Supporting U.S. Participation In Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and Redirection of Nuclear Weapons Spending to Meet the Needs of Cities
Adopted at the 78th Annual Meeting in 2010
WHEREAS, August 6 and 9, 2010 mark the 65th anniversaries of the United States atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and
WHEREAS, eight nations still possess a total of nearly 23,000 nuclear warheads - 95% of them held by the U.S. and Russia; and
WHEREAS, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on April 10, 2010 declared: 'Nuclear weapons are unique in their destructive power, in the unspeakable human suffering they cause, in the impossibility of controlling their effects in space and time, in the risks of escalation they create, and in the threat they pose to the environment, to future generations, and indeed to the survival of humanity?. In the view of the ICRC, preventing the use of nuclear weapons requires fulfillment of existing obligations to pursue negotiations aimed at prohibiting and completely eliminating such weapons through a legally binding international treaty;' and
WHEREAS, on April 5, 2009 in Prague, President Obama acknowledged that 'as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act' for the achievement of the 'peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons'; and
WHEREAS, the April 2010 Department of Defense Nuclear Posture Review recognized: 'It is in the U.S. interest and that of all other nations that the nearly 65-year record of nuclear non-use be extended forever. as President Ronald Reagan declared, ?, 'A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought';' and
WHEREAS, the October 2007 Final Declaration of the 2nd World Congress of United Cities and Local Governments endorsed 'the Mayors for Peace campaign, which lobbies the international community to renounce weapons of mass destruction;' and
WHEREAS, the unprecedented membership growth of Mayors for Peace, now approaching 4000 worldwide, has sent a powerful message to world leaders that cities must be freed from the nuclear threat; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously adopted resolutions in 2007, 'calling on all nations and all world powers to prohibit the use of any weapon of mass destruction against cities;' in 2008, supporting the Mayors for Peace 'Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol' for the global elimination of nuclear weapons by 2020; and in 2009, 'call[ing] on President Obama to announce at the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference the initiation of good faith multilateral negotiations on an international agreement to abolish nuclear weapons by the year 2020;' and
WHEREAS, on May 13, 2010, at the midpoint of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, in connection with submission of the new START treaty to the Senate, President Obama submitted a classified report on a Congressionally-mandated plan to maintain and modernize U.S. nuclear forces for the foreseeable future. According to a White House fact sheet: ' the plan includes investments of $80 billion to sustain and modernize the nuclear weapons complex?.' and 'well over $100 billion in nuclear delivery systems to sustain existing capabilities and modernize some strategic systems' by the year 2020. Under this plan funding for the nuclear weapons research and production programs of the National Nuclear Security Administration will increase by more than 40%, from $6.4 billion in FY 2010 to $9 billion by 2018. In turn, $9 billion is 43% above the Cold War annual average of $5.1 billion for analogous Department of Energy nuclear weapons programs; and
WHEREAS, cities have been hard hit by the recent recession which has left them with rapidly rising unemployment and declining revenues, forcing them to make severe cuts in critical public services such as police officers, fire fighters, teachers, medical and emergency workers and bus drivers; and
WHEREAS, on August 9, 2009, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a five- point plan to rid the world of nuclear weapons, beginning 'with a call for the NPT parties to pursue negotiations in good faith - as required by the treaty - on nuclear disarmament, either through a new convention or through a series of mutually reinforcing instruments backed by a credible system of verification.' the Secretary-General has announced that he will visit Hiroshima on August 6, 2010, the anniversary of the day the first atomic bomb was dropped, stating: 'There I will say, once again, we stand for a world free of nuclear weapons;' and
WHEREAS, on May 28, 2010, at the conclusion of the month-long NPT Review Conference, a 22-point action plan for nuclear disarmament was adopted by consensus of the states parties. By agreeing to this plan the U.S. government inter alia: - reaffirms the unequivocal undertaking of the nuclear weapon states to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals notes the United Nations Secretary-General's Five Point Proposal for Nuclear Disarmament, which proposes consideration of negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention - expresses deep concern at the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any nuclear weapons use and reaffirms the need for all states at all times to comply with international humanitarian law - seeks early entry-into-force of the new START treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty - commits to working for further reductions in all types of nuclear weapons and a diminished role for nuclear weapons in its national security policy - commits to a principle of 'irreversibility' with regard to its nuclear disarmament obligation, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on President Obama to work with the leaders of the other nuclear weapon states to implement the U.N. Secretary-General's Five Point Proposal for Nuclear Disarmament forthwith, so that a Nuclear Weapons Convention, or a related set of mutually reinforcing legal instruments, can be agreed upon and implemented by the year 2020, as urged by Mayors for Peace; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on the U.S. Senate to ratify the new START treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty without conditions and without delay; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on the U.S. Congress to terminate funding for modernization of the nuclear weapons complex and nuclear weapons systems, to reduce spending on nuclear weapons programs well below Cold War levels, and to redirect funds to meet the urgent needs of cities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors encourages President Obama, members of the Cabinet and Congress to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the earliest possible date; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors agrees to take up this matter at the June 2011 Conference of Mayors.