Co-authors Kai Bird (left) and Martin J. Sherwin.
Oppenheimer Author Says “Abolish Nuclear Weapons”
Vicki Elison / Nuclear Ban US
NEW YORK (August 16, 2023) – Kai Bird, co-author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning book on which Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer movie is based, issued the following statement endorsing a bill by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), the Nuclear Abolition and Conversion Act, H.R. 2775:
“My book chronicles the birth of the nuclear age. Since the first nuclear testing and bombing in 1945, the man-made nuclear danger has continually increased. Now, today’s 13,000 atomic weapons are unthinkably destructive, indiscriminate, climate-altering devices that can be unleashed by design, by sabotage, or by accident.
“Therefore, I strongly endorse Congresswoman Norton’s Nuclear Abolition and Conversion Act, H.R. 2775. The bill calls for the US to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as a first step to safely, fairly, verifiably eliminating all nuclear weapons from all countries, and eventually converting the nuclear weapons jobs, brainpower, money, and infrastructure to genuine climate solutions and other pressing human needs.”
“Kai Bird is keenly aware of how the nuclear arms race started, and where it has taken us,” said Vicki Elson of NuclearBan.US. “He has said that ‘humanity missed a crucial opportunity at the outset of the nuclear age’ to eliminate the risk of nuclear catastrophe. But with this new movie reminding us of the urgency, and the Nuclear Ban Treaty offering a sensible pathway to global disarmament, maybe it’s not too late.”
The bill’s original co-sponsors are Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Mark Pocan (D-WI).
HR. 2775
- To direct the United States to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and convert nuclear weapons industry resources and personnel to purposes relating to addressing the climate crisis, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 20, 2023
Ms. Norton (for herself, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Omar, Ms. Tlaib, and Mr. Pocan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To direct the United States to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and convert nuclear weapons industry resources and personnel to purposes relating to addressing the climate crisis, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Conversion Act of 2023”.
SEC. 2. UNITED STATES ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND CONVERSION OF RESOURCES TO ENERGY AND ECONOMIC PURPOSES.
(a) Sense Of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that the United States should provide leadership by—
(1) signing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; and
(2) ratifying such treaty when it is clear that ratification will result in—
(A) the dismantlement and elimination of all nuclear weapons in every country; and
(B) strict and effective international control of such dismantlement and elimination.
(b) Redirection Of Resources.—Beginning on the date on which the President certifies to Congress that all countries possessing nuclear weapons have begun the verifiable and irreversible elimination of such weapons under the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the United States shall redirect resources that are being used for nuclear weapons programs to be used for—
(1) purposes related to addressing the climate crisis, including through the development and deployment of clean, renewable energy sources, by converting all nuclear weapons industry processes, plants, and programs for such purposes and by retraining nuclear industry employees;
(2) addressing human and infrastructure needs, such as health care, housing, education, agriculture, and environmental restoration, including long-term radioactive waste monitoring; and
(3) actively promote policies to induce all other countries to join in the commitments referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) to create a more peaceful and secure world.
