WASHINGTON, DC (April 26, 2020) Today, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released their annual report on Global Military Expenditures, which exceeded $1.98 trillion in 2020. The United States’ spending made up 39% of that total.
In response, 38 U.S.-based think-tanks, non-profits, and faith-based organizations released a statement calling on the U.S. government to reduce military spending.
From the statement: “In 2020, our nation faced crises ranging from a pandemic to disastrous wildfires, evidencing the urgent need for investment in public health and climate change instead of F-35 warplanes and new nuclear weapons. The misallocation of our resources into militarized spending has weakened our nation’s ability to respond to the things that affect people’s day-to-day wellbeing.”
In addition to the reaction to SIPRI’s report, the organizations call on members of Congress to reject the military budget increases proposed by the Biden administration for fiscal year 2022, and instead “significantly decrease spending on the military and nuclear weapons for FY2022 and to re-allocate that money into true national priorities like public health, diplomacy, infrastructure, and addressing climate change.”
Signatories of the statement include the American Friends Service Committee, Win Without War, Center for International Policy, and others. The full statement can be found here.
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The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.