We know from a biggest case that the first time we invited some of the pakistani and now, more live coverage of the net roots conversation in pittsburgh where katie porter is joining a conversation on the increasing threat of Nuclear Weapons. A live coverage here on cspan. Hello, everyone. We will get started here on time. I want to welcome you all. The past and present impacts of Nuclear Weapons, a panel hosted by global zero, the International Movement for the abolition of Nuclear Weapons. For the next hour, we will talk about the intersections of nuclear war, Climate Change, and other important social justice and progressive movements. We have seen numerous amounts of nuclear news, whether we are talking about president trumps maralago raid when they were looking for nuclear documents, the 2015 iran deal in limbo or russia continues to show russias continuing shelling of a Nuclear Power plant. There is a lot to discuss. Before we get too deep in conversation, i want to acknowledge that we are on the Ancestral Lands of any Indigenous Peoples including the seneca nation and the members of the hody notioni confederacy. Thank you for joining us live in person and a special thank you to those joining virtually. We are humbled and honored to be livestreaming today. If you like what you hear, please make sure to follow us on twitter and tweet globalzero. Lets get started with these introductions. I am your moderator. For those of you who are not familiar, we are the International Movement for the abolition of Nuclear Weapons. We dont simply envision a World WithoutNuclear Weapons, but a possibility of what the world looks like beyond the bomb. And we are spearheading an Audacious Campaign to get there. Hopefully you have seen some of my colleagues around and make sure you talk to them when you do. Lets meet our wonderful panelists. We are absolutely thrilled to have congresswoman katie porter representing californias 45th district. As many of you have probably seen, congresswoman porter has developed a reputation for visual aids and congressional hearings, particularly a whiteboard. In her roles on oversight and reform and House Committee on national resources, the congresswoman is deeply committed to holding those in power accountable whether they are polluters or bank ceos. The congresswoman has been incredibly vocal in the Nuclear Weapons complex and is particularly concerned about the waste, fraud, and abuse that goes on in the Nuclear Weapons complex. She also plays a pivotal role in Nuclear Justice and requested a formal apology from the United States for the legacy of Nuclear Testing in the Marshall Islands that i know she will touch upon later. And we are joined by Deputy Director at engage, an organization focused on educating, engaging, and empowering american communities. There she works on protecting Global Human Rights and improving domestic policies for muslim americans. She will provide an often overlooked intersection between Nuclear Weapons and the importance of humancentered foreignpolicy policy and National Security. Finally, samantha miller, an activist currently based in the southeastern idaho. Samantha brings antiimperialist and decolonization lenses for joe for social justice work. She aims to inspire new activists in colorado, montana, nebraska, north dakota, and wyoming. All under direct Nuclear Threat as they are considered sponge states. She also seeks to find justice for victims of Nuclear Testing. Thank you all for being here with us. Representative porter, i want to start with you. There have been numerous Nuclear Incidents in the past few months. How are you talking about this with your constituents . Rep. Porter thank you very much for asking it thank you for having me here. In my district, it particularly values safety. And having a lot of dialogue about public safety, safety, and risk. Issues have to be part of that. Nothing makes us less safe than the prospect of nuclear war. I live in irvine. I say nobody moves to irvine for the nightlife. Nothing here is open past 8 00. Not even the target. People move here for the quality of life and part of that is safety. Families need to understand that authoritarianism and instability abroad is not somebody elses problem. It is our problem. We are all put at risk. And nuclear elsewhere is a nuclear arm harm here. There are policies to serve the interest of defense contractors. I think the anticorruption angle is a good way to talk about this with constituents. Our communities need to be fixed. The entire planet would suffer if there were a Nuclear Incident. And just a few days ago, researchers showed that not only would nuclear war kill millions immediately, it would cause global failures. 5 billion people on the brink of death. I think helping people understand that what happens overseas is going to happen here. That is the nature of Nuclear Threats. The biggest challenge as a representative here is simply i dont get asked about this as much as i think i should. I dont think people bring this topic up. And so i think helping them see that if you are worried about Climate Change and the destruction of the planet, let me tell you about the destruction of the planet and what that would mean with Nuclear Weapons. We can link these issues to other issues that come up in town halls. That is a wonderful point and you started talking about this being a safety and security issue and how it affects your constituents. How has this affected policymaking . When we think about about defense in government, how does this moment change the conversation . Rep. Porter when it comes to