Pax Christi Rhode Island celebrates passage of state’s Nuclear Treaty Resolution

Members of Pax Christi Rhode Island are thrilled that, on June 6, the state House has passed a resolution in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). (The state Senate passed the resolution two years ago.)

Rhode Island is now the fifth state to pass this resolution; the other states are New Jersey, Oregon, Maine, and California.

Just Peace RI, an ad hoc coalition representative of peace, justice, and faith organizations including Pax Christi RI, Sisters of Mercy Justice Team, Rhode Island Poor People’s Campaign, and FCNL – Providence Advocacy Team, among others, has been deeply involved in efforts to get this resolution passed.

Pax Christi Rhode Island members have been demonstrating every week for years in front of the offices of their US congressional representatives, on college campuses, at the State House and at nuclear production sites like Quonset Point in support of nuclear disarmament.

Following is a press release from Just Peace RI:

On Thursday, June 6, in a long-sought victory for the Rhode Island peace community, the RI House of Representatives passed HR 7329 ‘Urging the federal government to pursue a broad range of measures to reduce the danger of nuclear war, to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), to make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of our national security policy, and to spearhead a global effort to prevent nuclear war.’ The Resolution passed with broad support – 50 to 19 – with only Republicans and some conservative Democrats opposed.

Lead sponsor of the resolution, Rep. Susan R. Donovan of Bristol, said : “Whatever people feel about ratifying the TPNW, I think most people can agree that we should not be the country that relies on weapons that have no use in war other than destroying civilian targets.  Unleashing global famine, climate and habitat destruction and misery would be a catastrophe beyond understanding for everyone on our planet.” …

This historic vote comes amid ongoing nuclear saber-rattling and escalating tensions between Russia and the United States and NATO, and between Israel and Iran. Vladimir Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons and placed his nuclear forces on high alert for the first time since the end of the Cold War. Some members of Israel’s government have talked openly about nuclear weapon use related to its war in Gaza, and the chances of Iran developing nuclear weapons increases due to the situation in Gaza and tit-for-tat strikes between Israel and Iran.  Also, not so long ago, the previous US president openly threatened use of nuclear weapons. The world faces the real threat of nuclear war and the potentially existential consequences that such a war would pose.  

The TPNW treaty, in force since 2021 and now ratified by 70 nations (with the Vatican as the first upholder) makes the fabrication, possession, storage, use or threat of use of nuclear weapons illegal in the ratifying nations. No nuclear-armed nation has yet signed this innovative treaty. Elimination of nuclear weapons has general support of 65 percent of the US population and has been immensely popular in other nations whose peoples would be threatened by a devastating ‘nuclear winter’ in the case of a war with these weapons. Campaigners feel that the US president could sign this Treaty, and then (before ratification) use American diplomatic expertise to get other nuclear nations to follow suit. With American leadership, an international conference could be convened at which all nuclear-armed countries (including Russia and China) would forswear these deadly arms and create binding mechanisms for their compliance and verification.

Mary Pendergast, RSM of the Sisters of Mercy in Pawtucket, said, “The Sisters of Mercy have a commitment to nonviolence. We work for peace and support nuclear disarmament, reduction of arms and the use of dialogue instead of armed conflict. We are glad to be part of this achievement by Just Peace RI.” …

Rhode Island joins four other US states and many US and international cities (including Washington DC, Boston, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Honolulu, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles) that have passed resolutions in favor of the TPNW. In Rhode Island, East Providence, Little Compton, Bristol, and Jamestown have passed similar resolutions.

The official summary of HR 7329 states: “This resolution acknowledges the catastrophic potential of nuclear weapons, which are primarily held by the United States and Russia, with a smaller number possessed by seven other countries. It highlights the dire consequences of even a limited nuclear exchange, which could lead to global climate disruption and widespread famine, and notes that a large-scale nuclear conflict could potentially result in human extinction. The resolution also points out that despite reductions in active nuclear weapons since the Cold War, thousands remain on high alert.”

The resolution calls for the U.S. federal government to lead global efforts to prevent nuclear war by adopting several measures: renouncing first-strike capability, ending the president’s sole launch authority, removing weapons from hair-trigger alert, halting modernization plans, and pursuing disarmament agreements. It urges the president and US Senate to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which outlaws nuclear arms and mandates their elimination.

“These weapons threaten our lives and culture on a daily basis. Now that the Rhode Island legislature has acted, it’s time to see some American leadership at the federal level,” said William Smith III of Jamestown, former Peace Corps volunteer, local businessman, and current Pax Christi RI member.

Cover photo: Pax Christi RI member Robert Watt