As New Nuclear Arms Race accelerates, WA Legislatures can reduce risk of nuclear war

OLYMPIA, WA. - On Friday February 7th at 12:30PM Sen. Hasegawa and the Committee on State Government, Tribal Relations and Elections passed Senate Joint Memorial 8006, “Requesting that Congress establish more checks and balances to reduce the possibility of nuclear war”, out of committee. Now in the coming weeks, the Senate needs to pull the bill from Rules Committee onto the Senate floor for a vote!

With this memorial -- and it’s partner HJM 4008 led by Rep. Tarleton in the House -- Washington State Legislators are stepping up to say no more to nuclear proliferation and are standing up to nuclear war and the new arms race. 

SJM 8006 urges that Washington “has a local responsibility to lead a national conversation about reducing and eliminating the threat of nuclear war and revamping our federal strategy.” The memorial goes on to urge the U.S. to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by laying out several policies aimed at reducing the extreme risks from these weapons as well as reducing our arsenals. 

If passed by the Washington Senate (and House), these Memorials would be sent to President Trump and the leaders of both houses of Congress, urging action on nuclear dangers from the highest levels of Washington state government. Similar resolutions were passed in California and Oregon in 2019.

“We are fortunate to have this quality of leadership in our Washington Legislature that is willing to challenge the very dangerous status quo and address these policy issues that ultimately reside at the national level,” said Dr. Bruce Amundson, Vice President of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility.

“People in Washington State find ourselves in a crossfire of the New Nuclear Arms Race, since the presence of nuclear-armed submarines at the Kitsap-Bangor Naval base makes us a prime target in the case of a nuclear exchange,” said Carly Brook, Nuclear Weapons Abolition Organizer for Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility.

The Washington Against Nuclear Weapons coalition, comprised of over 50 organizations across Washington, and Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, an organization of 900 health professionals, strongly support passage of these Memorial statements, and commend our elected officials for their foresight and leadership in putting them forward in the 2019 Legislature.