"It is Time for Nuclear Disarmament"
August 5, 2008
Mr. Alesch:
Sixty-three years ago this week, the United States dropped nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The United States still has an arsenal of more than 6,000 nuclear weapons that could produce this kind of destruction and horror again.
More and more people, including former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, former Sen. Sam Nunn (GA), and former Defense Secretary William Perry, are calling on the United States to work toward total nuclear disarmament.
I hope that you support this call and would, if elected, advocate cutting the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal by at least 50 percent. I look forward to hearing from you how you would advance a world free of nuclear weapons in Congress.
Tom
Naperville
RESPONSE:
Tom,
Thank you for your thoughtful letter. Yes, I do support total nuclear disarmament, and cutting the arsenal by 50% would be a great start.
While we must be the world leader in nuclear disarmament, we must also ensure that our disarmament efforts are matched by other countries that have or are attempting to obtain or develop nuclear weapons. We must also ensure that nuclear weapons stockpiles are accounted for in the disarmament process, so material and technology does not end up on the black market.
It is important to note that nuclear material not only makes some of the world's deadliest weapons, it is responsible for some of the world's deadliest peacetime accidents. For that reason, I will fight to prevent new nuclear power plants from being built in the United States, including the nuclear waste reprocessing facility that my opponent Rep. Judy Biggert is trying to bring to our area. Her plan, called the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), would transform the Chicago Suburbs into the world's nuclear waste dump and would pose a major, ongoing health risk to residents in our community.
http://www.votesteve.org/gnep.shtml
According to a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, Biggert's GNEP plan will actually undermine nuclear non-proliferation treaties:
Please join me in calling on Judy Biggert to end her advocacy for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.
Sincerely,
Steve Alesch
Green Party Candidate for Congress, 13th District