Nuclear war checks, balances

TO THE HONORABLE DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1
AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF 2
REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF 3
THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED: 4
We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of 5
the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, 6
respectfully represent and petition as follows: 7
WHEREAS, Nearly 12,100 nuclear weapons still exist in the world 8
and pose an intolerable risk to human survival; and9
WHEREAS, The United States has roughly 5,748 nuclear weapons, 10
constituting the world's most lethal nuclear weapons capability; and11
WHEREAS, The United States is currently planning to spend up to 12
$2,000,000,000,000 rebuilding our entire nuclear weapons arsenal, 13
which takes funding away from conventional military needs and social 14
programs like education, health care, and infrastructure; and15
WHEREAS, The use and detonation of even a small number of nuclear 16
weapons could have catastrophic human, environmental, and economic 17
consequences globally; and 18
WHEREAS, These weapons pose a threat simply by existing, due to 19
the possibility of accidents and miscalculations, many of which have 20
been documented in the past; and 21
S-0514.1
SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 8007
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senator Hasegawa
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WHEREAS, In July 2017, 122 nations called for the elimination of 1
all nuclear weapons by adopting the Treaty on the Prohibition of 2
Nuclear Weapons; and 3
WHEREAS, The United States Constitution gives Congress the sole 4
power to declare war; and 5
WHEREAS, Despite this, the President currently has de facto sole 6
authority to launch a nuclear attack on his or her own, without any 7
required consultation or any system of checks and balances; and8
WHEREAS, By any definition of war, a first-use nuclear strike 9
from the United States would constitute a major act of war; and10
WHEREAS, Washington state citizens benefit from the safety and 11
security provided by existing nuclear arms reductions treaties, 12
including the New START Treaty; and 13
WHEREAS, On February 2, 2019, the United States President 14
declared a suspension of United States obligations under the 15
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and formally announced 16
its intention to withdraw from the treaty in six months. On August 2, 17
2019, the United States formally withdrew from the INF Treaty; and18
WHEREAS, A single nuclear detonation in any major city in 19
Washington could cause hundreds of thousands of immediate fatalities, 20
hundreds of thousands of injuries and illnesses from radiation, and 21
devastating destruction of agricultural land and natural resources 22
for decades; and 23
WHEREAS, Washington state has the largest collection of deployed 24
nuclear weapons in the Western Hemisphere, at Naval Base Kitsap-25
Bangor on Hood Canal, just 20 miles from Seattle, Washington; and26
WHEREAS, This nuclear weapons installation, added to Washington 27
state's large city centers and many other military installations, 28
makes our state a primary target in the event of a nuclear exchange; 29
and 30
WHEREAS, Washington state is home to many other nuclear weapons 31
sites and nuclear reactor facilities, including: The Hanford Nuclear 32
Site, the most contaminated nuclear site in the Western Hemisphere; 33
the Midnite Mine, a former nuclear weapons uranium mine located on 34
the Spokane Tribe of Indians Reservation; and one of the largest 35
populations of Marshall Islanders in the United States, whose home 36
was the site of 67 atmospheric nuclear weapons tests during the Cold 37
War; and 38
WHEREAS, These nuclear weapons sites and activities 39
disproportionately affect communities of color and indigenous people, 40
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none of whom have been adequately compensated for the environmental 1
and health consequences of nuclear weapons activities pursued by the 2
United States government during the 50 years of the Cold War; and3
WHEREAS, These nuclear weapons and nuclear-related activities in 4
Washington state make this a uniquely local responsibility for 5
Washington state to lead a national conversation about reducing and 6
eliminating the threat of nuclear war, and revamping our federal 7
strategy, which is also known as mutually assured destruction (MAD); 8
and 9
WHEREAS, Washington's citizens, and all Americans have an 10
inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and 11
to live a life free from the threat of nuclear weapons; and12
WHEREAS, The United States could lead a global effort to prevent 13
nuclear war by: 14
(1) Renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first;15
(2) Ending the President's sole, unchecked authority to launch a 16
nuclear attack; 17
(3) Taking United States nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert;18
(4) Canceling the plan to replace its entire arsenal with next 19
generation nuclear weapons; and 20
(5) Actively pursuing a verifiable, multilateral agreement among 21
nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals;22
NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that Congress 23
take appropriate steps to move back from the brink of nuclear war by 24
establishing a system of checks and balances to ensure that the 25
President shall no longer have the sole, unchecked authority to 26
launch nuclear weapons, except in circumstances of retaliation to a 27
nuclear attack, and making it the policy of the United States to not 28
use nuclear weapons first. 29
BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately 30
transmitted to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President of the United 31
States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 32
House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State 33
of Washington. 34
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