A letter from Dr. Joseph Berkson: WPSR Board Member and Co-Chair of the Nuclear Weapons Abolition Task Force
My name is Dr. Joe Berkson, and it is my esteemed honor to serve both on the Board of Directors of WPSR and as Co-Chair of WPSR's Nuclear Weapons Abolition Task Force. I wanted to take some of your time today to discuss where we've been as a Task Force these last few months and how we hope to draw on the work of those who have come before to build the best possible future for us all.
Seeking inspiration from my predecessor as Co-Chair of the Nuclear Weapons Abolition Task Force Dr. Bruce Amundson, I reviewed an essay he wrote in 2019:
“As an organization of health professionals, here is what we see: the most urgent threats to the safety of the planet and to human health today are an overheating planet, nuclear war, epidemics, poverty, and destructive levels of inequality. None of these threats can even remotely be addressed by military means.”
Within months of his having written that we were plunged into the worst global pandemic in more than a century. Bruce’s concerns with our resource-hogging military budget and the impact of this on our ability to protect human health were characteristically prescient.
I wonder how we might have fared through 2020 and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic if we had invested in our public health infrastructure with even a fraction of the effectiveness with which our government supports our military spending.
I stepped into the role of Co-Chair of the Nuclear Weapons Abolition Task Force in summer 2019 and have since been consistently inspired by Bruce’s clear-eyed commitment to human health and his forward-thinking work as an activist. None of the threats of which Bruce spoke will be addressed by military means. We cannot bomb our way out of the climate crisis, economic inequity, or any pandemic. To that end, we have kept very busy pushing for a future free from the threat of nuclear warfare.
Early this year, we all took a huge step towards that very goal: WPSR and the other 50+ member organizations of the Washington Against Nuclear Weapons (WANW) Coalition were delighted on January 22 when the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) went into force after 50 countries ratified the treaty.
As of my writing this, 54 countries, including some major economies like Ireland, Mexico, and South Africa, have ratified the TPNW which bans the use, possession, development, deployment, and transfer of nuclear weapons under international law. Although no nuclear weapons-possessing states have signed the treaty, nations that are party to the treaty have been given a mechanism to pressure nuclear-armed nations.
The TPNW also allows party states to pressure arms manufacturers like Boeing. If, for example, Boeing wants to do business with the Irish government, the TPNW puts an onus on Boeing’s leaders to demonstrate that they are not engaging in prohibited activities.
Boeing's Memphis Belle IV, a central tool in the United States' invasion and occupations of Iraq
Eventually, assuming all parties hold to the letter of the TPNW, Boeing and its peers (Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, etc.) will either need to divorce themselves from any work supportive of nuclear weapons or from being able to do business in at least 54 nations.
I should note that WPSR has accepted donations from Boeing as recently as this summer but these gifts are part of an Employee Gift Match program. It is stated WPSR policy to not accept any direct donations from arms manufacturers or those who enable the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
We strongly urge all Boeing employees and shareholders to leverage their position in the company to direct Boeing away from its work in nuclear weapons development.
Other strategies for pressuring the nine nuclear nations into the TPNW may emerge this August with the 5-year Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The purpose of this conference is to gather nuclear nations and work for disarmament. It was after the failure of this conference in 2010 that the movement for the Treaty on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons started in earnest. This resulted in the TPNW being passed in a UN vote by 122 countries and so we are optimistic that there can be progress at this summer’s conference.
Moving from global to domestic matters: we have been pushing back on proposals by the federal government to increase spending on our nuclear weapons infrastructure. The Biden Administration’s recently released a disappointing budget, that would increase spending on nuclear weapons, including so-called Advanced Nuclear Weapons, and fully replace the current arsenal.
There are, as we expected, inflated projections of the cost to replace the current U.S. nuclear stockpile. The budget includes money for a new Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), new weapons to replace current Minuteman III ICBMs, $5 billion for a new nuclear missile submarine, as well as money for a new Long Range StandOff (LRSO) cruise missile.
WPSR and WANW Coalition continue to engage Members of Congress (MoCs) on national security policy and defense spending. Because of the support of WPSR Members, we are able to bring the health voice to this debate. Military spending is a matter of grave concern to public health. In allocating $715 billion to fund the Pentagon, the Biden Administration has to not spend $715 billion on pandemic preparedness, vaccine equity, healthcare subsidies, and student loan forgiveness for the next generation of healthcare professionals.
We are working to halt funding for new (or “modernized”) nuclear weapons and to eliminate funding for the Ground-Based Strategic Defense. We think the strategy of advancing a policy of “No First Use” (introduced by Rep. Smith and co-sponsored by Rep. Larsen) is a good opening to begin the negotiating process to eliminate the ICBM leg of the nuclear triad. We are working to build our audience and corps of activists in every corner of the state and to educate the public on the evolving and increasingly concerning the relationship between investment in “military means” and health outcomes.
In Congress, we are tracking several recently introduced bills of interest in addition to the “No First Use” Act. We are focusing on lobbying MoCs to support the “Invest in Cures Before Missiles” (ICBM) Act and the Nuclear-Sea Launched Cruise Missile (N-SLCM) Ban.
