Senate Resolution No. 2648
BY: Senator SALAZAR
AFFIRMING New York State's commitment to
denuclearization and support for the United Nations
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,
encouraging the divestment from companies involved
in the production or maintenance of nuclear weapons,
congratulating the International Campaign to Abolish
Nuclear Weapons on receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize,
and inviting all New York elected officials to sign
ICAN's Parliamentary Pledge
WHEREAS, It is necessary for people throughout the world to speak
out against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, to call for the
prohibition of all nuclear weapons, and to address the public health
risks associated with the use, testing, storage and transit of nuclear
weapons, in this State and beyond; and
WHEREAS, This Legislative Body recognizes the enormous and
incalculable suffering caused in the past by the development, testing,
use and testing of nuclear weapons, including the use by the United
States in 1945 of atomic bombs against the civilian populations of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and
WHEREAS, This Legislative Body recognizes that any further use or
testing of such weapons would result in catastrophic humanitarian
consequences, and that such consequences would transcend national
borders, and would pose grave implications for human survival, the
environment, socioeconomic development, the global economy, food
security, the health of current and future generations, and would have a
disproportionate impact on women and girls as a result of ionizing
radiation; and
WHEREAS, The continued existence of nuclear weapons poses many
risks, including from any nuclear weapon detonation by accident,
miscalculation or design and these risks concern the security of New
Yorkers and all humanity; and
WHEREAS, The global nuclear weapons stockpile remains almost 14,000
nuclear weapons possessed by the nine nuclear-armed nations, including
more than 6,000 warheads in the US arsenal (many on high alert status);
and
WHEREAS, Hundreds of thousands of Americans, including New Yorkers,
have been exposed to the risks of ionizing radiation from nuclear
weapons activities, including inter alia Japanese-American hibakusha;
atomic veterans; participants in the Manhattan Project; residents of
test sites in the USA, Republic of the Marshall Islands and Republic of
Kiribati; "downwinders" exposed to radioactive fallout; those involved
with uranium milling, mining and transportation; human subjects of
radiation experiments; and those who have worked in environmental
remediation operations; and
WHEREAS, Nuclear weapons activities have had disproportionate impact
on indigenous peoples throughout the world; and
WHEREAS, The Manhattan Project uranium storage and transit
facilities in the State have posed a public health risk, and while there
have been environmental remediation activities, the precise scope of
residual risk has been understudied; and
WHEREAS, As a party to the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the US is obligated to "pursue negotiations in
good faith on effective measures relating
to nuclear disarmament"
(Article VI); and
WHEREAS, This obligation was reaffirmed by the International Court
of Justice in 1996; and
WHEREAS, Numerous United States cities and states have called upon
our elected officials to step "Back from the Brink" of nuclear conflict
by renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first; ending the
President's sole, unchecked authority to launch a nuclear attack; taking
U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert; canceling the plan to
replace the entire U.S. arsenal with enhanced weapons; and actively
pursuing a verifiable agreement among the nuclear armed states to
eliminate their nuclear arsenals; and
WHEREAS, In 2017 at the United Nations in New York City, 122 nations
adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW); and
WHEREAS, Upon entry into force, the TPNW will establish a
categorical ban on a) developing, testing, producing, manufacturing,
otherwise acquiring, possessing or stockpiling, b) transferring or
transferring control to any recipient whatsoever; c) receiving the
transfer of or control over; d) using or threatening to use; e)
assisting, encouraging or inducing in any way, anyone to engage in any
prohibited activity; f) Seeking or receiving any assistance, in any way,
from anyone to engage in any prohibited activity; g) stationing,
installation or deployment any nuclear weapons or other nuclear
explosive devices (Article 1); and
WHEREAS, The TPNW establishes 'positive obligations' on nations to
assist victims of nuclear weapons use and testing under their
jurisdiction; remediate contaminated environments under their
jurisdiction or control; and engage in international cooperation and
assistance (Articles 6 & 7) and identifies a responsibility for nations
that have used or tested nuclear weapons to provide adequate assistance
to affected nations, for the purpose of victim assistance and
environmental remediation (Article 7); and
WHEREAS, The TPNW recognizes the importance of peace and disarmament
education in all its aspects, including raising awareness of the risks
and consequences of nuclear weapons for current and future generations,