defense spending, we need to help our constituents understand the distinction. This is between what generals want and what the defense contractors have on their wish list. Too many of our defense dollars line the pockets of defense contractors. Its true with regard to all kinds of parks and procurement situation. This is really bad for taxpayers but it is also this waste and abuse makes this less safe. Instead of clamping down on systemic waste, we have been doing the opposite. Icbm replacement we do not need for another couple decades. I am buying it now. We are putting huge pressure on the rest of our Defense Budget at a time when inflation is pushing up the cost of Government Programs including the cost of, of some of our military programs. I spend a lot of my time dealing with waste, fraud, and abuse. I thought i had seen it all and i looked under the hood of the nuclear program. What might be a concern for everybody is the Congressional Budget Office that says Nuclear Weapons programs are going to be 62 billion over budget in the next 10 years. The gao says the air force hasnt even done the math on what it will cost to put intercontinental listed missiles into the silos. That is crazy. You need to know what something is going to cost before you ask us for the money. Even if you take the rationale for icbms at face value, even if you say there is no price too high for National Defense, he should still be outraged that our government is spending 260 billion for missiles we do not need to keep us safe at a price way higher than advertised. Every member on both sides of the isle should be reunited and rethinking our spending a Nuclear Policy for those reasons. And Nuclear Policy for those reasons. We are so glad to have you. Especially because your community is often so overlooked in the conversation around National Security. I want to talk about some of the things that have been striking about this crisis in ukraine when you talk about regional conflicts engaged with working with National Security and Foreign Policy particularly as they pertain to the middle east, north africa. How has your work been affected . And what has the resurgence of the nuclear conversation done to your community . The community, i represent muslim americans. I am the proud daughter of egyptian immigrants. We are the topic of National Security, but not as victims, but perpetrators. Armed conflict has devastating consequences and it really puts many innocent lives in danger. We have an obligation to address the atrocities regardless of where they occur. It was sad but not unexpected to see the double standard when it came to the armed invasion of russia to ukraine in comparison to syria, the evacuation of afghanistan, the ongoing conflict of subsaharan africa. Many of which get little attention in the u. S. Let alone on global conversation. I congresswoman was talking about spending. And last month the keep and last month, there couldve been a legislative fix. The Biden Administration asked congress to pass the afghan act which would streamline afghans getting legal status. It Congress Left that provision out of the ukraine funding bill because, republicans claimed afghans need more vetting. One threat that continues to come up is the rise of islamophobia in india, a Nuclear Power. Tensions within kashmir. In the question we continue to face is, how do we hold Nuclear Armed allies accountable for these human rights abuses . How does the u. S. Mitigate our relationship and Strategic Interests in india while also condemning ongoing violence against muslims and the concerning relationship growing with china. I have other examples but i would like to pause here. Mari we recognize there are fundamental intersections between all of these issues, particularly the way the military intersects with so many other systems of injustice and inequity. You are a youth activist. You have been working toward the abolition of Nuclear Weapons previously and now with global zero. Activists recognize there is a multitude of existential threats affecting them, including the Nuclear Threat. Also Climate Change, access to reproductive rights and health care, racial justice, and economic justice. How has your work tied these issues together . Samantha the issues of Nuclear Weapons themselves intersect with a lot of other progressive movements and the actions that global zero takes to reflect those intersections. Starting with the fact that the team is so incredibly diverse. Historically, the Nuclear Sphere has been predominantly white men. Women and people of color have been burdened disproportionately by reduction, testing, and the existence of Nuclear Weapons. The thing that we advocate for have implications for many issues. We have been talking about spending a lot. We have funds for health care, public education, and addressing Food Insecurity and combating Climate Change. We would have compensation for the communities that have been test sites. Including places like the Marshall Islands and the pacific islands. Which is a necessary component for racial justice. Mari that is absolutely true. You have the opportunity to talk with an abundance of different people. What is the most striking to you about this movement as people talk about these weapons . Samantha it is striking to me how Little People actually know about Nuclear Weapons. I find im often the first person to tell people that the president has full authority over the launch of Nuclear Weapons. They can make that decision by themselves. People dont have a concept of the threat level that exists with other Nuclear Armed