Forging a Path to Peace and Common Security
Adopted at the 90th Annual Meeting in 2022
WHEREAS, Russia's unprovoked illegal war on Ukraine, which could eventually draw the militaries of the United States, its NATO allies and Russia into direct conflict, and Russia's repeated threats to use nuclear weapons, have raised the specter of nuclear war to the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis; and
WHEREAS, it is imperative that this war be ended: to limit deaths, suffering and devastation; to eliminate the risks of a nuclear catastrophe; and to reverse the negative global economic and food security repercussions; and
WHEREAS, conflicts continue to rage around the world and global military spending in 2021, the second year of the pandemic, increased to an all-time high of $2.1 trillion, with the U.S. at $801 billion - over twelve times more than Russia, accounting for 38% of the total; and
WHEREAS, militaries are huge energy users, making a significant contribution to climate change; and
WHEREAS, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have increased economic hardship across the U.S., compelling many families to depend on expanded federal nutrition programs, and when the COVID-19 public health emergency ends, these families will again face fundamental food insecurity; and
WHEREAS, over the next 30 years, the U.S. plans to spend some $1.7 trillion to replace its entire nuclear weapons infrastructure and upgrade or replace its nuclear bombs and warheads and the bombers, missiles and submarines that deliver them; and all of the new weapons in his predecessor's Nuclear Posture Review and budgets are fully funded in President Biden's nuclear weapons budget of $43.2 billion for FY 2022; and
WHEREAS, since the pandemic began, the U.S. has spent 7.5 times more money on nuclear weapons than on global vaccine donations; and
WHEREAS, the immense nuclear arsenal of the United States, even when combined with the nuclear forces of its European allies France and the United Kingdom, failed to deter Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine; and
WHEREAS, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which entered into force in 1970, requires the U.S., Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China to negotiate "in good faith" the end of the nuclear arms race "at an early date" and the elimination of their nuclear arsenals; and
WHEREAS, cities, which bear the brunt of wars, the climate crisis and economic disparity, have demonstrated that they can come together across national boundaries to promote solidarity in the face of threats, and to address common challenges; and
WHEREAS, Mayors for Peace, founded in 1982 by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with 8,174 members in 166 countries and regions, including 220 U.S. members, is working for a world without nuclear weapons, safe and resilient cities, and a culture of peace, as essential measures for the realization of lasting world peace; and
WHEREAS, at a March 26, 2022 media briefing in Hiroshima, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, former Mayor of Chicago, pledged to work with The United States Conference of Mayors to "encourage other mayors in America of all city sizes, to become not only members of the Mayors for Peace organization, but to actually work in the spirit of achieving peace in the world."
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors (The United States Conference of Mayors) calls on the President and Congress to exercise restraint in U.S. military engagement in Ukraine while maximizing diplomatic efforts to end the war as soon as possible by working with Ukraine and Russia to reach an immediate ceasefire and negotiate with mutual concessions in conformity with the United Nations Charter, knowing that the risks of wider war grow the longer the war continues; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors calls on the U.S. and the other nuclear-armed states parties to the NPT, at the August 2022 10th Review Conference of the Treaty, to implement their disarmament obligations by committing to a process leading to the adoption no later than 2030 of a timebound plan for the global elimination of nuclear weapons by 2045, the 100th anniversary of their first use, and the 100th anniversary of the United Nations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors calls on the Administration and Congress to rein in annual budgeted military and nuclear weapons spending, and to redirect funds to support safe and resilient cities and meet human needs, including by providing accessible and affordable health care for all, housing and food security, measures to assure reliable funding for municipalities and states throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and future disasters for which they are the first line of defense, green sustainable energy, and environmental protection and mitigation; and to increase investment in international diplomacy, humanitarian assistance and development, and international cooperation to address the climate crisis; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors urges all its member cities to join Mayors for Peace to help the organization meet its goal of 10,000 members.