2001

Sample Letters to Congress, Secretary Abraham &
Director Ridge Concerning Security Failures
at Nuclear Weapons Complexes
In response to our work on nuclear security, many people have contacted us asking what individual citizens can do. POGO suggests writing a letter such as the following to your Representative, Senators, the Secretary of the Department of Energy, and Director of Homeland Security. This should be used as a guide. Please feel free to cut and paste parts of this letter. Include your own personal concerns.

Normally, a hand written or typed letter would be best. However, due to recent events, Congress is currently not accepting mail and we recommend that you email them.

Your voice is very important. Thank you for your support.

Email Letter or Traditional Handwritten Letter

Email Letter Sample

If you don't know your Congress Members' email addresses, you can go to the following websites to send a message:

  • Senate - http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm

  • House of Representatives - http://www.house.gov/writerep/

  • Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham - The.Secretary@hq.doe.gov

    When emailing your Representative or Senators, or the Secretary of Energy, the body of your message should use the following format:

    Your Name
    Address
    City, State Zip Code

    Dear (Senator or Representative or Secretary) (Last Name):

    I have recently learned of the vulnerability of our Nuclear Weapons Complex to terrorist attack and am extremely concerned. A report released by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) has found that these facilities have failed to defend against mock terrorist attacks at least 50% of the time. And rather than correcting the security deficiencies causing the facilities to fail against “terrorist” attacks, the bureaucracy simply made the security tests easier to pass. There are many other security problems revealed by POGO that concern me as well including, but not limited to, cuts in Department of Energy security forces and the continued vulnerability of computers containing our nuclear secrets.

    I ask you to do something about this issue - please read POGO’s report and get briefed about actions (Congress or the Department of Energy) should be taking immediately. These nuclear weapons facilities lie within a short distance of millions of Americans. Please do what you can to ensure our safety.

    Sincerely,

    Your Name

    Traditional Letter Sample

    If you don’t know the mailing address of your Congress Members, you can go to the following web sites to find them:

  • Senate - http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm

  • House of Representatives - http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html

  • Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham can be reached at:

    Secretary Spencer Abraham
    US Department of Energy
    1000 Independence Avenue, SW
    Washington, DC 20585

  • Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge can be reached via Fax (202) 456-6337 or at:

    Director of Homeland Security
    The White House
    Office of Homeland Security
    1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
    Washington DC 20502

    • Your Name
    Address
    City, State Zip Code

    Date

    The Honorable (Full Name)
    United States (Senate or House of Representatives)
    Washington, DC (20510 for Senate or 20515 for House)

    Dear (Senator or Representative or Secretary or Director) (Last Name):

    I have recently learned of the vulnerability of our Nuclear Weapons Complex to terrorist attack and am extremely concerned. A report released by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) has found that these facilities have failed to defend against mock terrorist attacks at least 50% of the time. And rather than correcting the security deficiencies causing the facilities to fail against “terrorist” attacks, the bureaucracy simply made the security tests easier to pass. There are many other security problems revealed by POGO that concern me as well including, but not limited to, cuts in Department of Energy security forces and the continued vulnerability of computers containing our nuclear secrets.

    I ask you to do something about this issue - please read POGO’s report and get briefed about actions (Congress or the Department of Energy or the Office of Homeland Security) should be taking immediately. These nuclear weapons facilities lie within a short distance of millions of Americans. Please do what you can to ensure our safety.

    Sincerely,

    Your Name



















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