August 06, 1999
Peace Declaration: Address on the occasion of the 54th anniversary of Hiroshima
A century of war, the twentieth century spawned the devil’s own weapons-nuclear weapons-and humankind has yet to free itself of their threat.Nonetheless, inspired by the memory of the hundreds of thousands who died so tragically in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and all of war’s victims, we have fought for the fifty-four years since those bombings for the total abolition of nuclear weapons.
It is the many courageous hibakusha and the people who have identified with their spirit who have led this struggle. Looking at the important contributions these hibakusha have made, we cannot but express our deepest gratitude to them.
There are three major contributions:
The first is that they were able to transcend the infernal pain and despair that the bombings sowed and to opt for life. I want young people to remember that today’s elderly hibakusha were as young as they are when their families, their schools, and their communities were destroyed in a flash. They hovered between life and death in a corpse-strewn sea of rubble and ruin-circumstances under which none would have blamed them had they chosen death. Yet they chose life. We should never forget the will and courage that made it possible for the hibakusha to continue to be human.
Their second accomplishment is that they effectively prevented a third use of nuclear weapons. Whenever conflict and war break out, there are those who advocate nuclear weapon’s use. This was true even in Kosovo. Yet the hibakusha’s will that the evil not be repeated has prevented the unleashing of this lunacy. Their determination to tell their story to the world, to argue eloquently that to use nuclear weapons is to doom the human race, and to show the use of nuclear weapons to be the ultimate evil has brought about this result. We owe our future and our children’s future to them.
Their third achievement lies in their representing the new worldview as engraved on the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims and articulated in the Japanese Constitution. They have rejected the path of revenge and animosity that leads to extinction for all humankind. Instead, they have taken upon themselves not only the evil that Japan as a nation perpetrated but also the evil of war itself. They have also chosen to put their “trust in the justice and faith” of all humankind in order to create a future full of hope. As peace-loving people from all over the world solemnly proclaimed at the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference this May, this is the path that humankind should take in the new century. We ardently applaud all of the countries and people who have written this philosophy into their Constitutions and their laws.
Above all else, we must possess a strong will to abolish nuclear weapons following the examples set by the hibakusha. If all the world shares this commitment-indeed, even if only the leaders of the nuclear weapons states will it so-nuclear weapons can be eliminated tomorrow.
Such will is born of truth-the truth that nuclear weapons are the absolute evil and cause humankind’s extinction.
Where there is such will, there is a way. Where there is such determination, any path we take leads to our goal of eliminating nuclear weapons. However, if we lack the will to take the first step, we can never reach our goal no matter how easy the way. I especially hope our young people share this will.
Thus, we again call upon the government of Japan to understand fully the crucial role the hibakusha have played and to enhance their support policies. We also call upon the government to place the highest priority on forging the will to abolish nuclear weapons. It is imperative that the government of Japan follow the philosophy outlined in the preamble of the Constitution to persuade other countries of this course and cement a global commitment to the abolition of nuclear weapons. I declare the abolition of nuclear weapons to be our most important responsibility for the future of the earth, and pay my utmost respect to the souls of the many who perished in the atomic bombings.
May they rest in peace.
Tadatoshi Akiba
Mayor
The City of Hiroshima
Posted by zack_allen at 09:43 AM
August 05, 1999
H.CON.RES.177
HCON 177 IH
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 177
Expressing the sense of the Congress that nuclear weapons should be taken off hair-trigger alert.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 5, 1999
Mr. MARKEY submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
—
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress that nuclear weapons should be taken off hair-trigger alert.
Whereas accidental or mistaken launch of a nuclear missile could devastate a city, and launch of a nuclear force could wreak worldwide destruction;
Whereas the United States and Russia currently maintain thousands of nuclear weapons on `hair-trigger’ alert, such that they can be fired within minutes;
Whereas in several incidents false signals of missile attacks have triggered a process in which national leaders had to decide in only a few minutes whether to fire nuclear weapons;
Whereas the failure of computers to recognize the year 2000 date change could infect command, control, communications, and intelligence systems, causing false signals or blank monitoring screens;
Whereas Russian monitoring and control systems are deteriorating;
Whereas a massive preemptive attack attempting to destroy the nuclear weapons capability of either Russia or the United States is extremely unlikely, and mutual measures to slow the firing of nuclear weapons would make a preemptive strike even more difficult;
Whereas much of the nuclear force of each country, including submarines at sea and mobile land-based missiles, is almost invulnerable and thus would preserve retaliatory ability through a nuclear attack, making immediate firing of weapons unnecessary;
Whereas President Bush in 1991 ordered a unilateral stand-down of United States strategic bombers and de-alerted some missiles, and Soviet President Gorbachev quickly reciprocated with similar actions, improving bilateral relations and national security;
Whereas removing further missiles from hair-trigger alert would help alleviate recent tensions between Russia and the United States; and
Whereas there are several ways that land and submarine based weapons could be temporarily disabled, with times ranging from minutes to weeks in order to reactivate them: Now, therefore be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that–
(1) the United States, Russia, and other nuclear powers should negotiate an agreement to take all of their nuclear weapons off of high-alert status in order to decrease the risk of accidental or mistaken firing of nuclear weapons;
(2) to further such an agreement, the United States should immediately take off of hair-trigger alert as many of its nuclear weapons as is feasible and consistent with national security, and should encourage Russia to reciprocate;
(3) the Department of Defense and the State Department should study methods to increase further the time needed to launch all nuclear missiles and study the effect these actions would have on nuclear deterrence, relations with other recognized nuclear powers, the international nuclear nonproliferation regime, and other aspects of national security; and
(4) the President should expedite the establishment of a United States-Russian joint early-warning center to ensure accurate detection of any missiles and effective communication in the event of a false alarm, computer malfunction, accident, or diplomatic crisis, as set forth in the `Joint Statement on the Exchange of Information on Missile Launches and Early Warning’, agreed to in 1998, and should facilitate the establishment of a temporary center before the end of 1999 that could address any problems which might arise due to the failure of computers to recognize the year 2000 date change.
Posted by zack_allen at 05:16 PM