Earlier this month, U.S. Representative James McGovern of Massachusetts reintroduced House Res. 317, calling on the United States to resume negotiations on nuclear disarmament and spearhead a global initiative to reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons.
According to GovTrack, McGovern’s resolution is unlikely to be agreed to by the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees. Despite its low chances, it remains a central piece of legislation for Back from the Brink, a US-based grassroots coalition of individuals, organizations and elected officials working together toward a world free of nuclear weapons and advocating for common sense nuclear weapons policies to secure a safer, more just future.
According to GovTrack, McGovern’s resolution is unlikely to be agreed to by the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees. Despite its low chances, it remains a central piece of legislation for Back from the Brink, a US-based grassroots coalition of individuals, organizations and elected officials working together toward a world free of nuclear weapons and advocating for common sense nuclear weapons policies to secure a safer, more just future.
The Town Council of La Conner unanimously passed a nuclear disarmament resolution during its regularly scheduled meeting on Earth Day, April 22!
On April 22, with nuclear powers trigger-loaded for confrontation in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, La Connor, Washington became the first municipality in the state to join 86 other towns and cities in the U.S. to formally recognize the global nuclear threat and adopt a Back from the Brink resolution, endorsed and promoted by the local group No More Bombs.
La Conner, in Skagit (pronounced like “Magic”) County, has been a Nuclear Free Zone since 1985, so designated by ordinance at the height of the Nuclear Freeze Movement, thanks to a grassroots effort by Skagit Citizens for Nuclear Disarmament, with 62% voter approval.
The Back from the Brink initiative is a national campaign aimed at garnering public support for the 2017 Nobel Prize-winning UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The campaign seeks to “effect a significant shift in the United States nuclear policy from reliance on nuclear deterrence to an understanding that true security necessitates the elimination of nuclear weapons.” Drawing inspiration from the 1984 nuclear freeze referendums conducted in Skagit and neighboring Whatcom (Bellingham) counties, the La Conner version of Brink is organized around a five-plank platform:
La Conner, in Skagit (pronounced like “Magic”) County, has been a Nuclear Free Zone since 1985, so designated by ordinance at the height of the Nuclear Freeze Movement, thanks to a grassroots effort by Skagit Citizens for Nuclear Disarmament, with 62% voter approval.
The Back from the Brink initiative is a national campaign aimed at garnering public support for the 2017 Nobel Prize-winning UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The campaign seeks to “effect a significant shift in the United States nuclear policy from reliance on nuclear deterrence to an understanding that true security necessitates the elimination of nuclear weapons.” Drawing inspiration from the 1984 nuclear freeze referendums conducted in Skagit and neighboring Whatcom (Bellingham) counties, the La Conner version of Brink is organized around a five-plank platform:
Renounce the “first use” of nuclear weapons, end POTUS's unchecked authority to launch them, remove US nuclear weapons from hair-trigger alert, cancel plans to spend over $1 trillion on the arsenal, and initiate new negotiations for eliminating nuclear arsenals globally, arguably the toughest plank of platform.
La Connor Town Council meeting, April 22
So, why aren't we having serious discussions? A recent poll shows over 40% of security experts in 60 countries believe a nuclear nation might use a weapon by 2035 if a multi-front war breaks out, yet WWIII is barely mentioned in headlines or Congress. Americans want to believe good things will happen if they stay optimistic about the future, and our military and leaders draw on a self-negating overconfidence.
Read complete article on Substack.