countries. Whereas they have hundreds of Nuclear Weapons, the u. S. Has thousands. Which isnt to say that it still wouldnt be bad if they did something. There is also a lot of agreement across the political spectrum about the fact that Nuclear Weapons are bad and we should abolish them altogether. Even with people who may have the opposite opinion of mine on Something Else progressive, we can all agree that the present power structures are unsustainable and the risk of Nuclear Weapons is high. Mari you actually mentioned something i want to circle back to representative porter on. There is a global nexus between Climate Change, health impacts, colonial legacy, and supremacist systems and Nuclear Weapons. It disproportionately affects frontline and indigenous communities and the devastating experiences of humanitarian issues. You have been incredibly vocal along with other senators about apologizing for the u. S. Nuclear legacy in places like the Marshall Islands. Can you speak more to the legacy and work being done on these issues . Rep. Porter picking up on what sam said, most people dont know this story. This is part of our history and decisionmaking. Part of our Historic National defense strategy. I did not know until i read some articles about it and was immediately struck with how important it was for our government to prepare as much as one ever can and acknowledge the harm we have done. The u. S. Conducted 67 Nuclear Weapons test over the Marshall Islands. And the yield on those tests work out to about 1. 6 hiroshimasized bombs every day for 12 years. Children on the islands thought the Nuclear Fallout was snow. Some babies were born after the tests with transparent skin and no bones. They are called jellyfish babies. The u. S. Still hasnt told them everything we know about the harm from those tests. Even though we never admitted, to date, any wrongdoing. We promised the marshall eez marshallese people access to medication. A drafting bill took that away and it took 15 years for congress to fix it. I want to credit senator hirono for finally getting it done last year. I think everyone should be outraged by our failure to keep our promises to the marshallese people. Its important for me as a member of congress and we are home to one of the oldest marshallese communities in the country. So since 2012, congress has required the department of energy to conduct Groundwater Monitoring. Basically, its a big cement Container Holding nuclear waste. A humongous garbage can embedded in the atoll. The department of the interior provides funding and is supposed to be doing oversight with the monitoring of leakage of radioactivity and waste. They have not been complying with this Groundwater Monitoring requirement and that is where my subcommittee came in. As chair of the subcommittee for resources, we have a hearing on our nuclear legacy. I was delighted and proud that it was a very bipartisan hearing. What we tried to do is understand why we are seeing every different Government Department from state to interior to energy point fingers at each other. It became clear that the department of state needed Stronger Leadership with regard to rebuilding and maintaining our relationship with the Marshall Islands. President bidens leadership, he named a special president ial envoy for the compact negotiations, the future relationship with the marshallese people. I am hopeful that the resolution to apologize for the harm done by u. S. Nuclear testing done in the Marshall Islands will move forward and set up a future relationship with the marshallese people. The past and future obligations to continue to do this work. I was honored to have secretary holland with me in Orange County yesterday. We sat down to have lunch together and it was the very first issue i brought up to her, making sure that our department is giving funding to energy so that this is happening. There is an ongoing oversight issue here as well as historical acknowledgment and repair. Mari thank you so much, representative porter. I think its important that we acknowledge these communities that are affected, there is so much work that needs to be done for these impacted communities. I want to talk about legacy and community building. You started talking about it earlier that it affects the muslim, black, latina, we could continue to list the people disenfranchised. And recognize that safety and security is not a monolith for each of these communities and they impact them differently. What are the key intersections you are working at engage to see what Global Security could look like . Iman in order to authentically reimagine Global Security, we have to reimagine what the agencies look like. The representation from impacted communities speaking on the complexities of these issues. Are we addressing this in an equitable way . We cannot perpetuate double standards by not acknowledging our own gaps in representation. Our work in Foreign Policy with large groups like human rights, global witness, the International Rescue community, grassroots organizations, Society Groups like the campaign for uighurs, an institution focused on specific issues. Even domestically with black lives matter, southern poverty law center, and others. I mentioned the domestic organizations because we cannot reimagine Global Security again when our own backyard is facing challenges as well. We cant implement Security Policies off of the backs of the negative impacts on black, brown, muslim, and other minority communities. We were putting Civil Liberties behind our National Security. And we still feel those ramifications today. We