RESOLUTION OF BOSTON CITY COUNCIL June/July 2014
WHEREAS: The citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were subjected to the horrors of nuclear bombs detonated in their cities on August 6, 1945 and August 9, 1945, respectively, which killed up to 250,000 and left many thousands more severely wounded; and
WHEREAS: The City of Boston has been a member of Mayors for Peace since 2005 and also has a valued “Sister City” relationship with Kyoto, Japan; and
WHEREAS: The United States, along with the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China, is bound by the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to negotiate the elimination of nuclear weapons, as well as to oppose the spread of such weapons; and
WHEREAS; the U.S. government is instead planning to “modernize” its nuclear weapons arsenal by spending up to $1 trillion ($1,000 billion), money that could be used instead to fund badly-needed programs for jobs, schools, and housing in Boston and other cities; and
WHEREAS: The U.S. Conference of Mayors has repeatedly, and unanimously, called on the President to seek negotiations to eliminate nuclear weapons, in part because cities are the targets of nuclear bombs, and on Congress to reject any program to build new nuclear weapons; and
RESOLVED: That the City of Boston proclaims August 6, 2013 to be Hiroshima Day and August 9, 2013 to be Nagasaki Day to honor the thousands of innocent victims of the nuclear detonations on those days; and be it further
RESOLVED: That the Boston City Council calls on the President to live up to our obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty by seeking to eliminate all nuclear weapons and meanwhile honor the existence of the seven existing Nuclear-Weapons Free Zones around the world and seek their extension wherever possible; and be it further
RESOLVED: That the Boston City Council calls on the President and the Congress to cancel costly new nuclear and other weapons systems which do not make us safer, and to allocate the savings for programs the people of Boston and other cities urgently need — as was supported by Boston voters 3-1 in a referendum in 2012; and be it further
RESOLVED: That the City Clerk be and hereby is requested to forward a suitably engrossed copy of this resolution to Boston state legislative delegation as well as the Massachusetts Congressional Representatives and Senators and President Obama.