Beyond bills, we worked with a lobbyist and the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) this spring to engage Representatives Jayapal, Smith, & Kilmer, and Senator Murray to urge support for the resumption of the “Iran Nuclear Deal” or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The work of building a healthy and safe future is no small thing and we, at WPSR, are so grateful to have such a robust cohort of partners in the Washington Against Nuclear Weapons Coalition.
WANW is managed, in part, by WPSR but is a mighty coalition representing dozens of organizations from various backgrounds and communities across the state including faith groups, student groups, and others. At WANW, we have recently set up Teams on Advocacy, Education, Media, and Undoing Systemic Violence.
WANW is managed, in part, by WPSR but is a mighty coalition representing dozens of organizations from various backgrounds and communities across the state including faith groups, student groups, and others. At WANW, we have recently set up Teams on Advocacy, Education, Media, and Undoing Systemic Violence.
WANW’s Advocacy team is leading the Coalition in its opposition to Nuclear-Sea Launched Cruise Missile (N-SLCM) funding. They have been enthusiastic in using WPSR’s new advocacy resources, which include new tools to (with just one click) connect concerned citizens and activists to their MoCs (more on that below).
There are many lingering questions about the identity of the WANW. With new tools available and more muscular operations, how should WPSR and WANW interact? Is one beholden to the other? How should we think about collaborative projects, funding, and those areas in which our priorities may diverge? Does the WANW Coalition, now with over 50 organizations, need to be its own incorporated organization? These and many other questions about WANW’s identity and its relationship with its partner organizations linger and are encouraging to me. As Dr. Amundson worked with an eye to the next opportunity or question, WANW is doing its business with an eye on the moment and on the future. This seems to be a sign of maturation and that WANW has a long, productive, and sustainable future ahead of it.
I mentioned our new advocacy tool kit: in 2020 we rolled over all communications, fundraising, and advocacy assets to a new system called “EveryAction”. This amazing tool allows us to build and distribute “One Click” actions (like petitions, direct engagement, etc.) to our Members. We now have the ability to mobilize hundreds of WPSR supporters and get thousands of messages to policymakers and others. This tool and the growing operational muscle of WPSR and WANW will help us to “show up” in a more impactful way as we engage with our MoCs.
In the short term, the Nuclear Weapons AbolitionTask Force is working on an event to explore common ground with those in the climate crisis movement (time and date to be announced shortly). I see many opportunities for our work to intersect and for our cohorts to join forces for mutual benefit.
I want to end with a matter very close to my heart.
This spring, we had a major staff change. Carly Brook, our long-time Nuclear Weapons Abolition Program Organizer left WPSR after two years of exceptional service to pursue a Master’s Degree in Public Health.
WPSR owes Carly a tremendous debt of gratitude for their amazing work as an activist, advocate, and organizer. Their commitment to intersectionality, nuclear justice, anti-racism, and to frontline communities is an inspiration.
Following this, we were fortunate to hire Tara Villalba for the position. Tara comes to WPSR with a breadth of experience as an organizer at Bellingham Tenant Union and as a consultant at Western Washington University.
In her first three months with us, she has added tremendous value to our work both internally and in the community. She also is helping to ensure that we never lose sight of the issue of nuclear justice and of justice for frontline communities immediately impacted by nuclear weapons development, testing, and use.
To borrow a turn of phrase from an organization I admire greatly, we have to think “beyond the bomb”. Yes, we need immediate denuclearization and for all nuclear weapons to be dismantled. We also need to address the health concerns and issues of justice related to those communities who have borne the brunt of nuclear-related work for nearly a century including folks in the TriCities, Indigenous communities near to New Mexico’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Marshallese diaspora in Arkansas, south King County & Eastern Washington, the people of the Spokane Tribe impacted by the Midnite Mine, and so many others. There is no true path to a future free from nuclear warfare without nuclear justice and nuclear justice is a matter of racial justice.
I am honored to call both Carly and Tara friends and trust that as Tara works from the foundation laid by Carly, we will do tremendous work!
For over 40 years WPSR has been at the forefront of the fight for a world free from the threat of nuclear warfare. I follow in the footsteps of Bruce and so many of our members whose passions and legacies are an inspiration. I am further inspired by the work of Carly and now of Tara and my colleagues on the WPSR Board and in the WANW Coalition. For over 40 years we have been doing the work and while it may look different in many ways and be focused on different heads of the hydra, it is towards the same end: peace.
Together, I am certain that we can rise to meet the challenges of our time. As we “emerge”, as it were, from under the blanket of a pandemic, we can build a better world. We must. We can build a better WPSR that works in more earnest service of its community and I am so excited to partner with you on this.
To that end, I need your help. There is a place in this work for you no matter who you are and no matter your level of expertise.
If you seek what we have sought for over 40 years: get involved today Join WPSR as a Member with a donation today and follow WPSR across social media.
Help us to build a WPSR that will be an inspiration to those who follow. We cannot wait to build the future and present that we need. Now is the moment to gather, pool our resources, and be the best versions of ourselves and better.
Thank you,
Dr. Joseph Berkson
WPSR Board Member
Co-Chair WPSR's Nuclear Weapons Task Force