President Obama recently signed a law that will make permanent a ban on nearly all cluster bomb EXPORTS from the United States. This provision will move the U.S. one step closer to the position of the nearly 100 nations–including our closest NATO allies–that signed a treaty banning cluster munitions in December.
The legislation states that cluster munitions can only be exported if they leave behind less than one percent of their submunitions as duds, and if the receiving country agrees that cluster munitions “will not be used where civilians are known to be present.”
Now Congress needs to take the next step and ban USE of these deadly weapons. Nearly one in four senators have already cosponsored the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S. 416) including West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd. Do your senators support this bill? If not, urge them to co-sponsor today. Take Action… urge your senators to cosponsor S. 416, the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act. This bill states that, “Cluster munitions will not be used where civilians are known to be present or in areas normally inhabited by civilians.” Go to www.uscbl.org and send a letter or postcard. The WVCBL have recently mailed out over 100 postcards and letters encouraging our state and country leaders to support our efforts for a more peaceful world.