Full Text of HR0061 101st General Assembly
HR0061 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The use of even a small number of nuclear weapons | 3 | | could have catastrophic human,
environmental, health, and | 4 | | economic consequences globally; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Approximately 14,000 nuclear weapons still exist | 6 | | in the world and pose an intolerable risk to humanity; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The United States has over 6,000 nuclear weapons, | 8 | | which combined are more than 100 times
more powerful than all | 9 | | the weapons used during World War II; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, The United States is currently planning to spend | 11 | | nearly $2 trillion over the next 30 years
rebuilding its entire | 12 | | nuclear weapons arsenal; this is a gross misuse of funds that | 13 | | could instead be devoted to
improving security, health, and | 14 | | education; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, The United States maintains nearly 1,000 nuclear | 16 | | weapons on high alert so they are ready for
launch within | 17 | | minutes of a presidential decision to do so, making them | 18 | | vulnerable to accidents,
unauthorized use, cyber attacks, and | 19 | | miscalculations, thereby increasing the risk of nuclear use; | 20 | | and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The United States currently reserves the right to | 2 | | use nuclear weapons in response to
non-nuclear attacks by | 3 | | Russia, China, or North Korea, nations that could respond by | 4 | | using their own nuclear
weapons, resulting in a nuclear war | 5 | | that could have devastating consequences; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, The sole purpose of U.S. nuclear weapons should be | 7 | | to deter a nuclear attack on the United
States, its forces, and | 8 | | its allies; there is no reason for the United States to ever | 9 | | use nuclear
weapons first; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. President has sole authority to order a | 11 | | nuclear attack without any consultation or
input; leaving the | 12 | | decision to one individual increases the chance of a nuclear | 13 | | weapon being used; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, A policy renouncing the first use of nuclear | 15 | | weapons would severely constrain the ability of
the President | 16 | | to order a nuclear attack, allowing attacks only in response to | 17 | | a nuclear attack; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Americans and all people on the planet should have | 19 | | the right to live a life free from the threat
of nuclear | 20 | | weapons; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, The United States should immediately change its |
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| 1 | | policies, as well as actively pursue
verifiable agreements with | 2 | | other nuclear-armed nations to reduce the number of nuclear | 3 | | weapons and
eliminate them from the planet; therefore, be it
| 4 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 5 | | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that, | 6 | | as an important first step, we call on the President of the | 7 | | United States to
make it the policy of the U.S. that it will | 8 | | not start a nuclear war and therefore will not use
nuclear | 9 | | weapons first, and we call on the United States Congress to | 10 | | pass legislation supporting this policy; and be it further | 11 | | RESOLVED, That we call on Congress to not fund the
| 12 | | development and production of additional U.S. nuclear weapons | 13 | | that can produce a relatively small
nuclear explosion, making | 14 | | them suitable for rogue nuclear war-fighting and potentially | 15 | | lowering the
threshold to using nuclear weapons first; and be | 16 | | it further
| 17 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 18 | | delivered to the President of the United States, the Vice | 19 | | President of the United States, the U.S. Senate Majority | 20 | | Leader, the U.S. Senate Minority Leader, the U.S. Speaker of | 21 | | the House, the U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader, | 22 | | and all members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.
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