Protesters voice concerns for military spending increase amid housing, other needs
WESTERLY, R.I. (WJAR) — "Shame on Langevin, shame on Langevin!" chanted protestors outside of PizzaPlace in Westerly on Saturday.
Several organizations gathered to discuss their concerns with U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, including Jonathan Daly-LaBelle of No Endless War or Excessive Militarism.
"This current year that we're in the military budget, the base budget, was $741 billion, and President Biden proposed to put it up to $753 billion and now Congress is putting it up to $778 billion and so we're against that," said Daly-LaBelle.
Langevin said it's to protect America and support the troops.
"We're dealing with threats, for example, from China developing hypersonic weapons and increasing their nuclear weapons program, the same thing with Russia, obviously challenging our security," Langevin said.
Langevin, among others, voted to authorize the 5% military spending increase to $778 billion.
Several groups had concerns with that increase.
"It's not to be against military members or to be against national security at all," said Daly-LaBelle. "But we are outspending all these other countries so greatly, we'd just like to reign it in and see some of those dollars go towards more human needs in this country."
State Rep, David Morales said he's thankful Langevin took the time to sit with him and other anti-war advocates.
"Our conversation was really focused on making sure that in future budgets, making sure in the immediate future we're reducing a lot of that military spending especially those that go towards weapons and instead investing a lot of those dollars to the needs of working people really focused on healthcare, housing, and quality public education," he said.
Langevin said it's all about "what is the right balance."
"People that were here were advocating for different domestic programs or green energy programs, they're not wrong," he noted. "I support what they're saying just as I support our men and women in uniform and keeping our national security strong."
"That's what democracy is. It can be loud and contentious sometimes, but being a representative means you have to hear from people," Langevin continued.