have to uphold our collective impact. Those closest to the issue are closest to the solution. Through the organizations, we all want a just and secure future. We want to acknowledge what happened in the past and learn those lessons. Mari its important we talk about communities particularly here in america and how it makes them so secure. There are vast imperfections in our systems. We have talked about the ways in which militarism highlights some of these things for what we considered essential in keeping us safe. We had global zero recognize that these issues need to be changed. Reimagining what safety and security will look like for generations to come. I know we talked about what reimagining security could look like. You both have thought about what this potentially could be. What does a World WithoutNuclear Weapons look like for you . What are some of the things that you have been taught as you work towards that goal . Samantha a World WithoutNuclear Weapons means a world where the 2018 hawaii missile alert that was a false alert wont happen again and the people i love dont have to go through something super traumatic and they have to move past it like nothing happened. People that have been displaced can go back home to their native lands, hopefully, and there dependence wont have to know the struggles their ancestors went through. It means there wouldnt be a drunk president having an existential crisis that feels empowered to end the world as we know it. It means biodiversity would be protected because we would not necessarily have mass areas wiped out in minutes. Global zero helped me reimagine how we think about security and how we no longer feel like it is naive to imagine security. And i can make a difference intersection only by working intersectionally by working on this issue and i dont have to abandon other issues that i care about is intersectionality is important. Mari before i pose this question to you, representative porter, after her response, we will be taking questions from the audience. Now is the moment to start thinking about what you might want to ask these wonderful panelists. You have always been deeply invested with creating more stable and safe communities. Some of the ways in which we can rethink what our country looks like. I know the ukraine crisis has affected policymaking, but you have been very vocal in the past about reallocation of funds from Nuclear Weapons and the military complex, reinvesting in health care, education, infrastructure. We applaud that thinking. Can you speak about the ways government can better serve communities . Rep. Porter i think we have to recognize that National Security at its heart is about service to the communities. Its about allowing communities to thrive because they are safe. If communities are having other needs not met, whether those are health needs, dealing with pollution or other social needs, those are ways to be unsafe or unwell. There is often a divide in washington driven in part by the National Defense authorization act in which they get bucket in. Youre going to become law. And you are not. You have to scrap for every dollar. I think that really misses a huge opportunity to understand how these issues connect. And we are seeing this and lots of ways right now. A failure to invest in Public Health initiatives and people to have better access to healthy food, investing in Public Recreation is driving difficulty in recruiting members to serve in the armed forces. When you look at the Agriculture Community and what it has to do with National Defense, what do public food programs have to do with defense . It has to do with readiness of personnel. That is one example i would give. I think the siloing is a big problem. The people who serve on the Armed Services committee and Foreign Affairs committee reflect the full diversity of those experiences and the intersectionality of our caucus. It has meant that people that have been in the Armed Services serve on the Armed Services committee. Those voices are important. Having veterans that have been on the front lines were led men and women into battle, the Armed Services community is important. Its also important for others that have had different experiences and different legacies who have been refugees because of military action abroad. I think those connections are important. I think there are people that worked historically, a retiring member that has worked to connect the Metoo Movement oddly with the Sexual Assault crisis in our military as someone who made those connections and a lack of justice. The workers and workplaces generally with the lack of justice who are sexually assaulted. It is a lot we can do in that regard. Mari thank you for providing a few examples. With that, we that, we are takig audience questions. Feel free to raise your hand, and we will bring the mic over. Please note if you will be asking it of all of our panelists or an individual, and please try to keep it concise, so we can answer as many as possible. Hello. Can you hear me . Ok, wonderful. So this question is really for anyone who would like to answer it, which is vague, but i know for myself, i am running for Library Board in ann arbor. Theres a lot of small government stuff. This issue can seem so big and far away, but how can i, like, somebody on a smaller board, like a city councilmember or Something Like that, how can i advocate for the safety and, you know, like getting rid of nuclear arms and stuff in my community . Mari representative porter, do you want to tackle that first . Rep. Porter yeah, i can definitely start. I would