Update: Check out our photo petition on the National Day of Action to Pull the Pentagon Pork here!
By Lucy Vazquez
On Tuesday February 19th PJALS members met with John Culton, the Eastern Washington Director for Senator Patty Murray as our second mobilization, following up on our December action, where we delivered over 1,100 signatures of individuals and 18 different organizations that have signed on as part of PJALS’ Bring Our Billions Home Campaign. As the fight over the budget continues and more cuts to social programs are on the chopping block, PJALS decided to make a stance and urge Senator Murray to protect our communities and fight to reduce wasteful Pentagon spending.
Sitting in Senator Murray’s Eastern Washington Director John Culton’s office with seven PJALS members–veterans, students, farmers, mothers and fathers, and other everyday people–and listening to their stories made me realize this is not about numbers, it’s about impacting real people and communities. I listened to a few stories from members of our community, who represented a small portion of the amount of individuals who are being affected by these budget cuts and decisions. Hearing their stories gave me strength to continue fighting for our social programs and emphasized the importance of telling ones’ story.
PJALS will carry on the struggle to reduce wasteful Pentagon spending by joining the National Day of Action to protect our priorities at noon on February 27th. We will engage in sign holding, gathering signatures on our Bring Our Billions Home campaign, and conducting a photo petition about pulling the pentagon pork in order to tell Congress its time they listen to us and start investing in our priorities and not in CEO’s!