and disseminating the principles and norms of the Treaty; and
WHEREAS, The persistence of the US nuclear arsenal; the US boycott
of the TPNW negotiations; the recent US withdrawal from the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and to undermine the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (Iran Nuclear Deal) all demonstrate a lack
of good faith pursuit of nuclear disarmament; and
WHEREAS, The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
(ICAN) was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize "for its work to draw
attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of
nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve" the
TPNW; and
WHEREAS, The equal, full and effective participation of all people
in disarmament - including those marginalized because of age, color,
disability, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, national origin or
citizenship status, race, socio-economic status, religion/creed or
sexual orientation; and intersections of these identities - is an
essential factor for the promotion and attainment of sustainable peace
and security and ICAN's advocacy efforts have sought to foreground the
voices of those who have often been marginalized from policymaking on
nuclear weapons, including victims of nuclear weapons, women, indigenous
peoples, youth, LGBTQA persons, people of color and people from the
Global South; and
WHEREAS, Other State legislatures, including California, Oregon, and
New Jersey have expressed their support for the TPNW; and
WHEREAS, ICAN now seeks commitments from elected representatives to
work for their government to join the treaty by signing its
"Parliamentary Pledge", which states: "We, the undersigned
parliamentarians, warmly welcome the adoption of the UN Treaty on the
Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on 7 July 2017 as a significant step
towards the realization of a nuclear-weapon-free world. We share the
deep concern expressed in the preamble about the catastrophic
humanitarian consequences that would result from any use of nuclear
weapons and we recognize the consequent need to eliminate these inhumane
and abhorrent weapons. As parliamentarians, we pledge to work for the
signature and ratification of this landmark treaty by our respective
countries, as we consider the abolition of nuclear weapons to be a
global public good of the highest order and an essential step to promote
the security and well-being of all peoples."; and
WHEREAS, New York has a special responsibility, as a site of
Manhattan Project activities, to express solidarity with all victims of
nuclear weapons; support efforts to remediate contaminated environments;
and to work for nuclear disarmament; and
WHEREAS, Religious leaders and other voices of public conscience in
New York and beyond have condemned nuclear weapons as unethical, immoral
and inhumane; and
WHEREAS, New Yorkers have a 75-year history of activism against
nuclear weapons, including major nuclear disarmament marches in the
1970s leading to one of the world's largest ever demonstration against
nuclear weapons held in Central Park in 1982; and
WHEREAS, New York's private sector can play a role in nuclear
disarmament by refusing to do business with or by divesting from
companies involved in producing key components for nuclear arsenals; and
WHEREAS, The elimination of all nuclear weapons is necessary in
order to guarantee that such weapons are never used again under any
circumstances; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pauses in its deliberations to
honor the courageous contributions and activism of individuals and
organizations in every country who have worked to end the use of or
testing of nuclear weapons, including the many thousands of committed
New Yorkers who have organized, rallied, spoken out, advocated since the
dawn of the nuclear age for the prohibition of nuclear weapons; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That the New York State Senate reaffirms the State's
commitment to denuclearization by: expressing support for the Treaty on
the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; supporting divestment from companies
involved in the production and maintenance of nuclear weapons;
congratulating ICAN - including its members from New York - on the Nobel
Peace Prize, and inviting New York's elected representatives (at local,
State and Federal levels) to sign ICAN's Parliamentary Pledge; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That the New York State Senate urges the United States to
sign and ratify the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear
Weapons and simultaneously to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear
war by renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first; ending the
President's sole, unchecked authority to launch a nuclear attack; taking
U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert; canceling the plan to
replace the entire U.S. arsenal with enhanced weapons; and actively
pursuing a verifiable agreement among the nuclear armed states to
eliminate their nuclear arsenals; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to each member of the United States Senate and the United
States House of Representatives from the State of New York, and the
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
