This online action and description were submitted by the Arms Control Association
In March, President Biden sent his fiscal year 2024 request to Congress for $886.4 billion for military spending, including $56.5 billion for nuclear weapons—a 10% increase from last year.
Biden did seek to cancel a Trump-era plan for a new nuclear weapon.
But now, some members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are pushing for even higher funding for existing and new nuclear weapons programs. The Republican-led House committee approved $260 million for the development of a new nuclear-armed submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) and its associated nuclear warhead.
Adding a new type of tactical nuclear weapon to the U.S. arsenal would increase the risk of nuclear war and prompt Russia and China to build up their forces in response.
On June 2, at our 2023 Annual Meeting, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan bluntly said that the United States does not need to deploy “ever-more dangerous nuclear weapons to maintain deterrence.”
President Biden made the right decision to cancel the weapon, and now we need to make sure Congress doesn’t reverse the decision.
Write to your congressional representatives now and tell them to block attempts to approve funding for the SLCM-N.
