Category Archives: Nuclear Weapons

Rep. Chris Deluzio Stakes Out Leadership Role Among Elected Iraq Veterans Critical of Conflict in Iran

Chris Deluzio in body armor in Iraq during his deployment in 2009-10 with U.S. Army Civil Affairs.

The Pittsburgh-area congressman has positioned himself as a leader among veteran voices on Capitol Hill since his election in 2022

By Sam Janesch

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

March 12, 2026 – WASHINGTON — By the time Chris Deluzio first arrived in Iraq, the pretext for the war had faded away long beforehand.

It was 2009, years after the assertion that Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed weapons of mass destruction proved to be false. Mr. Deluzio — a Thornburg native who’d resolved to join the Navy even before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks when he was a high school senior — had graduated from the Naval Academy and already deployed twice at sea.

His first tour on the ground arrived after it was “pretty clear this was a strategic failure” — when the country he fought for, he believed, “had wasted American lives and money.”

“We used to joke before or after missions, ‘Did you find the WMDs? Anyone find the WMDs?’” said Mr. Deluzio, now a Democrat who represents all of Beaver and most of Allegheny counties in the U.S. House. 

U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colorado, speaks alongside Reps. Chris Deluzio, D-Fox Chapel, and others who learned Tuesday that federal prosecutors had tried and failed to indict them over statements asking the military to “refuse illegal orders.”

Sam Janesch

Rep. Chris Deluzio rebukes Trump again after DOJ ‘tried and failed to indict me’

“People in those situations make jokes to get through it,” he said in an interview in his Capitol Hill office. “But the fact that our government sent Americans to bleed and die and fight on the basis of lies absolutely shapes the job I have now. I thought it was my duty to do a good job with my unit as best I could, but there was always a source of frustration and anger.”

Mr. Deluzio is now among the hundreds of members of Congress with the authority to decide whether American service members will be sent into war. (Continued)

‘No Kings 3.0’ Draws Over 1000 to Beaver County Courthouse

Beaver County residents from all groups–workers, retirees, African Americans, youth, women–united in a militant rally aimed at blocking the Trump regime. ‘No Kings, No ICE, No Wars!’ was the overall thrust. This time, rallies took place in 12 Western PA towns in addition to Pittsburgh, and an additional 10 over last year. The event was called by the local Democrats, but supported by dozens of organizations.

22 US House Democrats Press Obama to Adopt ‘No-First-Use’ Nuclear Weapons Policy

Barbara Lee, PDA and the Congressional Progressive Caucus Took the Initiative

By: Joe Gould

Defense News

Oct 13, 2016 – WASHINGTON — Twenty-two more US House lawmakers are calling on President Barack Obama to adopt a policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons, part of a tide of Democratic lawmakers pushing for restraint on atomic arms as the sun sets on the current administration.

With relations between Washington and Moscow historically tense and unpredictable this week, the lawmakers in a letter to Obama on Thursday expressed worry over the two nations’ launch-under-attack postures and “the risk of catastrophic miscalculation and full-scale nuclear war.”

“As you know, were the United States to exercise its contingency plans to use nuclear weapons first in a conflict against a nuclear-armed adversary, a full-scale nuclear exchange could ensue, killing thousands of civilians,” the letter reads. “For the security and safety of the world, military options that can spiral towards mutually assured destruction should not be on the table.”

Thursday’s letter was led by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., the Peace and Security Task Force chair for the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Another signatory was Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn. Ellison is the caucus’ co-chair and his party’s chief deputy whip in the House.

A no-first-use policy would minimize the need for "first strike” weapons, they argue in the letter, including the next-generation nuclear-armed cruise missile and intercontinental ballistic missiles, "which could generate significant cost savings and lead other nuclear-armed states to make similar calculations."

Continue reading 22 US House Democrats Press Obama to Adopt ‘No-First-Use’ Nuclear Weapons Policy