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Building Political Support in the U.S. for the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty
April 24, 2021 @ 10:30 am - 1:00 pm
On January 22, 2021, People around the world, and throughout the U.S., demonstrated at nuclear weapons manufacturers, military bases, federal buildings and courthouses, banks that invest in nuclear weapons corporations, colleges and universities doing nuclear weapons research and design. On January 22, the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons ENTERED INTO FORCE, declaring that “NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE ILLEGAL.”
On January 18, the national observance of the birth of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther, Jr., four days before the Treaty’s Entry Into Force, the Brandywine Peace Community organized its annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Nonviolent Action at Lockheed Martin in King of Prussia, PA. Lockheed Martin is the world’s #1 war profiteer and the U.S.’s #1 nuclear weapons contractor.
On January 22, the Brandywine Peace Community, joined by the Granny Peace Brigade, the Phila. Campaign to Divest from Nuclear Weapons, and the Phila. Area Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, demonstrated in front of the Philadelphia Federal Courthouse with the message of nuclear weapons’ ILLEGALITY. The resolution by Phila. City Council (adopted unanimously October 2019) supporting the treaty. The treaty was broadcast and read aloud in its entirety, to the tolling of Brandywine’s decades-old large peace bell. The bell was tolled once for each of the now 54 ratifying nations
KEEP THE BELL RINGING! MAKE THE MOMENT A MOVEMENT!
Building Political Support for the Nuclear Ban Treaty
in Congress and at state and local levels
Zoom event: Saturday, April 24, 2021, 10:30am-12:45 p.m. EDT
Program
10:30 AM – 11:00 AM: Global Support for the Nuclear Ban Treaty
- Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
- Thomas Hajnoczi, Former Head of Disarmament at the Austrian Foreign Ministry
- John Finnie, Member of Scottish Parliament
- Vicky Reynaert, Member of the Belgian Federal Parliament
11:00 AM – 11:20 AM: The U.S. Congress and the Nuclear Ban Treaty
- Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton(District of Columbia)
- Rep. Rashida Tlaib(Michigan 13th Congressional District)
- Rep. Jamie Raskin(Maryland 8th Congressional District)
11:20 AM -11:40 AM: Supporting the Treaty at State and Local levels
- State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, Massachusetts
- Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, Easthampton
11:40 AM – 12:10 PM: Panel Discussion – “ICAN pledge – Collecting signatures in other nuclear-armed and nuclear-reliant countries”
- Heidi Kassai (ICAN Germany)
- Tilman Ruff (ICAN Australia)
- Erin Hunt (Mines Action Canada/ICAN Partner)
12:10 P.M. – 12:30 P.M.: Breakout Rooms – Writing to Your Elected Representatives
Participants will break up into small groups by state/region to write letters and emails to federal, state, and local representatives in their own states and districts.
12:30 P.M. – 12:40: Debrief and next steps
12:40 P.M. – 12:45 PM: Closure
Background on the ICAN Pledge and Nuclear Ban Treaty:
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) went into effect on January 22 of this year. Everything to do with nuclear weapons is now illegal in 54 countries, and that number will continue to rise. In countries where governments are not yet ready to sign this treaty, their elected officials are pressuring them to do so. Over 250 parliamentarians in Italy have signed the ICAN Pledge, nearly 200 in Germany, over 100 in Australia, and almost every member of the Scottish Parliament.
So far, ten members of the US Congress have signed the ICAN Pledge. Join us on April 24th to hear from Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and from ICAN campaigners around the world, on how they have successfully used the ICAN Pledge to build support for nuclear abolition in other nuclear-armed and nuclear-weapon-reliant countries. Also hear from US legislators who have signed the ICAN Pledge or are considering doing so. We will discuss how to get many more members of the US Congress to sign, and how this could begin to change the conversation about nuclear weapons in Washington towards a clear call for the abolition of these weapons. We will also look at how getting state and local legislators to sign the Pledge can help build pressure on Members of Congress to also sign.
Event Co-Sponsors: NuclearBan.US, The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Massachusetts Peace Action, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF US), World Beyond War, CodePink, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Sierra Club, Veterans for Peace, Physicians for Social Responsibility, United Methodist Board of Church and Society, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, Beyond Nuclear, Brandywine Peace Community, Catholic Worker New York City, Center for Nonviolent Solutions, Coalition for Peace Action, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Engaging Peace, Inc., Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution Peace Task Force, Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace, Granny Peace Brigade New York City, Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, Hampton Roads Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Maryland Peace Action, Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment, New England Peace Pagoda, New Hampshire Peace Action, Northampton Friends Meeting (Quakers), Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Nuclear and Carbon Free Future Coalition, Nuclear Hotseat Podcast/Broadcast, Nuclear Resister, NuclearWakeUpCall.Earth, Nukewatch, Nukewatch New Mexico, Oregon PeaceWorks, Outrider Foundation, Pax Christi Baltimore, Pax Christi Metro New York, Peace Action Maine, Peace Action New York State, PEAC Institute, Physicians for Social Responsibility Kansas City, Prevent Nuclear War Maryland, Resistance Center for Peace and Justice, Traprock Center for Peace and Justice, Tri-Valley CAREs, Upper Midwest Chapter World Beyond War, Veterans for Peace Chapter 27, Veterans for Peace Chapter 34, Veterans for Peace Chapter 80, Veterans for Peace Golden Rule Project, War Resisters League New York City, Women Against Military Madness, Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, War Prevention Initiative Jubitz Family Foundation.