{This post was submitted to the Des Moines Register as a potential guest editorial}
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Many peace-advocates in the Des Moines area welcome the inauguration of President Joe Biden, who repeatedly has pledged to take swift and strong action to reduce the danger of nuclear conflict -- a threat that increased dramatically over the last four years.
Biden has promised he will work to:

• Renew the “New START” strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia (even while holding Russian leaders accountable for the largest ever “hacking” of U.S. government networks.)
• Seek Iran’s re-entry and compliance with the 2015 “Nuclear Deal” that blocks Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and continue negotiations to curb missile capabilities.
• Cut planned increases in nuclear weapons spending because we do not need enhanced or new nuclear weapons.  Instead, Biden says he will seek arms control with Russia and other world powers, which would free-up funds to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, restore domestic infrastructure, and tackle other crucial challenges.

We urge President Biden to follow through on these priorities – and we call on Senator Grassley, Senator Ernst and our House Members to support them, too.

We urge another priority for the new Biden Administration and Congress:  the U.S. should join the many nations that declare a goal of eliminating nuclear weapons completely, worldwide.  How?   

Fifty-one nations of the UN General Assembly have moved to ratify the “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons” (TPNW).  The U.S. should ratify it, too.  The Treaty enters into force Jan. 22, since 50+ have ratified, but it lacks ratification by nuclear-weapon nations.

We can and must negotiate worldwide reduction in nuclear warheads, in parallel, over years, until they have been eliminated from the face of the Earth.  No country should ever again be able to use nuclear weapons.  Maintaining any nuclear warheads is utterly wasteful and dangerous.
We invite Iowans to join us in urging President Biden to fulfill his pledge to reduce the threat of nuclear disaster – and to lead the effort to eliminate nuclear weapons completely.  We need to press our elected officials, Senators Grassley and Ernst in particular, to speak out and vote for such policies when called upon.  And we need to speak up to counter nuclear weapons special-interest “hawks” whenever they try to torpedo measures to rid the world of nuclear weapons.  Let’s get moving toward a nuclear weapon-free world!

We share this message on behalf of Iowa peace-advocacy groups:  Catholic Peace Ministry, STAR*PAC (Stop the Arms Race Political Action Cte.), Des Moines Catholic Worker Community, Iowa Peace Network, Methodist Federation for Social Action (Iowa Chapter), National Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (Des Moines).

Submitted by Robert Brammer of Des Moines and Tom Leffler of Johnston who are retired and volunteer with central Iowa grass roots peace groups.  Robert.Brammer@gmail.com, tom.leffler.ia@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 4, 2020
 
We call upon Iowans to join us in exhorting our political leaders to oppose the rush to a disastrous war with Iran.  The United States has used its military reach into Iraq to assassinate a leader of Iran’s Qud Forces, an escalation of back and forth actions with Iran that amounts to an alarming declaration of war—without congressional authorization.

Regardless of how we got to this situation, the only way forward from this point must be de-escalation, exercising restraint, and engaging in diplomacy. 

We ask citizens to join with us to:

• Insist that Congress defend and exercise its responsibility for oversight and for authorizing war.  Call or write to Senators Grassley and Ernst.  Tell Congress, “No War with Iran.”  Urge them to act on bills HR 2354 and S 1039 that would ensure the president cannot take unilateral military action against Iran without congressional authorization.  Ask them to ascertain what information about imminent attacks on the US and its armed forces justified the assassination.

 

• Persist in asking candidates for Senate and President to advocate for peace and reduced military actions, answering questions about foreign policy. One set of questions has been prepared by STAR*PAC and sent to the presidential candidates.  Check out the questions on starpac.org.  Attend candidate events and participate in the February Caucus process to introduce platform resolutions.

 

• Participate in public demonstrations opposing the rush to war.  One such event is this Sunday morning, 11:00 a.m., at the NW Corner of E Grand & E 9th in Des Moines.

Now is the time for concerned citizens to take action!

• Patti McKee, Catholic Peace Ministry
• Bob Brammer, Des Moines Faith Committee for Peace
• Eloise Cranke, Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA), Iowa Chapter
• Christine Anders and Kathleen McQuillen, Middle East Peace Education Coalition (MEPEC)
• Janet Rosenbury, Plymouth UCC Peace Committee
• Tom Leffler, Stop the Arms Race Political Action Committee (STAR*PAC)
• Mary Caponi, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Des Moines Branch

At a luncheon held at Drake University on Thursday, November 21, Deborah Rosenblum of the Nuclear Threat Initiative national organization presented comments on the nuclear threat and issued a call to action.  Provide here is a video of the discussion.  Further, here is her call to action:
Deborah’s call to action: there are a few questions that advocates should be asking presidential candidates when attending events: 

• “Do we still need thousands of weapons whose primary purpose is to never be used?”  Gen. James Cartwright, who oversaw U.S. nuclear weapons under President George W. Bush and served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff for President Obama, said that we could ensure national security with 900 warheads, not 6,000+. Elected officials need to work with the military to determine what the right number is to protect our national security, then engage Russia on new treaties.
• “Will you extend the New START Treaty?” This treaty not only limits U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles, it includes monitoring and verification provisions, and is set to expire in February 2021—two weeks after the next presidential inauguration. But it could be extended for another five years.
• “Should we keep nuclear weapons on hair-trigger posture?”
• “If we talked to the Soviets at the height of the Cold War, why can’t we talk to Russians now about reducing nuclear risks?”  ​

https://www.facebook.com/nti.org/videos/465106997695976/
​(The orientation of the video is soon corrected for display.)

We propose that you attend every presidential candidate event you can, and pick (at least) one question to ask about foreign policy and military spending.  Little is being brought out in these areas, and we need to be the ones bringing the arms race to their and the public's attention. Track events through usual news media outlets, Facebook events, etc.  Get involved locally in organizations that help you stay connected.

Here is a list of questions we posed to Iowa candidates for the US Senate 4 years ago--all continue to be very relevant to this timeframe.  ​

If you learn anything worth repeating, send us a note at contact@starpac.org.

The attached document represents the view of the STAR*PAC Central Committee and advocates your involvement in your respective 2018 Congressional seat campaign in Iowa. We oppose all Republican candidates in that enable an administration that is dangerous to world peace as well as our national security and well-being.  

At the August 16 STAR✦PAC event featuring Maria Filippone and Isaac Christiansen, we learned a lot about the dire conditions being experienced in Gaza with a likely worsening of conditions until it becomes uninhabitable by 2020.  Here are some documents that provide further resources and things you can do to address the situation.

We sponsored a two hour forum on Sunday, May 15, featuring the four Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate from Iowa.  Rodger Routh, Routh Video Production, has edited the following video down to the fifteen questions posed followed by each candidate's response.  We thank Rodger for his fine work in providing this recap to be shared. 

(Click on the button below to open a document that lists the questions with the elapsed time on the tape where the question was asked. Once the tape begins replaying, use this information to navigate to the spots on the tape that are of the most interest to you.)

The forum was moderated by Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie, who posed the questions on behalf of STAR*PAC and our ten co-sponsoring organizations.  The candidates are Tom Fiegen, Clarence; Rob Hogg, Cedar Rapids; Patty Judge, Albia; and Bob Krause, Fairfield.

These are the fifteen key questions STAR*PAC has prepared for federal candidates to address our primary concerns about foreign policy, military spending and humane treatment for migrants--so that Iowa candidates for the US Senate and Congress may focus on them.