ATLANTA – State Representative Becky Evans (D-Atlanta), along with members of the Women Legislators’ Lobby (WiLL), recently sent a letter to the U.S. Congress calling for the federal government to invest in American people over weapons and war.
“Making smart reductions to the Pentagon budget now will help make the lives of Georgia community members safer in the long run,” said Rep. Evans. “Georgia has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are asking congress to focus on creating jobs, improving infrastructure, building good education for all students and addressing climate change, not funding new, unnecessary weapons. For more than 30 years, presidents from both parties have raised climate change as a significant threat to national security in their nation security strategies. This highlights the nonpartisan nature of the massive climate threat and the need to shift resources to address climate change for the catastrophe that it is.”
WiLL, a program of Women’s Action for New Directions, urges congress to reduce 10 percent of funding for the Pentagon, pause funding for nuclear weapons systems upgrades, as well as terminate defense contracts that finance redundant construction projects and produce surplus military equipment and weapons. This letter was signed by 61 state legislators from 31 states.
“Time and again, we see that women legislators put more funds back into their districts and champion social programs that benefit local communities,” said Rikkia Ramsey, director of WiLL. “They know that all the tanks, faulty F35s and nuclear weapons in the world won’t keep their districts safe from COVID-19, put food on the table, help them pay rent or find a job with a livable wage. These are the things that everyday Americans care about. So, Congress should too.”
To view a copy of this letter, please click here.
Representative Becky Evans represents the citizens of District 83, which includes portions of unincorporated DeKalb, Atlanta and Decatur. She was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and currently serves on the Education, Intragovernmental Coordination, Economic Development & Tourism and Public Safety & Homeland Security committees.
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