Tri-Valley CAREs
Communities Against a Radioactive Environment
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Thursday, May 30, 2019
Posted by Marylia Kelley, Vecky Elliott, Inga Olson and Barbara Dyskant
Your Team in Washington:
Marylia Kelley, Vecky Elliott, Inga Olson and Barbara Dyskant represented Tri-Valley CAREs in Washington, DC the week of May 20th. We were there for the national Alliance for Nuclear Accountability’s 31st annual “DC Days.” We were joined in the nation’s capital by 65 activists who, like us, are directly affected by U.S. nuclear weapons sites. Together, we held more than 90 scheduled meetings with Congress and Administration officials. It was exhilarating – and exhausting – all at the same time.
Our team of four participated in 48 DC Days meetings. We focused on decision-makers with authority over weapons policy and nuclear pollution as both issues have grave consequences for our members who live near the Livermore Lab Main Site and its Site 300 high explosives testing range.
We time our DC Days meetings for maximum impact while Congress is beginning to debate and “mark up” nuclear weapons spending and policy bills. While votes were happening in real time, we had the perfect opportunity to weigh in to stop new nukes, like Trump’s “low yield” warhead for submarines and also a wholly new and risky warhead that Livermore Lab is designing for land-based silos, which will require a new-design plutonium pit (i.e., bomb core).
The House “mark up” of its spending bill, which happened while we were there, removes all of the money the President requested for the low yield warhead while substantially cutting back funds for expansion of plutonium pit production. (Stay tuned: We will continue to post analyses and updates for you on the budget process as it continues.)
We also participated in the ANA awards reception held this year in Rayburn House Office Building. Special commendations were given to Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, and to several grassroots s/heroes for their courage and noteworthy achievements, from standing up for environmental justice in nuclear waste siting decisions in NM to filing for justice and the release of Grand Jury records at the Rocky Flats Plant in CO, to working tirelessly for cleanup at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in CA.
• For DC Days factsheet on weapons Click Here
• For DC Days factsheet on waste Click Here
• For ANA awards invitation
Click Here