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Prohibiting the First Use of Nuclear Weapons
Sat May 15, 2021 @ 12:30 pm - 5:00 pm EDT

A nuclear exchange between the US and Russia would incinerate hundreds of millions of people immediately, and lead to a Nuclear Winter which would slaughter an estimated 7 billion of the Earth’s 7.7 billion people, mostly through starvation. Building back civilization would require over 1,000 years [Daniel Ellsberg talk, 12/13/2020]. A U.S. nuclear strike against China would result in a similar catastrophe.
These are the stakes. As a step toward reducing the danger of Nuclear War, a coalition of groups has called upon Congress to legislate – and the President to declare – that the United States will neither initiate nor threaten to initiate the first use of Nuclear Weapons. Register to attend: bit.ly/nfu-register.
Click here to see the full schedule.
Confirmed Speakers (partial list):
- Rep. Ted Lieu (California)
- Special message from Sen. Ed Markey
- Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA; video message)
- William Perry (Sec. of Defense in Clinton adm.)
- Ira Helfand (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War)
- Elaine Scarry (Harvard; MA Peace Action; CPDCS)
- Zia Mian (Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University)
- Tom Collina (Ploughshares Fund)
- Tong Zhao (Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy)
- Joseph Gerson (CPDCS)
- Kennette Benedict (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists)
- Max Tegmark (MIT)
- Tom Unterrainer (Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation)
- Monica Montgomery, John Isaacs (Council for a Livable World)
- David Swanson (World Beyond War)
- Carley Towne (CODEPINK)
- Anna Baker (GBPSR)
- Kevin Martin (PA)
- David Borris (CAPA)
- Erica Fein (Win Without War)
- Denise Duffield (PSR)
- Jonathan King (MAPA/MIT)
- William Hartung (Center for International Policy)
- Joshua Bennett (Poet, Dartmouth)
- Jillian Hanesworth (Buffalo Poet Laureate)
- Bread and Puppet Theater
Breakout Topics:
- Why No First Use Will Keep Us Safer
- Communications & Messaging
- Social Media / Street Theater / Artivism
- Congressional Strategy
- Recruiting/Organization Building
- Back From the Brink
- Stopping the Money Pit Missile and Reducing Nuclear Weapons Budgets
Declaring and legislating a No First Use policy would be a major step to help avoid:
- A US nuclear attack that escalates
- Russia or China attacking the US due to a false alarm
- Violating the US Constitution by a first strike act of war
- US threats of a nuclear attack which amount to bullying and blackmailing other countries, and which carry unacceptable risk of starting a general nuclear war.
With the support of a growing number of members of Congress, and President Biden’s 2019 statement that he has supported “No First Use” for twenty years, we have a real chance to take an important step toward reducing the risks of nuclear war in the next year by getting a No First Use policy declared and legislated into law!
Join us on May 15 at a conference to discuss and implement “Prohibiting the First Use of Nuclear Weapons.” Register to attend.
The conference is free but we appreciate donations to support this work.
Cosponsors: Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security (CPDCS); Mass Peace Action (MAPA); Council for a Livable World (CLW); CodePINK; Chicago Area Peace Action (CAPA); NY Peace Action (PANYS); Nuclear Age Peace Foundation; Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility (GBPSR); Maine Peace Action; MIT Radius; Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR); Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard; Public Citizen; Maryland Peace Action; Institute for People’s Engagement; PeaceWorks Kansas City; Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility.