The Campaign

Mayor Arraguin of Berkeley, California, receives the city’s Certificate of Alignment with the Nuclear Ban Treaty, from NuclearBan.US, December 2018.

NuclearBan.US is a partner of ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. The goal of ICAN is to abolish nuclear weapons, by getting as many countries as possible to sign, ratify and implement the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, by getting those countries to use diplomatic and other pressures to finally convince the United States and the other nuclear-armed nations to eliminate their nuclear weapons.

The goal of NuclearBan.US is to raise awareness in the United States of this treaty, and eventually to get the United States to sign, ratify and implement it. As a means to that end, the NuclearBan.US campaign aims to get as many members of Congress as possible to sign the ICAN Parliamentary/Legislative Pledge, committing themselves to support the treaty and the elimination of nuclear weapons. It aims to get as many members as possible of state legislatures to do the same, and to push for legislation at the national, state and municipal levels that moves those governments towards alignment with the Nuclear Ban Treaty in the meantime.

Alignment with the Nuclear Ban Treaty means creating a commission to explore the implications of doing any or all of the following, or already moving to do the following through a legally-binding statute or ordinance:

1. Prohibits the development, testing, production, manufacture, stockpiling, transfer, stationing, installation or deployment of any nuclear weapon, as far as that is possible within its legal jurisdiction and control.
2. Divests any funds under its control that support, through stocks, bonds, loans or other financial instruments the development, testing, production, manufacture, stockpiling, transfer, stationing, installation or deployment of nuclear weapons.
3. Refuses to enter into contracts with any of the companies directly involved in the development, testing, production, manufacture, stockpiling, transfer, stationing, installation or deployment of nuclear weapons.

US CONGRESS

Our campaign in the US Congress is to build support for the Nuclear Ban Treaty, by:

1. Getting members of the House and Senate to sign the ICAN Parliamentary/Legislative Pledge.
2. Getting members of the House of Representatives to support the Norton Bill, H.R. 2419 and the McGovern Resolution, H.Res. 302
3. Getting a member of the Senate to introduce a similar bill in the Senate, and then to find other co-sponsors for that bill.

STATES

Our campaign in states is about:

1. Getting members of the State Legislature to sign the ICAN Parliamentary/Legislative Pledge.
2. Introducing state legislation that would create a commission to explore the implications of aligning the state with the Nuclear Ban Treaty.
3. Other initiatives that may appropriate in a particular state to further raise awareness of the treaty and the need to abolish nuclear weapons.

CITIES AND TOWNS

In cities and towns, our goal is:

1. Getting Resolutions passed in support of the Nuclear Ban Treaty.
2. Getting cities to divest city funds from nuclear weapons companies.
3. Getting cities to prohibit nuclear weapons activities within their jurisdiction.
4. Getting cities to refuse contracts with nuclear weapons companies.
5. Getting legally-binding municipal legislation that enshrines the commitment to align the city or town with the Nuclear Ban Treaty.