USCCB committee chair calls on Obama to reduce nuclear weapons arsenal

May 05, 2016

Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, the chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has called upon President Barack Obama to “reduce the US deployed strategic [nuclear] arsenal by a third, which is a level the Pentagon agrees is adequate to maintain security.”

“We are deeply concerned about the administration's proposal to spend more than $1 trillion building a new generation of nuclear warheads, missiles, bombers and submarines,” Bishop Cantú said in a joint statement that was also signed by the presidents of the National Association of Evangelicals, the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“Spending money we don't have on weapons we don't need won't make us safer,” they added. “Congress should refuse to fund such dangerous and unnecessary weapons programs.”

The signatories also suggested other “meaningful, practical nuclear risk-reduction steps” that President Obama could take.

 

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Further information:

• Scientists And Faith Leaders Urge President Obama To Announce Steps In Hiroshima To Reduce Nuclear Risks (USCCB)
• Faith And Science Leaders Agree: Reduce The Threat Of Nuclear Catastrophe Now (USCCB)