On November 15, 2017, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, introduced legislation to make it the policy of the United States to not use nuclear weapons first.
The No First Use bill he introduced is elegant in its simplicity and intelligence. There is no realistic scenario today in which a nuclear first-strike would be warranted. Declaring this policy would increase national and global security and not limit our power to defend ourselves or our allies in any way.
At our conference in Washington, DC on October 26, 2017 Nuclear Weapons Policy in a Time of Crisis, Rep. Adam Smith described how "in some ways it is a more dangerous time now than during the Cold War." See video of his remarks at the conference at which he spoke about his No First Use legislation and other nuclear weapons issues.
Regarding the legislation, and the president's authority to launch nuclear weapons, Tom Z. Collina, our director of policy, had this to say:
“Yesterday, for the first time in 41 years, Congress held a hearing on the president’s authority to launch nuclear weapons. This reflects bipartisan concern that President Trump cannot be trusted with the bomb. The simplest solution would be to prohibit the President from launching nuclear weapons first, which could lead to full-scale nuclear war. No one person should have the power to unilaterally end civilization as we know it. Ploughshares Fund is proud to support Rep. Smith’s bill.”
Learn how you can support this and other efforts to create saner nuclear weapons policy in the 21st century. Sign up for the latest news and analysis on creating a world free of the threat of nuclear weapons — and eventually free of the weapons themselves — by signing up, via email as a supporter, today.
Photo: Rep. Adam Smith at Nuclear Weapons Policy in a Time of Crisis, October 26, 2017. Photo by Allison Shelley
Let's make it the policy of the United States to not use nuclear weapons first #KeepUsSafe.
