Ahead of the Biden-Putin Summit, the HALT Act calls
for renewed U.S. leadership to negotiate a multilateral freeze on the testing,
production, and further deployment of nuclear weapons
Washington
(June 10, 2021) –Senator Edward
J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and
House Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern (MA-02) today announced the
reintroduction of the bicameral Hastening Arms Limitation Talks (HALT) Act, legislation
outlining a vision for a 21st century nuclear freeze movement. The HALT Act comes 39 years to the week after one
million people gathered in New York’s Central Park to promote a nuclear weapons
freeze – the largest such peace demonstration in U.S. history.
Then-Representative Markey addressed the demonstration on June 12, 1982, urging
President Ronald Reagan to abandon costly and unneeded new nuclear weapon
systems and to enter into arms control negotiations with the then-Soviet Union.
Experts credit the freeze movement with creating the political will necessary for
the negotiation of bilateral arms
control treaties between the
United States and former Soviet Union, and then Russia. The HALT Act reintroduction comes as President Biden
is set to meet with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, at a summit in Geneva,
Switzerland where the two leaders are set to discuss bilateral arms control.
Joining Senator Markey and Chairman
McGovern as co-sponsors of the HALT Act are Senator Jeff
Merkley (D-Ore.) and Representatives Donald Beyer (VA-08), Earl
Blumenauer (OR-03), and John Garamendi (CA-03). Senators Markey and Merkley and
Representatives Beyer and Garamendi are co-chairs of the Nuclear Weapons and
Arms Control Working Group.
“Four
decades ago, I joined the one million Americans gathered at New York’s Central
Park to demand a freeze to the Cold War arms race. This rally led to the
negotiations of arms control treaties and agreements that eliminated and limited
entire classes of nuclear weapons,” said
Senator Markey. “It’s time
for a reboot with a 21st Century
nuclear freeze movement adapted for our multipolar world that halts
quantitative and qualitative upgrades in the stockpiles of the world’s nuclear
weapons powers. The age of arms control incrementalism must end if we hope to
spare taxpayers the $634 billion bill over the next decade on unneeded
nuclear weapons programs. I’m proud to reintroduce the HALT Act with Representative McGovern to
lay out an achievable blueprint
of action that can restore U.S. nonproliferation leadership and reduce the role
and number of these existential
weapons around the world.”
“The world is moving in
the wrong direction on nuclear disarmament and arms control, and a U.S.-led,
multilateral freeze on nuclear weapons testing, production, and deployment is
urgently needed to avert disaster,” said Congressman McGovern. “Every
penny spent on nuclear weapons serves no purpose but to strengthen the hand of
evil in the world and bring humanity one stop closer to extinction. It is time
for a 21st century nuclear freeze movement so we can hit the
brakes on this dangerous escalation, honor our existing treaty obligations,
expend our time and money on improving our country and world, and abolish
nuclear weapons before they abolish us.”
A copy of the legislation can be
found HERE.
Specifically,
the HALT Act makes it U.S. policy to seek any of the
following negotiated steps to reduce the number and salience of nuclear
weapons:
- An
agreement on a verifiable freeze on the testing, production, and further
deployment of all nuclear weapons and delivery vehicles for such weapons;
- A bilateral U.S. agreement with the
Russian Federation on a treaty or agreement that covers non-strategic nuclear
weapons or strategic systems not covered by
the New START Treaty;
- Negotiations
of a verifiable Fissile Material Treaty or Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty in
the United Nations (UN) Conference on Disarmament or another international
forum;
- Series
of U.S. disarmament summits to reduce stocks of weapons-usable nuclear
material;
- U.S.
ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty (CTBT) and mobilization of all countries covered by Annex 2 of the CTBT to pursue
similar action necessary for entry-into-force of the treaty;
- Other
engagements with all other countries that possess nuclear weapons to negotiate
and conclude future multilateral arms control, disarmament, and risk reduction
agreements; and
- Prohibition
of funds to prepare for or to conduct U.S. explosive nuclear-weapon testing in
fiscal year 2022 or any future year.
