FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JAN 11, 2023
Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected]
Shepherding an Immoral Budget: CODEPINK disrupts Rep. Adam Smith at Brookings Defense Policy Talk
“The two greatest threats to national security are nuclear war and the climate crisis.”
Adam Smith on Wednesday. CODEPINK organizers got on stage to push for negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine. They expressed the frustration of millions of Americans who want to see the United States invest more in climate justice and social programs instead of war.
Following a presentation about strengthening our military with the former chair of the House Armed Services Committee Rep. Adam Smith, Medea Benjamin and Olivia DiNucci took the stage to correct the record. Benjamin called out Democrats and Republicans for pushing us further into the war in Ukraine, taking us to the brink of nuclear war.
“The Democrats have to get back on board with calling for negotiations and not leave that to the extreme right of the Republican Party, like Marjorie Taylor Greene. They shouldn’t be the ones with the rational voice in all of this. Democrats have to step forward, put the pressure on the Biden administration and say we need negotiations, not more war,” said Olivia DiNucci. “Security is addressing the climate crisis, getting people housed and not pouring $880 billion dollars into war.”
While Rep. Smith has never met a defense budget worth cutting, Brookings had no problem cutting the webinar stream when CODEPINK activists called out the immorality of a nearly trillion dollar budget for death and destruction of people and the planet.
The recent passage of the NDAA delivers $858 billion to the Pentagon. The Pentagon is the largest institutional consumer of oil and emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world. Unlimited funding for the Pentagon budget increases militarism and the provocation of global wars. Elected officials like Representative Smith ignore the possibility of a nuclear war and the existential threat of climate chaos. Instead, they continue to throw more money into death machines.
CODEPINK will continue to disrupt and lobby Congress until they stop funding the destructive war economy.
See full video posted by CSPAN here.
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