Join us August 21: Tell Tammy Baldwin Pentagon Cuts Begin at Home!

Updated on
  • Friday, August 21, 12:00 noon
  • Corner of King St. and East Wilson St. in downtown Madison

We will start in Senator Tammy Baldwin’s neighborhood and march to her office to protest her support of the F-35 Fighter Jets that the Air Force plans to base at Madison’s Truax Field.

Everyone should wear masks and observe physical distancing guidelines to protect public health.

 

Pentagon cuts begin at home!


While the coalition appreciates Senator Tammy Baldwin’s recent vote on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to cut the military budget by ten percent (an amendment which failed to pass), we are disappointed in her continued support for the siting of a squadron of F-35s at Truax Field. We call on Senator Baldwin to:

  • work to change the mission of the Air National Guard base to support domestic needs instead of offensive military bombers;
  • reverse her support for the F-35 siting in Madison and push to shift funds for the F-35 program to critical domestic priorities.

The most recent edition of the Senate version of the COVID relief package calls for an additional $29.4 billion for military spending, including some eight billion in weapons procurement. These weapons include additional F-35’s, C-130 transport planes, ship building and a boost to missile defense spending, all to profit weapons manufacturers. Unlike Congressman Mark Pocan, who posted on his Facebook page “we need to extend unemployment benefits and eviction moratoriums, not funding for the F-35 and C130 Cargo planes,” Senator Baldwin has issued no statement on this underhanded proposal to further enhance the military budget under the guise of COVID relief.

Friday, August 21 is the last scheduled day of “Northern Lightning,” an unnecessary and wasteful 2 weeks of of military maneuvers at Volk Field, which include Air National Guard units from Wisconsin and Vermont and F-35 fighter jets. We call on the Senator to reverse course and tell the Air Force not to site the F-35’s here in Madison. Indeed, in this time of pandemic, the F-35 program should be canceled and the funds used instead to rebuild our long-neglected public health care system, our nation’s crumbling infrastructure and to provide direct aid to the unemployed for the duration of the crisis.

The Safe Skies Clean Water Coalition decries the decision to site F-35s at Truax Field for many reasons, including the disproportionate negative impact in terms of safety, noise and loss of affordable housing on the low-income and people of color in surrounding neighborhoods.