“The HALT act is an important
reminder that there is strong congressional and public support for reducing the
dangerously large stockpiles of US and Russian nuclear weapons. When Presidents Biden and Putin meet next week in
Geneva, they need to focus their energies on the greatest danger we face:
nuclear war. It is time to take the next step on nuclear arms control. We thank
Sen Markey for his leadership,” said
William J. Perry, former U.S. Secretary of Defense (1994-1997).
“President Biden saved the bipartisan nuclear arms control
process when he worked with Russian President Putin to extend the New START
treaty earlier this year. That treaty will expire in 5 years, so we must
negotiate a new agreement to replace it. That process must begin now, and Senate support will be essential. We thank Sen Markey for
his leadership on the HALT Act,” said
Tom Collina, Policy Director, Ploughshares Fund.
“The Council for a Livable
World commends Senator Markey's leadership to reintroduce the HALT Act. Rather
than sleepwalking into a renewed arms race, that the United States should
retake its place in leading the world to reduce the threats posed by nuclear
weapons through dedicated arms control, effective nonproliferation efforts and
principled diplomacy. This has been an issue championed by Americans, Democrats
and Republicans alike, since the dawn of the nuclear age, and this
administration and this Congress should rededicate themselves to that cause,”
said former nine-term Congressman and Council for a Livable World Executive
Director John Tierney.
“The United States and
Russian nuclear arsenals are an existential threat to the entire human race and
to our own citizens,” said Cole Harrison, Executive Director, Massachusetts
Peace Action. “The HALT Act provides a critical roadmap to reduce the
danger of nuclear war and resume serious steps to freeze development of nuclear
weapons and delivery systems, reduce nuclear weapons, ratify the CTBT and
kickstart diplomacy embracing all nuclear weapon states. We need to stop
the new arms race and stop the rush to a new cold war with Russia and China!”
“Nuclear arms races increase
the risk of nuclear use, waste precious budgetary
resources, and endanger those who work at or live near production facilities,” said Diana Ohlbaum, Legislative
Director for Foreign Policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation. “The HALT Act would
encourage bilateral and
multilateral negotiations to reduce nuclear arsenals, ban nuclear explosive testing, and
take nuclear weapons off a hair-trigger alert. FCNL believes this legislation would bring a much-needed dose of sanity to
U.S. nuclear policy and make all of us more secure.”
“The HALT Act, introduced by
Senator Markey and Representative McGovern, is good for the security of
Americans, and is good for the security of everyone in the world. When the US
leads, others follow. The HALT Act calls for the production and further
deployment of nuclear weapons to be
halted, and for the US to engage with the other nuclear-armed countries on
additional risk-reduction, arms control and disarmament agreements. This will
make for a more secure world, and will free up resources to address public
health, climate and economic recovery from the pandemic,” said Alyn Ware, Global Coordinator,
Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament.
“It is by no means certain
that the world’s nuclear-armed states will continue to have enough good luck,
responsible leadership, and managerial competence to avoid nuclear conflict.
Sustaining progress on disarmament, particularly involving the United States
and Russia, is not a choice but a
necessity for human survival. This legislation provides practical options for
President Biden's efforts to
reduce nuclear risks and downsize bloated
nuclear arsenals,” said
Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director, the Arms Control Association.
“We are grateful for Senator Markey and Representative McGovern’s
continued leadership on the HALT Act, which puts forward sensible policies to
help further limit and reduce nuclear weapons. Amid a pandemic and a worsening
climate emergency, it should be
clear that putting resources toward weapons of mass destruction will only
hasten our demise. Now is the time to reinvest in solutions that will benefit both people and the environment,” said Daniel Jasper, Asia
Public Education and Advocacy Coordinator, American Friends Service Committee.
In May, Senator Markey and
Congressman Earl Blumenauer
(OR-03) reintroduced the Smarter Approach to Nuclear
Expenditures (SANE) Act, which would cancel or reduce nuclear
weapons programs over the next decade and generate at least $73 billion in cost savings. The SANE Act would restore budget sanity and advance U.S.
national security by cutting
redundant and destabilizing nuclear programs, and factoring in affordability
analysis into programs, a course of action recommended by the Government Accountability
Office.
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