File #: RS2022-1780    Name:
Type: Resolution Status: Withdrawn
File created: 9/9/2022 In control: Metropolitan Council
On agenda: 8/15/2023 Final action: 8/15/2023
Title: A resolution to declare the Metropolitan Government's opposition to nuclear weapons and to urge the United States government to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and to take action to prevent nuclear war.
Sponsors: Ginny Welsch, Colby Sledge, Zulfat Suara, Delishia Porterfield
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A resolution to declare the Metropolitan Government's opposition to nuclear weapons and to urge the United States government to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and to take action to prevent nuclear war.

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WHEREAS, nine nations collectively have approximately 13,100 nuclear weapons in their arsenals, most of which are far more destructive than those that 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 U.S. president has the sole and unchecked authority to order the use of nuclear weapons; and

WHEREAS, the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and recent racial justice uprisings have highlighted the need for greater investment in our healthcare system and our communities; 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, a grassroots movement called "Back from the Brink: The Call to Prevent Nuclear War" has been endorsed by over 400 health, environmental, academic, peace, faith, and justice organizations and has resulted in resolutions approved by numerous municipalitie...

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