Title
Urging the United States of America's federal government to enter the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons among all United Nations member states, to prevent the threat of nuclear war and devastating humanitarian consequences to Philadelphia and our international neighbors.
Body
WHEREAS, Resolution No. 180322 adopted by this body on April 19, 2018, cautioned against the danger and potential harms of nuclear war and called on the United States Congress to prevent the President's unilateral power to launch a nuclear first strike without receiving congressional or judicial approval; and
WHEREAS, Nuclear warheads are the most powerful weapons of mass destruction in our country's military inventory with immense radioactivity consequences in the aftermath; and
WHEREAS, The United States, one of the global nuclear power states, has the second highest nuclear missile count and is not a signatory to or a member of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that requires nuclear disarmament and the prohibition of nuclear activities; and
WHEREAS, More than ninety percent of the world's nuclear arms belong to the United States and Russia. Other countries known to hold the remainder of nuclear weapons are China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the United Kingdom; and
WHEREAS, Although the United States' reduced its active nuclear weapons by more than 25,000 since the height of the Cold War, the United States still has almost 4,000 warheads in its arsenal, nearly half of which are programmed for short notice detonation; and
WHEREAS, Launching even one nuclear warhead could prompt a large-scale nuclear war, immediately kill millions of people, and cause irredeemable destruction to the world with potential casualties extending to worldwide climate disruption, global famine, species extinction, and immeasurable environmental damage from a 'nuclear winter'; and
WHEREAS, Projections on the de...
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