Author: Wilmer Rutt, Kevin Brubaker
Brad Ogilivie, Tom Simpson

Dear Friends,
As your ILYM General Committee members to FCNL, we urge you to prayerfully consider speaking Truth to Power. Please share with your Meeting if possible. And please hold us in the Light as we attend the National Lobby Day and the Annual Meeting starting Nov. 3 in Washington.

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The Pentagon is starting to get nervous.

Last week, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was on Capitol Hill telling Congress that the Pentagon can’t afford deep budget cuts by the congressional supercommittee. He found a receptive audience with the House Armed Services Committee, whose chair is also dismayed that curtailing federal spending would require cuts to the Pentagon. Military contractors have hundreds of paid lobbyists working against deficit reduction measures that would affect their financial interests.

What does all this mean? It means your lobbying is making a difference. Members of Congress are hearing from people like you that the Pentagon budget is too big, too bloated and too unaccountable to leave off the table when budgets need to be cut back. Some of the Occupy Wall Street protesters throughout the country are also vocal on these issues.

Next week, the Senate is out of session, and many senators will be back home for the break. This week, please make a plan to get in touch with your senators, or their offices, while they are home.

Protests covered in the media can help, but your lobbying as a constituent for cuts to Pentagon spending continues to be crucial. The congressional supercommittee will make its report to Congress by November 23, and then the full Congress will need to vote on this proposal by December 23. If the Pentagon budget is to be cut significantly, your members of Congress need to continue to see the support this issue has from you and others in your community.

Here are the steps we’d like you to take:

Print out a copy of the Sustainable Defense Task Force report.

Write a personal note that tells your senator why you want to give her or him a copy of this report.

Look up the location of your senator’s nearest office to you on our website. Put in your calendar a date and time you could drop by this office with the copy of the report.

When you visit the office, let the receptionist know that you are a constituent. Ask for a couple of minutes of time from a staff member who will carry your concern to the elected member and leave the report, along with your note.

Let us know how your visit went!

If you have the time, please consider trying to organize an appointment with your senator over the recess. We have advice and fact sheets on how to make your visit and what specific points you might use on our website or contact the FCNL office for more information.

Your emails and letters are important and can be influential, but surveys of congressional staff consistently show that the most effective way to influence your member of Congress is through an in person visit to his or her office.

Together we can convince Congress to cut $1 trillion from the Pentagon budget over the next ten years.

Sincerely,

Diane Randall
Executive Secretary
Friends Committee on National Legislation
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