Speech by congressman Ronald Vernie "Ron" Dellums given at the 54th anniversary event of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Dellums looks back at his 20 years in Congress, beginning with his going to Congress "in the name of peace and justice...to oppose the war in Vietnam." He talks of how he later opposed "the mentality of the Cold war," and his joy when the Berlin wall came down and there was talk about peace dividends. He voices his opposition to financing weapons systems, the role of the Gulf War in reviving the B-1 bomber program, and how the cost of this war will be paid by those who live on the margins of society. He says that "we could have stopped this war," and discusses the ways that he felt the peace movement failed to pressure Congress into confronting George Bush over the war. The sanctions were working, according to the Director of the CIA, but Bush wanted to establish an end point to the conflict. He also discusses the "technology of death" and the "smart bomb" and that we should learn to fear high tech weaponry. He says "War, to me, is an anachronism. It is an archaic way to address problems between and among nations." Dellums concludes by stating that "peace is an imperative voice of survival." RECORDED: Centennial Hall, Hayward, California, 24 Feb. 1991. Introduced by Ed Asner.
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