Res. No. 776

Resolution expressing support of H. Res. 77, calling on the President to embrace the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of U.S. national security policy.

By Council Members Rivera, Gutiérrez, Brewer, Riley and Ossé

Whereas, As of the beginning of 2022, the estimated global arsenal of nearly 13,000 nuclear warheads was concentrated among nine nations: 5,977 in Russia, 5,428 in the U.S., 350 in China, 290 in France, 225 in the U.K., 165 in Pakistan, 160 in India, 90 in Israel, and 20 in North Korea; and

Whereas, Russia, China, the U.K., Pakistan, India, and North Korea are increasing nuclear warheads inventories; and

Whereas, It is estimated that as much as 90 percent of the global nuclear warheads arsenal is concentrated among just two nations-Russia and the U.S.; and

Whereas, Out of the estimated global nuclear arsenal, over 9,400 nuclear warheads are in the military stockpiles to be used by missiles, aircraft, ships, and submarines; and

Whereas, About 3,730 nuclear warheads are deployed with operational forces, such as on missiles or on bomber bases; and

Whereas, Approximately 2,000 U.S., Russian, French, and U.K. nuclear warheads are on high alert for use on short notice; and

Whereas, Since the Cold War, the estimated global inventory of nuclear warheads decreased from the peak of about 70,300 warheads in 1986 to approximately 12,700 warheads at the beginning of 2022; and

Whereas, Most of the post-Cold War decline in nuclear warheads occurred during the 1990s, driven primarily by the dismantling of retired nuclear warheads; and

Whereas, The decline in nuclear warheads was offset by increasing military stockpiles and new types of nuclear weapons; and

Whereas, Even a tiny portion of the global nuclear warheads arsenal is capable of causing planet-wide ecological disruptions and famine; and

Whereas, A study published in the July 2022 issue of the journal Nature Food showed that more than 2 billion people could die from a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, and more than 5 billion could die from a war between the United States and Russia; and

Whereas, The January 29, 2019 annual assessment of worldwide threats by the U.S. intelligence sector warned that the impacts of climate change and ecological degradation amplify stress on communities across the globe, exacerbating geopolitical tensions and increasing the risk of armed conflict, including a nuclear war; and

Whereas, In 2017, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Nuclear Modernization Plan to upgrade and enhance almost every element of the U.S. nuclear weapons inventory would cost more than $1.2 trillion over 30 years without adjusting for inflation; and

Whereas, In 2021, the Congressional Budget Office projected that the nuclear forces plans contained in the Fiscal Year 2021 budget requests by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Energy would cost $634 billion over the period between 2021 and 2030, averaging more than $60 billion annually; and

Whereas, On February 2, 2019, the U.S. and the Russian Federation withdrew from the 1987 bilateral Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which had required the signatories to eliminate their ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles capable of traveling between 300 and 3,400 miles by June 1, 1991, by which date both nations together had destroyed 2,692 short- and intermediate-range missiles; and

Whereas, On July 7, 2017, 122 nations adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which took effect on January 22, 2021; and

Whereas, The Treaty calls for the elimination of all nuclear weapons; and

Whereas, As of September 2022, 91 states were signatories of the Treaty, with the notable absence of the U.S. and Russia, the two nations holding 90 percent of the estimated global nuclear weapons arsenal; and

Whereas, On January 31, 2023, U.S. Congressional Representative James McGovern introduced in the House of Representatives H. Res. 77, which would call on the President to embrace the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of the national security policy of the U.S.; and

Whereas, H. Res. 77 would also call on the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, all other Federal and congressional leaders of the U.S., and the American people to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war; and

Whereas, H. Res. 77 would specifically urge the U.S. to renounce the option of using nuclear weapons first and to take its nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert; and

Whereas, H. Res. 77 would further call on the U.S. to end the President’s sole authority to launch a nuclear attack; and

Whereas, H. Res. 77 would additionally urge the U.S. to cancel the plan to replace its  nuclear arsenal with modernized, enhanced weapons; and

Whereas, H. Res. 77 would call on the U.S. to actively pursue a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to mutually eliminate their nuclear arsenals; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York expresses its support of H. Res. 77, calling on the President to embrace the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of U.S. national security policy.

LS #9964

08/23/2023

AZ