From left, DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and WILPF Disarm/End Wars Co-Chairs Robin Lloyd and Ellen Thomas, who met together at Ms. Norton’s office in May 2018.
By Ellen Thomas
Co-Chair, Disarm/End Wars Issue Committee
Great News! DC’s Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has introduced a new and improved version of her bill, the “Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act” (HR-2419). Let’s begin calling, writing, and especially meeting with our representatives NOW to urge them to become co-sponsors of the bill.
WILPF’s Disarm Committee sent Ms. Norton a letter in January requesting some revisions to the legislation she has introduced each session since 1994, changes which reflect the existence of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and remove some unnecessary clauses.
We believe this version of the bill is much stronger...and so does Beatrice Fihn of ICAN who was with Ms. Norton when the bill was introduced, as were Timmon Wallis and Vicki Elson of NuclearBan.US, who have been enthusiastically supporting the revisions.
Beatrice Fihn was quoted as follows in the press release Norton’s office issued:
“Congresswoman Norton has been one of the few voices showing courageous leadership on this issue for several years.... We now have a nuclear ban treaty that provides a clear path to realize the vision the Congresswoman has been presenting. Her strong support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is an example for all US political leaders and an important message to other nations who are leading on this issue."
“Our bill is as timely as ever,” Norton said in the press release. “Although the United States possesses one of the largest nuclear arsenals, there are still plans to spend trillions of dollars more on these doomsday weapons while urgent domestic needs, including health care, infrastructure, and clean energy, face funding shortfalls. The United States can reestablish our moral leadership in the world by redirecting these funds to urgent domestic issues, not preparing for human extinction.”
Write, call, or set up a meeting with your congressional representative to garner support for this timely measure!
Keep up to date with what's happening at http://prop1.org, where you can find links to online and paper petitions supporting Norton’s legislation in the House, as well as to the WILPF-US online and paper petitions for Senate support of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
On April 27, 2019, the WILPF Pittsburgh Branch had its 14th annual Tax Day Rally and Penny Poll. Each year we gather in a small park beside the post office to inform the public about where our tax money goes. In addition, people are given ten pennies so that they can put them into jars indicating where they prefer tax dollars be spent.
The film is an inspiring story. To “whet" attendees’ interest, and “thirst for (water) justice” we had a glass jar of dirty water at the door with the program flyer (not actually polluted, but brown with tea leaves and instant coffee sludge) – however, the label on the jar pointed out that the most dangerous toxic materials found in communities’ water are invisible. We had two tables displaying brochures/flyers and displays from 30 local environmental groups, including updated information about the agencies working on water issues as well as the Central Valley, CA organizations that championed the cause and collaborated on the film.