like to hear what others have to say, because i think there is a good connection to what others have talked about to go back to what i started, which is about thinking, but i think there is also a question about government working as intended and Holding Government to account that is really important. When you think about Something Like a Library Board and making sure we are creating libraries races that are inclusive, that acknowledge, for instance, the need to protect our constitutional duties, theres things like government oversight and accountability work at every aspect of government. I think a lot of this, for me, is about being able to hold the United States government, internationally, to keeping their promises, the marshallese people for medicaid, thinking about, you know, what it means that we pulled out of the nuclear deal, that was a deal with iran, and trying to figure out where we go from that. So to be willing to question longstanding practices that maybe were developed 40, 50 years ago, when we did not have the understanding that we should have today about the consequences of policy. But even as a congressional representative, at the federal level, i have talked about, it can feel difficult sometimes to bring these issues home to people. I think accountability is a great way to do this. Mari thank you so much. Iman and sam . Samantha first, at the top, i want to thank the library forget me through quarantine. If you do not have the awesome libby app, download it. I dont think any conversation is too small to get our location is in washington, d. C. , and we go to capitol hill often, talking about numerous issues, turning blue in the face, but it is really you that holds the power, because you are in that district you speak to the people, not only that, but the library is a resource to get internet access, to reach out to those individuals and officials. It may seem at times that d. C. Holds some of the tools to get things done. It will always and it will continuously remain to be a hyper local issue, so being available, sharing the resources, and having those conversations so that people know what needs to be brought up, because you are a voter. You have the right to hold your elected officials accountable. Samantha just to quickly piggyback off of what iman said, sorry, i lost my train of thought. Im not from this time zone. [laughter] oh, yeah, so the idea, talking about Nuclear Weapons is such an unapproachable conversation so much of the time, and you have to make that information accessible. And being in the library, like i man said, you are the resource, and just having that conversation can go so far. Mari wonderful. And i would say, simply, reach out to organizations like ours, and we can get you started at a local level. Questions from anybody else. I work on the production side of things, as it pertains to different messages. The question i have is, what would be the ideal tone for some sort of video project in which she did a message out, would you want to go for a more, like, a sympathetic tone, or would you want to go for more like a hard on, ok, guys, what tone do you think is more effective in getting that message out . And that goes to most to want to answer that. Mari i have thoughts, but im going to defer to the panel. Porter, do you want to talk about how you talk to your constituents, doing it positively . Rep. Porter i think it can depend a little bit on who you are, but answering in regard to you, i think there is a real need to highlight the voices of those who have been affected and their families and their community. So my own engagement in this issue came from incredible reporting that was done by the l. A. Times, including photos and listening to the voices of the marshallese people. These voices are chosen because they are rural. They are chosen because they are disadvantaged. They do not have the same level and have not had the same level of access to media and to political power. Listening to them directly as a really important part of what you can do, and i think that is consistent with both what sam and iman have been saying. Iman i fully agree with the congresswoman, and it is imperative to center the voices of the people impacted by this. You have unlocked a core memory in college. We never learned the history of what u. S. Legacy is around the world. I remember watching a movie in the Political Science class called white flash, black rain, which is about the effects of the nuclear bomb. I can remember what i watch, the face of the man they interviewed who forever, his skin has been burned, and he cannot live a full life. It is important to talk to the victims, to talk to the people who are impacted and allow them to really drive what theyre tone is, so people understand the full effects. Samantha in addition to centering impacted communities and their narrative, i think the narrative around the conversation needs to have, like, a hopeful tone and really talk about a possibility of a world beyond Nuclear Weapons and provide tangible steps that people can take, so that they can feel empowered to have agency in this issue. Mari absolutely. Do we have any further questions . This is kind of a depressing thought, but we have seen newscasts, lets say the missile hit the Nuclear Plant in ukraine, i dont know if it would be a local affect more or less or it would be a worldwide disaster. Any opinions . Mari im going to continue with the order. Rep. Porter . Rep. Porter yeah, i mean, i think, regardless, there may be a direct effect on a community, which we would all hope would be as small as