Democrat Introduces Measure to Abolish Military Branch That 'Threatened Longstanding Peace'
A collection of Democrats, including Rep. Maxine Waters of California, want to ground America’s Space Force.
Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California said he is introducing a bill to abolish the military branch created by former President Donald Trump because its very existence disturbs the peaceful realm of space in which all earthlings are pals.
“The long-standing neutrality of space has fostered a competitive, non-militarized age of exploration every nation and generation has valued since the first days of space travel. But since its creation under the former Trump administration, the Space Force has threatened longstanding peace and flagrantly wasted billions of taxpayer dollars,” Huffman said in a statement on his website.
“Dems Plan To Scuttle Space Force”
Of course they are. They’re against defense spending in general, but anything Trump did specifically.https://t.co/bvMnN2p3SL— Gray Wolf (@graywolf442) September 26, 2021
“It’s time we turn our attention back to where it belongs: addressing urgent domestic and international priorities like battling COVID-19, climate change, and growing economic inequality. Our mission must be to support the American people, not spend billions on the militarization of space,” he said.
In addition to Waters, Huffman’s call to ground the Space Force is supported by Democratic Reps. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, Jesús García of Illinois and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
Although President Joe Biden has trashed many of Trump’s initiatives since assuming office, the Space Force is not among them, according to Fox News.
Biden’s fiscal 2022 budget calls for $17.4 billion for the Space Force, up $2 billion from the current level.
But Huffman’s proposal is supported by liberal groups such as the anti-war organization Peace Action.
“Outer space must be de-militarized and kept as a realm strictly for peaceful exploration,” Kevin Martin, the president of Peace Action, said, according to Huffman’s website.
“Militarizing space is an unconscionable waste of billions of tax dollars, and it risks extending the worst mistakes of history to the final frontier by inviting conflict and escalation. Americans don’t want more wasteful military spending, which means Congress should pass the No Militarization of Space Act before the Space Force budget inevitably skyrockets,” said Sean Vitka, the senior policy counsel for Demand Progress.
“We are being more effectively challenged militarily than at any other time in our history.”@USAirForce Secretary Frank Kendall warned about #China’s increasing military threats, including those from space. https://t.co/UWIZvnNNel
— The Epoch Times – China Insider (@EpochTimesChina) September 22, 2021
In an Op-Ed published by the Washington Examiner, contributor Tom Rogan said the logic of the Democratic critics of the Space Force is deeply flawed.
“The Space Force exists for a simple reason: The security of the United States and its allies is increasingly dependent on space,” he wrote.
“The issue is Chinese and Russian efforts to deploy weapons and sensor systems (such as satellites) into Earth’s orbit so as to hold the U.S. at risk. The reality of space in 2021 is very different from the ‘neutrality of space’ fiction offered by Huffman,” he said.
Rogan said that to ignore the efforts of China and other nations to dominate space “would be to invite calamity. If adversaries are seizing the initiative to turn space to their own military advantages, the U.S. must do the same.”
“The establishment of the Space Force has allowed for a specific professional service dedicated to space,” he wrote. “This enables the more effective use of relevant capabilities and a more efficient means by which to serve government policy.”
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