1.1 	A resolution
1.2 	urging adoption of new nuclear weapons policies.
1.3 	WHEREAS, the use of even a small number of nuclear weapons could have catastrophic 
1.4 	human, environmental, health, and economic consequences globally; and
1.5 	WHEREAS, some 14,000 nuclear weapons still exist in the world and pose an intolerable 
1.6 	risk to humanity; and
1.7 	WHEREAS, the United States has over 6,000 nuclear weapons, which combined are more 
1.8 	than 100 times more powerful than all the weapons used during World War II; and
1.9 	WHEREAS, the United States is currently planning to spend nearly two trillion dollars over 
1.10 	the next 30 years rebuilding its entire nuclear weapons arsenal - a gross misuse of funds that could 
1.11 	be devoted instead to improving security, health, and education; and
1.12 	WHEREAS, the United States maintains nearly 1,000 nuclear weapons on high alert so they 
1.13 	are ready for launch within minutes of a presidential decision to do so, making them vulnerable to 
1.14 	accidents, unauthorized use, cyberattacks, and miscalculations, and increasing the risk of nuclear 
1.15 	use; and
1.16 	WHEREAS, the United States currently reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response 
1.17 	to non-nuclear attacks by Russia, China, or North Korea, which could respond by using their own 
1.18 	nuclear weapons, resulting in a nuclear war that could have devastating consequences; and
1.19 	WHEREAS, the sole purpose of United States nuclear weapons should be to deter a nuclear 
1.20 	attack on the United States, its forces, and its allies, so that there is no reason for the United States 
1.21 	to ever use nuclear weapons first; and
1.22 	WHEREAS, the United States president has sole authority to order a nuclear attack without 
1.23 	any consultation or input, which increases the chance of nuclear use; and
2.1 	WHEREAS, a policy renouncing the first use of nuclear weapons would severely constrain 
2.2 	the ability of the president to order a nuclear attack, allowing only attacks in response to a nuclear 
2.3 	attack; and
2.4 	WHEREAS, Americans and all people on the planet should have the right to live a life free 
2.5 	from the threat of nuclear weapons use; and
2.6 	WHEREAS, the United States should take urgent steps to change its policies as well as 
2.7 	actively pursue verifiable agreements with other nuclear-armed nations to reduce the number of 
2.8 	nuclear weapons and eliminate the weapons from the planet; NOW, THEREFORE,
2.9 	BE IT RESOLVED that as an important first step the Legislature calls on the president to 
2.10 	make it the policy of the United States that it will not start a nuclear war and will therefore not use 
2.11 	nuclear weapons first, and calls on the Congress to pass legislation supporting this policy;
2.12 	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature calls on Congress to not fund the 
2.13 	development and production of additional United States nuclear weapons that can produce a relatively 
2.14 	small nuclear explosion, making them suitable for rogue nuclear war-fighting and potentially 
2.15 	lowering the threshold for using nuclear weapons first;
2.16 	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is directed 
2.17 	to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United States, the 
2.18 	President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United 
2.19 	States House of Representatives, the chair of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, the chair 
2.20 	of the House Committee on Armed Services, and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in 
2.21 	Congress.