Photo: Kusa Dogwood, Lois Barber
July 2020 - The Washington Post and other sources have reported that there have been high-level White House discussions about possibly exploding nuclear weapons in deep shafts in the Western US. These would not be actual tests of weapons, because our weapons have been tested over 2,000 times. Rather, they would be a "demonstration" to Russia and China to get them to agree to negotiate a new treaty to expand the current New START Treaty, which limits the number of US and Russian deployed strategic nuclear weapons to 1,550 each. New START is set to expire next February 5.
Pres. Putin has actually called on Pres. Trump to extend that treaty for another 5 years. China has indicated that it has no intention of discussing a cut in its nuclear arsenal as long as the Russian and American nuclear arsenals are 10 times as large as theirs! That seems understandable. It's hard to see how exploding nuclear weapons in the desert would change China's position.
If the US resumes exploding nukes, it would break the taboo on testing in place since 1992, except for some dubious testing by North Korea. The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty has never entered into force, so China, India, and Pakistan would feel freed to resume nuclear testing to perfect their existing weapons and to develop new ones. This could trigger a whole new nuclear arms race. Pres. Trump's arms control envoy said that the US is ready to spend Russia and China "into oblivion".
ACTION: Senate bill, S.3886, and House bill, H.R. 7140, would prohibit all use of funds for any explosive nuclear weapons tests. Urge your Senators and Representative to co-sponsor these bills and to urge their colleagues to co-sponsor also.
CONTACT: Your Representative & Senators in Congress
- Web: Find their names and links to their websites at senate.gov, www.house.gov; send an email or leave a message via ‘Contact’ on his/her website
- Tel: 202 224-3121 (Capitol switchboard-ask for his/her office & leave a message)
- Mail: Senator or Representative (first & last name) U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510
or
S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515
Multiply this Message: Write a letter to the editor about this important & timely issue. This is a powerful way to educate and mobilize others.
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