Troubled about Paying for War?

Support the Peace Tax Campaign

A powerful "Taxes for Peace campaign" has been launched in New York City by the Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund, of which the Fellowship of Reconciliation is an endorsing organization.

The New York City Council is currently considering Resolution 367, calling upon Congress to enact, and the President to sign, H.R. 2037, known as the "Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Act."

H.R. 2037 would enable those who are conscientiously opposed to participation in war because of their religious, moral or ethical principles ("conscientious objectors") to have their federal taxes placed in a Peace Tax Fund, which could be used for non-military purposes only. New York City Council Resolution 367 is the first such resolution to be proposed in the United States.

The New York City Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund, which aims to build grassroots support for H.R. 2037 and to educate New York taxpayers about how our taxes are being spent, is part of a national and international campaign to affirm the rights of taxpayers who are conscientiously opposed to participation in war. The Campaign sees Resolution 367 as a particularly significant step in this campaign because it not only calls for H.R. 2037 to be enacted, but also calls upon New York's United States Representatives and Senators to monitor and report on military expenditure funded by the taxes of residents of New York City.

A version of HR 2037 was first introduced in 1972. It was most recently reintroduced in May 2003 and now has 39 co-sponsors. New York City's success will help rejuvenate the national campaign.

"There are many persons who, for religious, moral, ethical or philosophical reasons do not believe that war advances the causes of a just society," says New York City Council Member Bill Perkins, who introduced the resolution on May 19. "Besides giving citizens the right to meet their tax obligations without violating their consciences, the Peace Tax Act, by requiring that there be an annual report to Congress on the amount of taxes transferred to the Fund, will give governments at all levels and the public some idea about the depth of Americans' opposition to war and to the militarization that devours resources that could be used to meet human needs."

Marian C. Franz, Executive Director of the National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund in Washington, D.C., says of the resolution: "(It) seeks to provide a way for citizens to fulfill both the obligation of citizenship and the demands of conscience."

According to recent analyses of the federal budget by the Friends Committee on National Legislation and the War Resisters League, current allocations for military expenditures, when combined with "supplemental" appropriations for the War in Iraq, account for almost half of all federal dollars spent. The Center for Defense Information reports that the annual military budget of the U.S. is greater than the combined budgets of the next twenty largest military budgets in the world.

What you can do:

• Write letters or call your members of Congress and to newspapers. Sample letters can be found at www.peacetaxfund.org (click on "Take Action"
• Help circulate the Peace Tax Fund Petition, found at http://www.peacetaxfund.org/Petition-instructions.htm
• Educate your members of Congress through visits. Information on how to do this at http://www.peacetaxfund.org/sake-of-conscience/visiting-legislators.html
• Place ads in community and religious newsletters. Ads can be found at http://www.peacetaxfund.org/NCPTF-ads-4-to-a-page.pdf

Help Americans pay their taxes without violating their consciences

Contact:

Tim Godshall, National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund
Phone: 1-888-732-2382 (toll free) Website: http://www.peacetaxfund.org

Email: timgodshall@peacetaxfund.org Fax: (202) 986-0667

Neena Das, New York City Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund
Phone: 212-866-3244 Website: http://www.peacetaxfund.org/nyc
Email: peacetax@hotmail.com Fax: 212-543-0240

©2004 Fellowship of Reconciliation