CALLING FOR U.S.
LEADERSHIP IN GLOBAL ELIMINATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND REDIRECTION OF MILITARY
SPENDING TO DOMESTIC NEEDS
WHEREAS,
in April 2009, President Barack Obama declared in Prague, “as the only nuclear
power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral
responsibility to act. We cannot succeed in this endeavor alone, but we can
lead it, we can start it. So today, I state clearly and with conviction
America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear
weapons” and
WHEREAS,
in November 2012, the United Nations General Assembly established a working
group open to all member states “to develop proposals to take forward
multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations for the achievement and
maintenance of a world without nuclear weapons,” and scheduled for September
26, 2013, the first-ever summit-level meeting of the United Nations General
Assembly devoted to nuclear disarmament; and
WHEREAS,
adherence to the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons commits each State Party “to pursue negotiations in good faith
on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an
early date and to nuclear disarmament”; and the U.S. Conference of Mayors has
regularly adopted resolutions since 2004 calling for the commencement of
comprehensive nuclear disarmament negotiations, as put forth by the UN
Secretary General in his “Five Point Proposal,” to be concluded and implemented
by 2020, as proposed by Mayors for Peace; and
WHEREAS,
an historic conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, hosted in
Oslo in March 2013 by the government of Norway and attended by representatives
of 127 states, the United Nations, the International Committee of
the Red Cross, and civil society, including Mayors for Peace, highlighted three
key points relevant to mayors as first responders:
·
“It is unlikely that any state or international
body could address the immediate humanitarian emergency caused by a nuclear
weapon detonation in an adequate manner and provide sufficient assistance to
those affected; and
·
The historical experience from the use and
testing of nuclear weapons has demonstrated their devastating immediate and
long-term effects. While political circumstances have changed, the destructive
potential of nuclear weapons remains; and
·
The effects of a nuclear weapon detonation,
irrespective of cause, will not be constrained by national borders, and will
affect states and people in significant ways, regionally as well as globally;”
and
WHEREAS,
The United States Conference of Mayors expresses its deep
concern that both the May session of the new UN disarmament working group and
the Oslo Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons took place
without the participation of the five Permanent Members of the UN Security
Council, including the United States; and
WHEREAS,
nearly a quarter of a century has passed since the end of the Cold War, yet an
estimated 17,300 nuclear weapons, 94% of them in the possession of the United
States and Russia, continue to pose an intolerable threat to humanity; and
WHEREAS,
the threatened first use of nuclear weapons remains at the heart of U.S. and
Russian national security policies, and nuclear tensions in the Middle East,
Southeast Asia and on the Korean peninsula remind us that the potential for
nuclear war is ever present; and
WHEREAS,
the Administration’s FY 2014 budget request of $7.87 billion for Department of
Energy Nuclear Weapons Activities represents an increase of nine percent above
the 2012 enacted level – in inflation-adjusted dollars, the highest amount
ever, and funds increases for nuclear weapon life extension programs that will
result in upgrades to missile and bomber-based warheads, construction of a new
uranium processing facility, tritium production and plutonium manufacturing and
experimentation, and other programs to sustain the existing stockpile; and
WHEREAS,
the Department of Defense has requested an additional $12 billion in FY 2014 to
maintain and modernize nuclear weapons delivery systems including a new nuclear
–capable heavy bomber, development of a replacement Ohio class submarine by
2031, and extension of the service life of the nation’s 450 Minuteman 3 ICBMs
or their replacement in coming decades with new nuclear-armed ballistic missiles;
and
WHEREAS,
the Air Force plans to spend more than $1 billion over the next six years to
develop a guided tail kit to increase the accuracy of the B61 nuclear bomb, and
the Pentagon plans to spend a total estimated at more than $336 billion on the
new F-35 joint strike fighter, a variant of which will be mated with the more
accurate guided B61 bomb based at NATO bases in Europe, significantly
increasing the capability of the non-strategic U.S. nuclear force, and making
it more difficult for the Russian military to accept reductions of its own
inventory of non-strategic nuclear weapons; and
WHEREAS,
the Administration’s budget request calls for a 23 percent
increase for nuclear weapons research, manufacturing and maintenance over the
next five years; and
WHEREAS,
nuclear weapons spending is emblematic of Pentagon spending, which has grown by
50% in real dollars in the last 12 years, not including war spending, and
nearly all of the “cuts” up for debate are only reductions in the growth rate;
and
WHEREAS, in 2012, during a time of continuing domestic
financial hardship, the U.S. spent $682 billion on its military, as much as the
next 11 top spenders combined, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the world
total; and
WHEREAS, our nation’s deep economic crisis can only be
addressed by adopting new priorities to create a sustainable economy for the 21st
century; and
WHEREAS,
as the country was coming out of a long recession, the budget sequester enacted
in March is imperiling the economic recovery in cities, with cuts to federal
programs such as Community Block Development Grants, Section 8 Housing
Vouchers, and Head Start forcing cities, local agencies and non-profits to lay
off staff, reduce or eliminate services, delay infrastructure projects and
reduce program benefits to low and moderate income families; and
WHEREAS,
Mayors for Peace membership has surpassed 5,600 member cities in 156 countries,
speaking on behalf of more than one billion citizens, and is approaching 200
U.S. members; and
WHEREAS,
The United States Conference of Mayors adopted resolutions in
2010, 2011 and 2012 calling for deep cuts in nuclear weapons spending and
redirection of those funds to meet the needs of cities, and adopted an
additional resolution in 2011, “Calling on Congress to Redirect Military Spending
to Domestic Needs,”
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors
calls on President Obama to reaffirm his determination, expressed in Prague, to
achieve the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons by speaking
at the High-Level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Nuclear
Disarmament on September 26, 2013 and endorsing the UN Secretary-General’s Five
Point Proposal on Nuclear Disarmament; and
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors calls
on the U.S. government to demonstrate good faith by participating in the August
session of the UN disarmament working group by helping “to develop proposals to
take forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations for the achievement
and maintenance of a world without nuclear weapons,” and by supporting
extension of the working group’s mandate beyond 2013; and
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors calls
on the U.S. government to demonstrate good faith by participating in the
follow-on conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons to be hosted
by Mexico in early 2014; and
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors
calls on the President and Congress to reduce funding for modernization of
nuclear weapons systems, to reduce nuclear weapons spending to the minimum
necessary to assure the safety and security of the existing weapons as they
await disablement and dismantlement, and redirect those funds to meet the
urgent needs of cities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors
calls on the President and Congress to reduce military spending and to reinvest
those funds in programs to address the dramatic increase in poverty and
inequality in our country; take emergency measures to repair the social safety
net and protect Social Security and Medicare; create jobs, retrain displaced
workers, including military contractors, rebuild deteriorating physical
infrastructure, invest in new technologies for a sustainable energy future, and aid local government to restore and maintain vital public
services, reemploying teachers, police, firefighters and other workers; and
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors
expresses its continuing support for and cooperation with Mayors for Peace.
Projected
Cost: Unknown
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