possible, although it would be significant, but theres also what that means to kind of revitalizing Nuclear Fears and kind of channeling a lot of renewed energy into investing in a weapons system that actually makes us less safe. That is one of the things i worry about, not just what would happen in crane, but how i Nuclear Incident beneath kind we are talking about Nuclear Codes not being safe all of these things, we feel the threat, if there is a nuclear accident, sometimes we see that in a culture of safety, with, you know, and tackler information, with better safeguards, better accountability proliferation, with better safeguards, better accountability. With regard to putin and russia, the risks in ukraine, it is being used to reinvigorate a Nuclear Movement that i think ultimately makes the world less safe. Mari im going to jump in here and piggyback off of that question and talk a little bit to iman about the Foreign Policy implications of this. I know rep. Porter has been vocal about having a policy first, that is a way forward, and you are all thinking about what does that look like. We talked about the human side of this policy. How does engaging on the fear that people have, how do you talk about changing Foreign Policy around these issues . Iman that is a loaded question. I think, especially working in the mina space, theres always a lot of tragedy come a lot threats of violence. With that, though, we are looking at the middle east. That is not a threat that they necessarily face. Syria is housing some of the Nuclear Weapons from putin, but it is important to recognize the legacy that Nuclear Weapons can have. Im not saying that the threat that our communities overseas are facing, but this is a very real threat to the ukrainians. We know that legacy. When they dropped the ball. Are we going to learn lessons, or are we going to choose to repeat history . We cannot turn a blind eye. We know what is going to happen, and we know the human impact. Mari that is absolutely correct, and i want to turn back to sam. You talked a little bit about reimagining, beyond the bomb, your own personal effects to the hawaii test. You have family that fundamentally understands what this fear that he is describing is. Do you want to talk a little bit about what that looks like . Samantha how do you want me to talk about it . [laughs] mari however you see fit. You can tell us how it affected then, what the impact looked like, how it is thought about sense. We talk about the power, we understand fundamentally what the ukrainians could be going through, which is what iman just talked about here you have seen real people live through that. Samantha it is interesting, because it was a really traumatic event that was over so fast, and there was never any followup or processing that happened. And so, for me, the biggest take away that whole incident was just why that was acceptable to happen in the first place, and how inadequately the fallout was dealt with. Mari i think, representative porter, that brings us back to an earlier point you made about understanding legacy that our nuclear test income of the actions that we take. Sam just talked about not having an enclosure around some of these issues. How do we talk about these legacies and effects that people are still feeling for generation and reeling over the impacts, the potentials . How do we have those conversations with impacted communities in real time . Rep. Porter it starts by being willing to look honestly at our past decisions, and i think there is often this mistake that , straight from kind of being the loudest voice or the only voice, and giving in on historic positions. I think it comes from a willingness to listen and to build bridges and to understand that we all are part of our nations history, our worlds history, and those discussions. I think we have seen this play out in the Marshall Islands, whether it has been repeated attempts by the United States, different parts of the federal government to say, thats over. We put that behind us. The reality is, one of the reasons we are also concerned about Nuclear Testing, Nuclear Weapons, is it is a long tail. It is a long tail healthwise. It is a long tale environmentally. The reality is you cannot understand where the Marshall Islands is today and what their needs and positions are going to be with regards to continuing to be an ally of the United States. They have been a strong ally, despite what they have gone through. If we want to continue that relationship, we need to be an incredible ally back, and it is difficult to do that if you are refusing to look honestly. It is true that at the time the United States dropped those bombs, there was less understanding of the harms then there is today. There was certainly not the understanding of how climate would worsen, the nuclear environment, for example, but it is also true that the United States help the marshall he accept them, and at the time, they knew. We were essentially using the marshallese to study the effects of radiation, because they were far from our own borders. I think you have to acknowledge that, and the strength comes from that. I think that is part of a diplomacy first approach, which is understanding that doing oversight of ourselves, being willing to hold ourselves to account is what gives us the accountability, to build alliances going forward. Mari absolutely. Thank you so much. I want to go to another question we have from the audience. Thank you so much. Im loving this panel. Representative porter come on. , you mentioned the importance of hearing from constituents, any