Letter: Time to take a stand on nuclear weapons

Several years in the making, it came into force in January 2021, but of course the nine nuclear armed countries haven’t signed it, including the U.S.

Now the one treaty controlling nuclear weapons between Russia and the U.S., the New START Treaty, has been suspended by Russia when nuclear weapons are headlines from the war in Ukraine.

And so in December, lawmakers authorized $858 billion in defense spending — $45 billion more than President Biden requested and the largest defense budget ever, which includes revamping our nuclear arsenal. This after two of the costliest and longest wars in U.S. history.

While the climate crisis is a threat to life on earth, so is the threat of nuclear weapons, which could wreak instantaneous planetary havoc, even by accident.

Well, House Resolution 77 is one small step to take.

It calls on the president to embrace the TPNW and the U.S. to actively engage with Russia and other nuclear armed states toward nonproliferation; to renounce the U.S.’s first-use option and the president’s authority to solely launch a nuclear attack. This is not radical.

Washington is one of the most militarized states in the U.S., especially considering the Bangor Trident Nuclear Submarine Base that hosts the largest concentration of nuclear weapons in the U.S.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Seattle) is a co-sponsor of HR 77. She is willing to stand up to our overmilitarization. Could Rick Larsen (even with Naval Base Whidbey in his district) do the same? Advocacy is a necessity.

The U.S. prides itself on leading. Why not lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war?

Julia Hurd

Burlington