HR0061 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0061 LRB101 05128 MST 50140 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The use of even a small number of nuclear weapons could have catastrophic human, environmental, health, and economic consequences globally; and

WHEREAS, Approximately 14,000 nuclear weapons still exist in the world and pose an intolerable risk to humanity; and

WHEREAS, The United States has over 6,000 nuclear weapons, which combined are more than 100 times more powerful than all the weapons used during World War II; and

WHEREAS, The United States is currently planning to spend nearly $2 trillion over the next 30 years rebuilding its entire nuclear weapons arsenal; this is a gross misuse of funds that could instead be devoted to improving security, health, and education; and

WHEREAS, The United States maintains nearly 1,000 nuclear weapons on high alert so they are ready for launch within minutes of a presidential decision to do so, making them vulnerable to accidents, unauthorized use, cyber attacks, and miscalculations, thereby increasing the risk of nuclear use; and

WHEREAS, The United States currently reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to non-nuclear attacks by Russia, China, or North Korea, nations that could respond by using their own nuclear weapons, resulting in a nuclear war that could have devastating consequences; and

WHEREAS, The sole purpose of U.S. nuclear weapons should be to deter a nuclear attack on the United States, its forces, and its allies; there is no reason for the United States to ever use nuclear weapons first; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. President has sole authority to order a nuclear attack without any consultation or input; leaving the decision to one individual increases the chance of a nuclear weapon being used; and

WHEREAS, A policy renouncing the first use of nuclear weapons would severely constrain the ability of the President to order a nuclear attack, allowing attacks only in response to a nuclear attack; and

WHEREAS, Americans and all people on the planet should have the right to live a life free from the threat of nuclear weapons; and

WHEREAS, The United States should immediately change its policies, as well as actively pursue verifiable agreements with other nuclear-armed nations to reduce the number of nuclear weapons and eliminate them from the planet; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that, as an important first step, we call on the President of the United States to make it the policy of the U.S. that it will not start a nuclear war and therefore will not use nuclear weapons first, and we call on the United States Congress to pass legislation supporting this policy; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call on Congress to not fund the development and production of additional U.S. nuclear weapons that can produce a relatively small nuclear explosion, making them suitable for rogue nuclear war-fighting and potentially lowering the threshold to using nuclear weapons first; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, the U.S. Senate Majority Leader, the U.S. Senate Minority Leader, the U.S. Speaker of the House, the U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader, and all members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.