geographies, we can hopefully make some noise from what you see . Rep. Porter yeah. I think one area i would like to see increased oversight ive done this work through the Natural Resources committee and the interest that has over solar areas, including the Marshall Islands and those areas. I think our actual Oversight Committee meets to be more engaged here, you know, particularly around the cost overruns that are projected. The lack of the air force coming up with a number. Part of the reason we have an Oversight Committee within congress that is separate from the oversight subcommittee, but traditional committees have come up because we are concerned that committees will be selfinterested in their own building programs. So i am on the Oversight Committee, and i am on the subcommittee chair of oversight for Natural Resources. We are concerned that maybe the Armed Services committee or the Foreign Affairs committee or the Natural Resources committee wont be willing to go all the way and show the way. And i think there is some evidence that that is in fact true. That is an important area, making sure that we are doing that oversight, that we are coming at these issues of National Security from the perspective of we want to be safe. This is not a tradeoff. Theres no group of people that, you know, that doesnt want the United States to be safe. But there are different approaches to getting there, and theres different track records of the costs and harms of different approaches, to different people, to our land, to our planet. So i think, you know, one of the things i would really encourage people to do is to ask more questions of the representatives about Foreign Affairs. Weve tried to have town halls and things come and we simply do not get the turnout, in some cases, that we do when we are talking about health care, when we are talking about Climate Change. And yet these things are absolutely intertwined. Mari thank you so much, rep. Porter. I wanted to quickly jump in, before we get a final question from the audience. Iman, you actually have people on the ground, going to representatives, to ask them about Foreign Affairs. What are some tips you might be able to give our audience, how you have those conversations as a constituent . Iman first, we love a good Oversight Committee. It is one of our favorite tools. [laughter] but it is actually very easy to reach out to your local offices. In fact, i would argue that my local chapters are way more effective than i am in washington, d. C. , because they have a vested interest. They are the people who put these people into their seats. They are the voters, they are the constituents. I walk into offices in d. C. Where they literally have a whiteboard of which issues have gotten the most conversations today. For example, when we were lobbying on kashir, we walked into an office, and we saw 10 tally marks, and we said, hey, what are those tally marks . And they told us. These are the calls we are getting from our constituents. It is important to remember that there are humans on the other end of the phone. Some of us live in very complex and difficult areas texas, im sorry. It is important to remember that staffers are there to do their job, including people who have been very hostile to the muslim community. Have good relationships with staffers. How does conversations. Engage. Keep a positive attitude. Remember, you know, these are College Students who are interning to we dont want to be yelling at them. Have the conversations. Phone calls, set up meetings, and you can find that information online. Rep. Porter it is so great that you are saying that your you are absolutely right, what people call about. I get reports about the biggest issues we are hearing about, i read the letters and things that are going back out to people. The other two i would give is i think theres a real theres such a misconception that to be effective in talking to your congressperson, you have to travel to washington, d. C. And spent all this money and have a lobbyist to help you. That is a bunch of malarkey. That is a lobbyist talking point. Use zoom. Ask to meet with a legislative aide. Always take a staff meeting could i rely on my staff to help teach me things. You can have a more indepth conversation, involve more people from your community, if you cannot travel for a different reason, if you opt to meet in the district. If you come to d. C. , i always say you get 10 minutes and i always come if you are lucky. In a hallway, if you are lucky. If you meet with me in my constituency, and i can meet with you longer. Those are down and dirty tips and tricks, how to connect with your member. Mari thank you, congresswoman porter. I want to check for any final questions from the audience. In the back. Thank you. Thank you so much for this conversation. It is so important, it has been super interesting. Representative porter, i am coming from los angeles, so very proud to have you representing socal, one of the few very thoughtful and empathetic members. We are talking a lot about Nuclear Weapons today, which i think is crucial, because that is sort of the existential threat to the future of our species, right . It is so important to fight against that. But i am curious for yalls perspective on conventional weapons. The last few years, dropped Something Like 350,000 bombs around the world, we drop an average of 46 bombs per day, both in countries we are at war with and others that we dont even hear about. Four of the five largest weapons manufacturers in the world are based in the u. S. , so we are literally exporting these killing