{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-trump-is-wrong-about-expanding-us-nuclear-capabilities-will-make-world-a-more-dangerous-place", "Senator Markey: Trump Is Wrong About Expanding U.S. Nuclear Capabilities, Will Make World a More Dangerous Place", "2016-12-22", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Edward Markey", "M000133", "www.markey.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Senator Markey: Trump Is Wrong About Expanding U.S. Nuclear Capabilities, Will Make World a More Dangerous Place \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThursday, December 22, 2016\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tSenator calls on President-elect to commit to reducing bloated U.S. nuclear weapons spending and avoid new nuclear arms race with Russia\r\n\r\nWashington (December 22, 2016) \u2013 Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today called on President-elect Donald Trump to reduce America\u2019s nuclear arsenal and reform U.S. nuclear posture after Mr. Trump tweeted, \u201cThe United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its sense regarding nukes\u201d.\r\n\r\nIn his letter, Senator Markey pointed to the nearly $1 trillion dollars the United States will spend over the next three decades to modernize its nuclear forces that could instead be used for other domestic and defense priorities, such as the infrastructure plan that the President-elect has proposed. Senator Markey also points to remarks made by General James Mattis, Mr. Trump\u2019s nominee for Secretary of Defense, who said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in January 2015: \u201cIs it time to reduce the triad to a diad, removing the land?based missiles? This would reduce the false alarm danger.\u201d\r\n\r\nFinally, Senator Markey pointed to escalating tensions with Russia and the need to engage in negotiations with the country to make bilateral cuts in defensive and offensive nuclear arms.\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u201cI urge you to recommit to meaningful nuclear arms control with Russia as part of a broader effort to reduce military tensions with Moscow,\u201d\u00a0writes the Senator in his letter to President-elect Trump.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cEscalating the nuclear arms race by building more nuclear weapons would undermine that objective, and it could violate the New START Treaty, which the United States and Russia signed in 2010.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u201cThe existential risk of nuclear war has motivated previous presidents from both parties to engage in arms control negotiations as part of their national security strategy,\u201dconcludes Senator Markey.\u00a0\u201cFollowing your inauguration, you will have a similar opportunity, and Americans concerned about the risk of nuclear devastation expect you to seize it.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\r\nA copy of Senator Markey\u2019s letter can be found HERE.\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\r\nLast week, Senators Markey and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sent a letter\u00a0to Mr. Donald Trump calling on him to strengthen our system of alliances, including NATO and the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty, and long-standing nuclear nonproliferation policies.\r\n\u00a0\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-trump-is-wrong-about-expanding-us-nuclear-capabilities-will-make-world-a-more-dangerous-place"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6984459944069386, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}