2023 -- H 5973

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

URGING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO PURSUE A BROAD RANGE OF

MEASURES TO REDUCE THE DANGER OF NUCLEAR WAR, TO SIGN AND RATIFY

THE TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS (TPNW), TO MAKE

NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT THE CENTERPIECE OF OUR NATIONAL SECURITY

POLICY, AND TO SPEARHEAD A GLOBAL EFFORT TO PREVENT NUCLEAR WAR

     Introduced By: Representatives Ackerman, Morales, Bennett, Serpa, Edwards, Slater,
Donovan, Ajello, Diaz, and McNamara

     Date Introduced: March 01, 2023

     Referred To: House State Government & Elections

     WHEREAS, Nuclear weapons are the most destructive weapons ever created by

mankind, with immense destructive capacity and lingering radiation effects after detonation; and

     WHEREAS, Ninety percent of these weapons are in the hands of the United States and

Russia, and the rest are held by seven other countries: China, France, Israel, India, North Korea,

Pakistan, and the United Kingdom; and

     WHEREAS, The use of even a tiny fraction of these weapons could cause worldwide

climate disruption and global famine; for example, as few as 100 Hiroshima-sized, small bombs

by modern standards, would put at least five million tons of soot into the atmosphere and cause

climate disruption across the planet, cutting food production and putting two billion people at risk

of starvation; and

     WHEREAS, A large-scale nuclear war would kill hundreds of millions of people directly

and cause unimaginable environmental damage and catastrophic climate disruption by dropping

temperatures across the planet to levels not seen since the ice age; under such conditions, the vast

majority of the human race would starve and it is possible we would become extinct as a species;

and

     WHEREAS, Since the height of the Cold War, the United States and Russia have reduced

their active weapons by more than 25,000 nuclear weapons, but approximately 4,000 still exist on

both sides, thousands of which are on alert for use on short notice; and

     WHEREAS, Under current federal law, the President has the authority to unilaterally

initiate the use of nuclear weapons, and during times of crisis, individuals lower in the chain of

command might mistakenly do so; and

     WHEREAS, Despite assurances that these arsenals exist solely to guarantee that they are

never used, there have been many occasions when nuclear armed states have prepared to use

these weapons, and war has been averted at the last instance; and

     WHEREAS, The power of the United States stockpile of nuclear weapons is too

devastating, and the result of their use too irrevocable to be left to the sole authority of the

President; and

     WHEREAS, Nuclear weapons do not possess some magical quality that prevents their

use; and

     WHEREAS, Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara said, in speaking about the

Cuban Missile Crisis, "It was luck that prevented nuclear war... yet our nuclear policy cannot be

rationally based on a hope that our luck will continue"; and

     WHEREAS, The United States maintains nuclear missiles on hair-trigger alert, capable

of being launched within minutes after a presidential order, greatly increasing the risk of

accidental, mistaken, or unauthorized launch; and

     WHEREAS, As the effects of climate change place increased stress on communities

around the world and intensify the likelihood of conflict, the danger of nuclear war will grow; and

     WHEREAS, The planned expenditure of more than $1 trillion to enhance our nuclear

arsenal, and the ever so many more trillions worldwide for similar expenditures by other nuclear

weapons countries will not only increase the risk of nuclear disaster, but fuel a global arms race

and divert crucial resources needed to assure the well-being of the American people and peoples

all over the world; and

     WHEREAS, The United States taxpayers spend over $4 million every hour of every day

on nuclear weapons; and

     WHEREAS, There is an alternative to this march toward nuclear war; and

     WHEREAS, The United States, as well as the United Kingdom, China, France and

Russia, are obligated under the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to take

concrete steps toward eliminating their nuclear arsenals but, since 1970, such steps have not been

forthcoming; and

     WHEREAS, In July of 2017, the United Nations adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of

Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and as of January 22, 2021, the Treaty went into effect; and

     WHEREAS, The Treaty (TPNW) makes it illegal under international law to develop, test,

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produce, manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile, transfer, use, or threaten the use

of nuclear weapons, and sets out procedures for nuclear-armed signatories to destroy their

existing nuclear stockpiles; and

     WHEREAS, A public renouncing of the option of launching a first strike would reduce

tensions and may invite reciprocal public renunciations; and

     WHEREAS, The United States, as well all other nuclear weapons powers are not yet

signatories to this Treaty (TPNW); and

     WHEREAS, A leadership role for the United States in the elimination of the existence of

nuclear weapons is appropriate and desirable and could lead to new and fruitful international

negotiations toward their elimination; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

urges the federal government to spearhead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by renouncing

the option of using nuclear weapons in a "first strike", ending the President's sole authority to

launch a nuclear attack, taking nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert, canceling any plan to

replace or modernize its nuclear arsenal with enhanced nuclear weapons, and, actively pursue a

verifiable agreement among nuclear armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals; and be it

further

     RESOLVED, That this House hereby further urges the President and the Senate of the

United States to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; and be it

further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Majority

and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the

United States House of Representatives, and each member of the Rhode Island Congressional

Delegation.

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