U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern and Sen. Markey have reintroduced a resolution (H.Res.317/S.Res.323), calling on the president to “lead the world back from the brink of nuclear war and halt and reverse the nuclear arms race.” Other implications of this resolution include:
- Actively pursuing a nuclear-free world and engaging in good faith negotiations with other nuclear-armed states to reduce their nuclear arsenals.
- Leading the effort to have all nuclear-armed states renounce the option of using nuclear weapons first.
- Implementing effective checks and balances on the president’s sole authority to initiate nuclear use.
- Ending the Cold War-era hair-trigger alert method, which increases the risk of catastrophic miscalculation in a crisis.
- Ending plants to produce and deploy new nuclear warheads and delivery systems, which would reduce taxpayer burdens.
- Considering past and current environmental and societal implications of nuclear weapons usage by providing health monitoring, compensation, and medical care to those who have and will be harmed by nuclear weapons usage.
- Planning a just, economic transition for the civilian and military workforce involved in the development, testing, production, management, and dismantlement of nuclear weapons to communities that are economically dependent on nuclear weapons production and management.
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States. We remember those who died, who were injured and made sick, and those who have been working for nuclear disarmament in their honor.
The Episcopal Church’s General Convention passed a resolution renouncing “the option to use nuclear weapons first” and expressed its support for “pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed nations to eliminate their arsenals as established in the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.” Adopted in 2017, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons prohibits the development, testing, use, and transfer of nuclear weapons under international law. Passage of H.Res.317/S.Res.323 will continue to bring us a step closer to the elimination of nuclear weapons, the prioritization of human life. Please ask your representative to cosponsor this resolution.
Resources:
- Faith-Based Resources for Nuclear Prayer Day
- What is nuclear disarmament?
- Back from the Brink
- Open letter to Congress supporting H.Res.317
- UN Office for Disarmament Affairs
General Convention Resolutions:
- 2022-C027: Endorse "Back from the Brink: A Call to Prevent Nuclear War”
- 2009-D060: Dismantle US Nuclear Weapons and Explore a Nuclear Arms Moratorium
- 1997-D022: Support the Goal of Total Nuclear Disarmament