Dear Friends:

I am not an expert on nuclear weapons or global politics, but I do have enough common sense to know two things:

First, nuclear weapons threaten the lives of billions of people. And second, my country will be unable to persuade others not to acquire nuclear weapons while insisting on our right to plan and build new ones.

As a mother it is very clear that one can never change behavior with a "do as I say, not as I do" attitude.

Children see through this and surely nations see through the illogic of my country telling others not to develop weapons of mass destruction while we rely so heavily on them. It is not logical, nor moral.

Universal disarmament is the only sensible course.

I have always been aware of, and protested against, the dangers of the nuclear industry.

My fight was re-energized when I became aware of the nuclear contamination being caused by the reactors at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island. Plutonium and strontium 90 coming from the reactors at Brookhaven was contaminating the drinking water of the Long Island aquifer, which serves over 3 million people.

Breast cancer rates on Long Island were reported to be among the highest in the nation.
Rare childhood cancers, including Rhabdomyo sarcoma, appeared in significant numbers near the lab.

It made me think: Am I doing enough to secure a safe and healthy environment for my children? What kind of a world am I passing on to them?

No matter how much my husband Peter and I love our children we simply cannot honestly fulfill our responsibilities as parents unless we work with groups addressing real threats to their welfare.

Brookhaven had a lot to hide besides being a threat to our health, and the environment. We learned it was part of the larger, weapons production system, and had conducted experiments with Los Alamos laboratories on nuclear weapons.

That's why I am proud to support one of the world's most effective, strategic and intelligent organizations addressing nuclear issues.

The Global Security Institute, and its program the Middle Powers Initiative, is recognized world wide for its professional and focused efforts. Which is why it is able to bring together former Heads of Government, diplomats and committed activists; why it has access where decisions are made.

Here are but a few of the reasons why the work of GSI is so important:

. The cost of nuclear weapons is staggering - over $5.5 Trillion spent already - and now, the US spends over $100 million per day on this one horrific weapons system.
. The triggering devices alone, on today's weapons, are about the size of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima, and over 30,000 remain in the world today
. Thousands stand at hair trigger alert just as they were at the height of the Cold War,
. Pledges to negotiate their elimination are weakening as my country contemplates building new and usable nuclear weapons!!!

THAT'S RIGHT! USABLE NUCLEAR WEAPONS!

There actually remains a willingness, to intentionally use these devices, which would brutally kill millions of innocent people.

We must speak out and urge others to also take a stand.

We must step forward.

We must support those who are devoting their lives to this cause.

Nuclear weapons simply are not a way to make us secure. They are weapons of terror. We must make sure no one - whether it be countries or terrorists - ever uses one again.

So we say with our friends from Hiroshima - never again!

No matter how the election in the U.S. turns out, this issue needs a chorus of powerful advocates and I know of none better to support than the passionate men and woman of the Global Security Institute. I urge you to join me in generously supporting this extremely important work.

When we look into our children's eyes we must be able to know we have done everything in our hands and hearts to give them a secure - a globally secure - future.

Thank you.

Christie Brinkley

* Based on a speech delivered by Ms. Brinkley in New York City on April 24, 2004.