body
WHEREAS, On May 27 President Obama became the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima, where he called for us to choose a "future in which Hiroshima and Nagasaki are known not as the dawn of atomic warfare but as the start of our own moral awakening;" and,
WHEREAS, August 6 and 9, 2016 mark the 71st anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where over 210,000 people were killed and countless others were exposed to radiation, and 2016 marks the fifth anniversary of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant; and,
WHEREAS, the world's nuclear arsenals include 15,350 warheads, which currently have the explosive power of approximately 200,000 Hiroshima bombs and are capable of destroying all cities in the world the size of Pittsburgh or larger, posing an intolerable threat to people everywhere; and,
WHEREAS, the potential for the use of nuclear weapons has become greater than ever before as a result of widespread stockpiles of poorly secured nuclear materials, the escalation of terrorism, expanded proliferation and escalating political tensions, all of which have increased the risk of both intentional and accidental launch; and,
WHEREAS, in June of 2012 the U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously passed a strong resolution calling for the "abolition of" nuclear weapons by 2020, and in subsequent years expressed support for the goal of the Vision 2020 Campaign led by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and,
WHEREAS, the U.S. is on track to spend $1 trillion on nuclear weapons and related programs over the next thirty years and this "modernization" plan is creating a new international arms race, whose escalating costs are forcing Congress to divert funds from essential programs, including education, health-care, and job training; and,
WHEREAS, Remembering Hiroshima, Imagining Peace (RHIP), has brought together an impressive coalition of Pittsburgh organizations, institutions and individuals to work toward the elimination o...
Click here for full text