Washington State Unready to Take a Stand Against Nuclear Weapons: The Path Foward for the Movement is Clear
By : Lauren Zawacki and Carly Brook
Unfortunately, the full state Senate isn’t going to vote before the end of session on March 6th on a measure that would have asked Congress and the President to establish smarter policies that would reduce the chances of nuclear war.
As of February 24, the Senate Joint Memorial 8006, was officially set aside after the powerful Senate Rules Committee took no action on it, indicating that the bill will not become law during this legislative session. We thank the co-sponsors, Rep. Gael Tarleton and Sen. Bob Hasegawa whose courageous leadership raised the issue of nuclear weapons in the legislature for the second time in recent history, offering the opportunity for Washington State to take a stand against one of the most serious threats to human survival. While this is disappointing news for both our coalition, as well as many other grassroots movements across the nation aiming to prevent nuclear war, there were still tremendous gains for the movement. And, encouragingly for the future, it did receive a recommendation for passage by the full Senate from a majority of the State Government, Tribal Relations and Elections Committee.
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 Legislature, these memorials would be sent to President Trump and the leaders of both houses of Congress. Two of the memorial’s key sections urged a commitment by the United States never to be the first to use nuclear weapons and the creation of a system to ensure that a President doesn’t act alone in launching a nuclear attack.
Since the last legislative session in 2019, when the House and Senate joint memorials were introduced for the first time, the Washington Against Nuclear Weapons Coalition has gained 50 member organizations. Additionally, our coalition diversified its support by engaging national and local organizations 350 Seattle, Women’s Action for New Directions, and the Union of Concerned Scientists to add their voices to the fight against nuclear weapons.
Furthermore, the joining of different grassroots movements signifies that nuclear weapons and war is not an isolated issue, but a complex problem that affects a broad spectrum of problems such as health, the environment, human rights, and income inequity. Making these connections only strengthens our argument and makes lawmakers, and the general public, more aware and supportive of urgently addressing our efforts to prevent nuclear war.
The Coalition also received an outpouring of support and action taken by these organizations and their partners. Thanks to everyone’s support, our coalition met with over 10 legislators, sent over 50 call to action emails, made hundreds of phone calls and had a record number of individuals testify at the general hearing on February 7, in which 12 individuals testified.
That said, neither SJM 8006 and its House companion measure, passed in the 2019 or 2020 legislative sessions. Bills of more immediate r relevance and significance to voters and the legislators were prioritized over the nuclear weapons joint memorials in this year’s short legislative session. We want to thank our endorsing organizations, partners and constituents who helped to grow the grassroots movement and helped educate and elevate the issue amongst lawmakers and the general public. We can claim the victory that more people are now educated about the dangers of nuclear war, more people are engaged in the movement and we have gained new friends in this struggle, even though we were not able to pass the joint memorials in the Washington Legislature this time.
What should be the path forward for Washington State’s growing anti-nuclear weapons movement?
Pass city level and county level “Back from the Brink” resolutions, embodying the original points of the two memorial measures. That would give support to the national Back from the Brink movement while building stronger support for future state resolutions.
Advocate to you Representatives and Senators in Congress to take urgent action to support No First Use and the extension of the New START treaty — policies that need our attention now to lessen the dangers and possibility of a nuclear war
Speak out about the deployment of “low-yield” nuclear warheads which increase the likelihood of a conventional war escalating to a nuclear war. Tell your Member of Congress to reverse their deployment to submarines in Puget Sound at the Trident Submarine Base in Kitsap County.
Grow the movement.Talk to your neighbors, community institutions, schools, and organizations about the threats of nuclear weapons and the history of resistance here in Washington State and urge your organizations to join the 50 member organizations of the Washington Against Nuclear Weapons Coalition to build our fighting capacity in 2020 to abolish nuclear weapons.