Title
RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE UNITED STATES EMBRACING THE GOALS AND PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
Body
BY COUNCILORS RANDORF AND MAYOU:
WHEREAS, nine nations have approximately 13,100 nuclear weapons in their arsenals, most of which are far more destructive than those which killed hundreds of thousands of people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945; and
WHEREAS, the detonation of even a small number of these weapons could have catastrophic human and environmental consequences that could affect everyone on the planet; and
WHEREAS, the United States maintains several hundred nuclear missiles in underground silos on hair-trigger alert, capable of being launched within minutes after a presidential order, which greatly increases the risk of an accidental, mistaken or unauthorized launch; and
WHEREAS, the United States continues to reserve the right to use nuclear weapons first, which reduces the threshold for nuclear use and makes a nuclear war more likely; and
WHEREAS, the United States president has the sole and unchecked authority to order the use of nuclear weapons; and
WHEREAS, over the next 30 years, the United States plans to spend an estimated $1.7 trillion to replace its entire nuclear arsenal and the bombers, missiles and submarines that deliver them with more capable, more usable versions; and
WHEREAS, taxpayers spend over $2 million every hour of every day to maintain the U.S. nuclear arsenal; and
WHEREAS, the United States, as well as Britain, China, France and Russia, are obligated under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to take concrete steps toward eliminating their nuclear arsenals; and
WHEREAS, in July 2017, 122 nations approved the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force on January 22, 2021 making it illegal under international law to develop, test, produce, manufacture, or otherwise acquire, possess or stockp...
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