weapons research and use it to justify their expanding nuclear programs. To promote the kind of curatorship of the arsenal that is really needed with the end of the Cold War, I am today introducing a resolution which expresses support for a program that protects our national security without being a guise for new weapons programs that will further undermine the already unsteady international nuclear non-proliferation regime. This resolution expresses the Sense of Congress that the nuclear weapons stockpile can be maintained with a program that is far smaller, less expensive, and which does not require the facilities or experiments that are likely to be used for warhead design or development. In addition, the resolution urges the Secretary of Energy to direct the Department of Energy program for custodianship of the nuclear weapons arsenal towards less costly and less provocative methods and to cease the current stockpile stewardship plans of the Departments. It is my hope that this resolution will serve as a useful vehicle for educating the Congress and the public about the nature of the current stockpile stewardship program and promoting a more informed debate and consideration of less destabilizing and costly alternatives. I urge my colleagues to join in cosponsoring this important resolution. ********************* Maureen Eldredge Program Director Alliance for Nuclear Accountibility 1801 18th St. NW, Suite 9-2 Washington, DC 20009 202-833-4668/fax: 202-234-9536 (formerly the Military Production Network) A national network of watchdog organizations working on DOE's nuclear weapons complex. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. 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