THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

177

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

Urging the President of the United States and members of Congress to support a ban on research, development, and testing of nuclear weapons.

 

 

WHEREAS, in 1996, President William Clinton signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, formalizing the United States' 1993 self-imposed nuclear test ban; the United States Senate, however, failed to ratify the treaty in 1999; and

WHEREAS, during the last two years, President George W. Bush and administration officials have taken steps to remove nuclear test ban barriers, indicating a willingness and inclination to develop new nuclear weapons and resume nuclear testing; and

WHEREAS, for example, the Pentagon's 2002 Nuclear Posture Review discussed situations in which the United States might be compelled to use nuclear weapons first, even against non-nuclear countries, and called for the development of a new generation of nuclear weapons, in particular "mini-nukes" known as robust nuclear earth penetrators and low-yield neutron bombs known as "enhanced radiation weapons"; and

WHEREAS, proponents contend that these new "mini-nuke" bunker busters are needed to penetrate not only the ground, but also rock and concrete, to destroy deeply buried targets of biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons stockpiles; while the enhanced radiation weapons are designed to destroy chemical or biological weapons in surface warehouses; and

WHEREAS, in addition, in the fall of 2002, the Nuclear Weapons Council stated that the United States needed to "refurbish several aging weapons systems" and concluded it would be "desirable" to consider not only continuing research but also returning to nuclear testing, a policy that the United States ended in 1992; and

WHEREAS, while supporters claim that the proposed low-yield weapons are "clean" and more precise, experts noted that even a one kiloton bomb would create a massive crater and spread harmful radioactive dust for miles; and

WHEREAS, to contain a test of these low yield weapons underground, experts contend that a five kiloton weapon would have to be buried not less than six hundred fifty feet deep and a one kiloton weapon would have to be four hundred fifty feet deep — which military experts have acknowledged as "all but impossible"; and

WHEREAS, the United States' development and testing of new nuclear weapons would produce few significant military advances and is likely to harm efforts to demand disarmament of other countries, such as North Korea; and

WHEREAS, those who favor new bunker-busting nuclear weapons have overstated their potential, while appearing to discount even the most basic arguments against them: the undeniable difficulty of accurately locating deeply buried targets; the resulting spread of chemical and biological fallout; the limit on the weapon's effectiveness related to the burial depth of the intended underground target; and

WHEREAS, as a United States senator recently stated "By adopting a policy of unilateralism and preemption, by undermining international law and institutions, and by increasing United States reliance on nuclear weapons, the administration may actually encourage the proliferation we seek to prevent"; and

WHEREAS, the United State's resumption of the development and testing of nuclear weapons may convince other countries that they need nuclear weapons to protect them against a United States attack; thereby making the development and testing of nuclear weapons a policy that is both counterproductive and dangerous; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the House of Representatives concurring, that, in the interests of protecting and advancing human, national, and global security and peace, the President and members of the United States Congress are urged to:

(1) Reaffirm the United States' moratorium on nuclear weapons testing and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty at the earliest possible date;

(2) Terminate efforts to increase the United States nuclear arsenal, including research, development, and testing of low-yield nuclear weapons and "bunker busters";

(3) Cease plans for upgrading current weapons research and production facilities and construction of new facilities, including plutonium pit manufacturing and tritium production; and

(4) Renounce the declared United States policy of preventative, preemptive warfare as a response to perceived threats from weapons of mass destruction; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, members of Hawaii's congressional delegation, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Department of Defense.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Nuclear Weapons Test Ban