Today, as we learn of the passing of Senator Dianne Feinstein, we want to take a moment to reflect upon Tri-Valley CAREs’ long working relationship with her and her staff.
Senator Feinstein leaves a long, immensely consequential, and complex legacy. Tri-Valley CAREs’ advocacy and longstanding relationship with Senator Feinstein centered on her pivotal role as a member, then Chair, of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee.
This subcommittee makes the initial decisions on the Department of Energy nuclear weapons activities budget, which includes the money for Livermore Lab’s nuclear weapons work (along with all of our nation’s nuclear weapons work).
There were many budget cycles in which Senator Feinstein stood up and opposed dangerous, proliferation provocative, new nuclear weapon designs. She was instrumental in defeating the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrating bomb and the so-called Reliable Replacement Warhead, both of which were under development at Livermore Lab. It’s rare in Washington for a member of Congress to stand on principle and oppose a program in their home state, but Senator Feinstein was willing to do so! She also helped us defeat a prior DOE plan to expand plutonium bomb core production, and she will be sorely missed in the budget fights ahead as we work to stop the latest version of this madness.
Senator Feinstein was well informed on these issues, and she was truly concerned about the risks, costs, and dangers that nuclear weapons pose. Tri-Valley CAREs nominated her for Alliance for Nuclear Accountability Awards for outstanding work to prevent new nuclear weapons, twice!
Senator Dianne Feinstein Presente!