machines all over the world. Sam, i love what you were saying about sort of imagining a future beyond Nuclear Weapons. I am just curious, you know, if yall are imagining sort of a future beyond weapons, right . Ive heard this idea that conflict is inevitable, but violence is a choice. Right now, it is a choice we are making as a country. Im just curious, if you see a possibility. Obviously the u. S. Cannot demilitarized, but i am just thinking about a global demilitarization. Thank you. Rep. Porter i just want to offer one quick thought, which is i think that the jurisdictional gap between the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs is part of how we are not bridging this, so we dont connect, often, choices about foreign aid with choices about our militarys role and our military funding and our investment in weapons. So i think bridging that is one of the ways we can deal with this. So conflict is inevitable. One of the ways to deal with conflict is inviting investment and social, and society, human condition, investment in democracy building, anticorruption, all of those things reduce the potential that conflict escalates into violence. And when you treat these two things as separate things, and, you know, everything is necessary when it comes to National Security, that, you know, military systems, foreign Aid Assistance is sort of, like, nice to have, i think you miss that connection. Sorry, sam, back to you. Mari noting our time, im going to hop in very quickly, and im going to let sam answer that question as well as think about her final thoughts and give them here, that i will go to iman, and finally representative porter. Samantha the second what rep. Porter was saying, it is all connected, so when we are fighting for the abolition of Nuclear Weapons, those other instances of violence will hopefully also be reduced. But, i mean, we can also focus our energy on the specific abolition of Nuclear Weapons at the moment as an organization. Final thoughts thank you all for coming. I know it is a very unapproachable topic often times, but i hope it feels more approachable now, and just know you do not have to be an expert to be an activist in this sphere appeared you do not have to be a scientist who knows how to make or disassemble a weapon to get a say in the issue. Iman thank you, everyone, for coming. A huge thank you and gratitude to global zero, for having this conversation. As i mentioned at the top, we are often look at as the perpetrators and not the victims good as we look forward in these spaces, especially following the last question, we need to remember there have been hundreds of bombs dropped on middle eastern children. These are real lives. Policy is great, but we need to remember that there are people, families, kids, mothers, brothers, sisters, that are behind these. Mari representative porter, im going to let you go with final thoughts. Rep. Porter i would just thank the panelists for being part of this conversation and the audience. The single most important thing that i do in my job is learn to and this has been an opportunity not just to share some of the things that i have done, but to learn from each one of you on the panel and in the audience, and to me, that is what this is all about, to learn from each other and take that back into our community, so thank you so much for having me. Mari with that, i want to say thank you to all of you for joining us here and on the livestream. This has been an incredibly fruitful conversation. We appreciate you being here. If you want to learn more about these issues, global zero is around. We are at booth 200. There is swag at the back of the room. As you know, find us on twitter and instagram, gl obalzero. This is not solely about weapons or foreignpolicy or national scaredy, there are humans, there are movements, and we all can Work Together to get to a safer, more effort of will, and more just more equitable, and more just world. We hope you have a safe and great rest of the conference. Thank you so much. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [indistinct conversations] this afternoon, Netroots Nation will host several discussions on the future of the progressive movement. They are streaming live on cspan now, our free video app, starting at 2 45 p. M. Eastern. Tomorrow, the Congress Conference will continue from pittsburgh with out organizing Voter Suppression tactics. They are available on our app, cspan now, or online at cspan. Org. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government. We are funded by these Television Companies and more, including cox. Homework can be hard. But squatting in a diner for internet work is even harder. That is why we are providing low income students access to affordable internet, so homework can just be homework. Cox, connects to compete. Cox, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. This afternoon, the Cato Institute hosts a discussion on Lessons Learned from swedens response to the covid19 pandemic paired our coverage begins at 4 00 p. M. Eastern live on cspan, cspan now, our free mobile video app, or online at cspan. Org. And now a conversation on u. S. And saudi arabia relations. This discussion happened as chinese president xi jinping plans to visit saudi arabia, and negotiations continue between the u. S. And iran on a nuclear deal. From the hudson institute, this is about 50 minutes. Hi, i am mike durant fit i am a senior director for peace and security of the hudson institute, and this morning, we are having a conversation with princeton Professor Bernard hagel and hudsons own mohammed