PEP COMPLETES WASHINGTON DC TRIP
By Connor Worley
After flying to our nation’s capital, Peace Economy Project Board President Abbe Sudvarg and I – Arms Control Fellow Connor Worley – settled down at the Highlander Motel for some much-needed rest before our grand tour of Congress. Wednesday morning started with an early coffee and doughnut meeting with Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) and his staffers. After he was done meeting with constituents from Springfield to St. Louis, and everywhere in-between, we were able to get face to face time with the Senator, where we stressed the importance of maintaining American participation in international arms control treaties. Once our doughnuts were done digesting, Abbe and I ventured along the halls of Congress, handing out PEP’s statement of peace to the congressmen and women of all our signees.
Having completed our rounds of the House Congressional office buildings, we attended a meeting with Senator Josh Hawley’s (R – MO) foreign policy advisor. We pressed him hard on Senator Hawley’s nay vote on Senate Joint Resolution 7, which called for an end to US cooperation with the Saudis in their war in Yemen. In addition to Senator Hawley, we also met with staffers from Rodney Davis from across the river in Illinois’ 13th District. That afternoon, we were fortunate enough to meet personally with Representative Lacy Clay (D – MO). For the first time, we found ourselves in the presence of an ally. Representative Clay applauded us on our advocacy and encouraged us to continue fighting the good fight, both at home in St. Louis and in D.C. Our final meeting of the day found us back at Senator Blunt’s office. We once again were meeting with a foreign policy staffer. We implored her to convey to the Senator that he should vote for the upcoming National Defense Authorization Act while putting into consideration fighting the military-industrial complex and funding human needs efforts.
The next day, we had an early morning meeting with Congresswoman Ann Wagner’s (R – MO) staffers where we advocated for various arms control treaties and a more humanitarian and fiscally responsible defense budget. We then hurriedly headed over to the Senate office buildings to deliver our statement of peace to Congress’ other half. The highlight of our day came in a meeting with the military affairs advisor to Senator Tammy Duckworth (D- IL). She happily listened to Abbe and I and assured us that the Senator stands in support of our mission. He even told us how we can better tailor PEP’s message to those who may be less receptive to it. The overall trip can only be described as a success, and we plan on implementing what we learned in our nation’s capital to our work here in St. Louis.
Connor Worley is an Arms Control Fellow for Peace Economy Project.
