While in S. Korea, President Bush said that N. Korea is evil because the Korean government is
building weapons while their people starve.  Sadly, his remarks apply equally to the U.S. as
indicated by the following facts and the president’s request that the military budget be increased
by $48 Billion to $396 Billion for FY 2003.

NOT-SO-FUN FACTS ABOUT HUNGER IN THE  U.S.

• Thirty-one million people - including 12 million children -- live in households that experiencehunger or the risk of hunger. This represents one in ten households in the United States (10.1 percent)(USDA - United States Department of Agriculture)
• Three percent of U.S. households experience hunger: they frequently skip meals or eat too little, sometimes going without food for a whole day. Nearly eight million people, including 2.7 million children, live in these homes. (USDA)
• Seven percent of U.S. households are at risk of hunger: they have lower quality diets or mustresort to seeking emergency food because they cannot always afford the food they need. Twenty-three  million people, including 9.4 million children, live in these homes. (USDA)
• People facing hunger increasingly do not receive assistance from the Food Stamp Program. The program has experienced steep drops in participation,  beyond what the strong economy would warrant. The number of people who received food stamps in 2001 decreased by over 10 million since 1994, a drop of over one-third in program participation. (USDA)
• The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that only 40 percent of the drop is due to a stronger economy, other sources report that about 50 percent of the decline is due to problems implementing the 1996 welfare law, and as much as 8 percent is due to limits on eligibility established in the welfare law. (Bread for the World)

MORE “FUN” FACTS
(Center for Defense Information  -- see especially http://www.cdi.org/issues/wme/ for further
facts and graphs)

FACT:  More than 100 countries have military budgets of less than $1 billion what the Pentagon
spends in one day.

FACT: Over 50 countries have military budgets of less than $100 million. If the proposed budget
is approved, the Pentagon would spend that much in just over two hours

FACT:  If you converted the proposed $396 billion Pentagon budget in to silver dollars and
stacked them one on top of another, it would make a stack 690 miles high. That’s roughly three
times the distance to the Moon, and enough to return to the Earth 27.5 times.

Consider the following...

• At $396 billion, the U.S. military budget for FY’03 is more than 26 times as large as the combined spending of the seven countries traditionally identified by the Pentagon as our most likely adversaries (Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria).
• The U.S. budget is more than the combined spending of the next 25 nations.
• The United States and its close allies spend more than the rest of the world combined, accounting for more than two-thirds of all military spending. Together they spend over 39 times more than seven rogue states.

ACTION
Write the President, your senators and congressperson demanding that the upcoming military
budget be reduced, not increased, in order to care for our own people.  (See sample letter below)

President Bush
president@whitehouse.gov

Senator
Go to http://www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm to find your Senators’ e-mail
addresses

Congressperson
Go to http://congress.org/ and enter your zip code to find you Congressperson’s e-mail address

SAMPLE LETTER (cut and paste this letter and edit it as appropriate for your use)
Dear (President Bush/Senator/Congressperson)

I am calling upon you to reduce the military budget and spend more money to provide food for
the hungry in the United States.  In S. Korea (you/President Bush) called N. Korea evil because
its government spends money on weapons while its people starve.  Clearly, this is an apt
description of the United States as the following facts indicate.  True security comes resides in a
healthy society where all have the minimum requirements.  Conversely, the seed bed of attacks
such as those of September 11 can be found in hungry bellies.

Sincerely,

=============

NOT-SO-FUN FACTS ABOUT HUNGER IN THE  U.S.
*Thirty-one million people - including 12 million children -- live in households that experience
hunger or the risk of hunger. This represents one in ten households in the United States (10.1
percent)(USDA - United States Department of Agriculture)

*Three percent of U.S. households experience hunger: they frequently skip meals or eat too
little, sometimes going without food for a whole day. Nearly eight million people, including 2.7
million children, live in these homes. (USDA)

*Seven percent of U.S. households are at risk of hunger: they have lower quality diets or must
resort to seeking emergency food because they cannot always afford the food they need. Twenty-
three  million people, including 9.4 million children, live in these homes. (USDA)

*People facing hunger increasingly do not receive assistance from the Food Stamp Program. The
program has experienced steep drops in participation,  beyond what the strong economy would
warrant. The number of people who received food stamps in 2001 decreased by over 10 million
since 1994, a drop of over one-third in program participation. (USDA)

*The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that only 40 percent of the drop is due to
a stronger economy, other sources report that about 50 percent of the decline is due to problems
implementing the 1996 welfare law, and as much as 8 percent is due to limits on eligibility
established in the welfare law. (Bread for the World)

MORE “FUN” FACTS
(Center for Defense Information  -- see especially http://www.cdi.org/issues/wme/ for further
facts and graphs)

FACT:  More than 100 countries have military budgets of less than $1 billion what the Pentagon
spends in one day.

FACT: Over 50 countries have military budgets of less than $100 million. If the proposed budget
is approved, the Pentagon would spend that much in just over two hours

FACT:  If you converted the proposed $396 billion Pentagon budget in to silver dollars and
stacked them one on top of another, it would make a stack 690 miles high. That’s roughly three
times the distance to the Moon, and enough to return to the Earth 27.5 times.

Consider the following...
At $396 billion, the U.S. military budget for FY’03 is more than 26 times as large as the
combined spending of the seven countries traditionally identified by the Pentagon as our most
likely adversaries (Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria).

The U.S. budget is more than the combined spending of the next 25 nations.

The United States and its close allies spend more than the rest of the world combined,
accounting for more than two-thirds of all military spending. Together they spend over 39 times
more than seven rogue states.