From Peace Action (http://www.peace-action.org/):
Recently our friends at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved their iconic Doomsday Clock ahead to 90 seconds before midnight, the closest it’s ever come to a symbolic global catastrophe. This is due in part because the terrifying threat of nuclear war grows agonizingly close. The possibility of nuclear war is being talked about now as a more serious possibility than it has been since students were doing nuclear drills under their desks. Vladimir Putin has issued threats to potentially use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, and tensions are rising between the United States and China. A renewed arms race and Cold War with Russia, China, and the US, is unfortunately already underway.
In short, the risk of catastrophic nuclear war is all too real, putting all of humanity at risk. It’s time for bold, pro-peace leadership from Congress, who can help shape U.S. nuclear weapons policies and the decisions of the President.
Our pro-peace allies Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) have just introduced legislation in the House of Representatives that does just that. It demands the United States embrace the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and adopt a comprehensive package of policies to reduce the nuclear risk and prevent nuclear war.
Specifically, it calls for –
- The President to embrace the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of the national security policy of the United States; and
- The Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, all other Federal and congressional leaders of the United States, and the American people to lead a global effort to move the world back from the nuclear brink and to prevent nuclear war by:
- Actively pursuing and concluding negotiations on a new, bilateral nuclear arms control and disarmament framework agreement with the Russian Federation before 2026 and pursuing negotiations with China and other nuclear-armed states on an agreement or agreements for the verifiable, enforceable, and time-bound elimination of global nuclear arsenals
- Renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first
- Ending the President’s sole authority to launch a nuclear attack
- Taking U.S. nuclear weapons off of hair-trigger alert
- Canceling the plan to replace the nuclear arsenal of the United States with modernized, enhanced weapons.
The legislation is called H. Res. 77, and it will be a terrific grassroots organizing and advocacy tool to stimulate real debate about nuclear weapons in communities around the country, and for cultivating congressional leaders committed to advancing the cause of actual nuclear disarmament.
Please write to your U.S. House Representative at https://www.peaceaction.org/get-involved/action-alert-back-from-the-brink and urge them to take the necessary step and co-sponsor H. Res 77.
Following the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on January 21, 2021, nuclear weapons activities are officially illegal under international law. Over the coming year, we’ll organize support for H. Res 77, as well as any stand-alone efforts to enact a No First Use policy, take U.S. missiles off “hair-trigger” alert, and stop funding for a new generation of U.S. nuclear missiles sure to throw fire on the new global arms race. This isn’t the last you’ll hear from us on this issue, but know this– your activism and engagement are going to be absolutely critical to our success.
Please take action today and write to your representative to urge them to co-sponsor H. Res 77!
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