WASHINGTON (May 2, 2019) — GREAT NEWS!  DC’s Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has introduced a new and improved version of her bill, the “Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act”  (HR-2419), so now let’s begin calling, writing, and especially meeting with our Representatives to urge them to become co-sponsors of the bill.

The WILPF-US Disarm Committee sent Ms. Norton a letter in January requesting some revisions to the legislation she has introduced each session since 1994, changes which reflect the existence of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and remove some unnecessary clauses. 

We believe this version of the bill is much stronger and so does Beatrice Fihn of ICAN, who was with Ms. Norton when the bill was introduced, as were Timmon Wallis and Vicki Elson of NuclearBan.US, who have been enthusiastically supporting the revisions.
Beatrice Fihn was quoted in the press release that Norton’s office issued:

“Congresswoman Norton has been one of the few voices showing courageous leadership on this issue for several years..  We now have a nuclear ban treaty that provides a clear path to realize the vision the Congresswoman has been presenting.  Her strong support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is an example for all US political leaders and an important message to other nations who are leading on this issue.” 

“Our bill is as timely as ever,” Norton said.  “Although the United States possesses one of the largest nuclear arsenals, there are still plans to spend trillions of dollars more on these doomsday weapons while urgent domestic needs, including health care, infrastructure, and clean energy, face funding shortfalls.  The United States can reestablish our moral leadership in the world by redirecting these funds to urgent domestic issues, not preparing for human extinction.” 

Keep up to date with what’s happening at http://prop1.org, where you can find links to online and paper petitions supporting Norton’s legislation in the House, as well as to the WILPF-US online and paper petitions for Senate support of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Norton Introduces HR 2419 “Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act”

WASHINGTON, DC (April 30, 2019) — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D – DC) today introduced HR – 2419, the “Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act of 2019,” which would require the United States to sign and ratify an international agreement to disable and dismantle America’ s nuclear weapons, strictly control fissile material and radioactive waste, and use nuclear-free energy. The United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was drafted in 2017 and approved by 122 nations, would qualify a s an international agreement.

Norton has introduced similar bills each year since 1994, after D.C.’s Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion ballot initiative passed in 1993. The goal is to convert the United States to a peace economy, which would occur when the President certifies to Congress that all countries possessing nuclear weapons have begun elimination under an international treaty or other legal agreement.

“Our bill is as timely as ever, “Norton said. “Although the United States possesses one of the largest nuclear arsenals, there are still plans to spend trillions of dollars more on these doomsday weapons while urgent domestic needs, including health care, infrastructure, and clean energy, face funding shortfalls. The United States can reestablish our moral leadership in the world by redirecting these funds to urgent domestic issues, not preparing for human extinction.”

“Congresswoman Norton has been one of the few voices showing courageous leadership on this issue for several years,” said International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Executive Director Beatrice Fihn. “We now have a nuclear ban treaty that provides a clear path to realize the vision the Congresswoman has been presenting. Her strong support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is an example for all US political leaders and an important message to other nations who are leading on this issue.”

ICAN is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning campaign coalition that works to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons. Norton’ s bill provides that funds otherwise used for nuclear weapons be redirected to other key investments, such as health care, infrastructure, and creating carbon-free, nuclear-free energy. According to the United Nations, the Treaty on the Prohibit ion of Nuclear Weapons is a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination.

This is a current project of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section, Disarm/End Wars Committee