Register here to join zoom event in support of State Bill H.3688/S.1555
Speakers: State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, Dr. Ira Helfand, Dr. Elaine Scarry, Prof. Jonathan King, Emma Pike, Joseph Gerson, a representative from the Mass Nurses Association
H.3688/S.1555 is a bill in the MA State House that would establish a Citizens’ Commission to research and recommend to the state legislature ways to better protect the citizens of Massachusetts from the existential threat of nuclear weapons.
Nuclear weapons are designed to destroy entire cities. If they are ever used, there would be a humanitarian catastrophe of unparalleled proportions. Even if they are never used, they are consuming enormous resources that would be so much better spent on the real needs of people in this Commonwealth.
Massachusetts itself is deeply embedded in the nuclear weapons business. Draper Labs in Cambridge is one of the main centers for nuclear weapons research in the country. Major nuclear weapons contractors like General Dynamics, Raytheon and Textron all have large facilities based in Massachusetts. Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, MA, is a major command and control center for US nuclear weapons.
These nuclear weapons facilities make Massachusetts a major target in the event of nuclear war. They also provide jobs and income to the state. How can Massachusetts remove itself from the nuclear weapons business while protecting livelihoods and the local economy?
That is the work of this Commission. It would do research and hold hearings with experts and local residents across the state. It would report back to the state government with recommendations for future legislation.
The Commission would cost Massachusetts taxpayers nothing. It would commit the state to nothing. But by passing this bill, Massachusetts would be sending out a powerful message to the rest of the country: We in Massachusetts want to see the elimination of nuclear weapons, and we are seriously looking into what that would look like and how it can be done.
Co-sponsored by: Massachusetts Peace Action, Nuclear Ban US, Nuclear-Free Future Coalition (Western Mass), Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, Demilitarize WMass, Traprock Center for Peace and Justice, Center for Nonviolent Solutions (Worcester), Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution, Climate Action Now, New England Peace Pagoda, Back from the Brink Western MA, PSR/Pioneer Valley, Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, Lawrence Monthly Meeting of Friends (Quakers), Friends Meeting at Cambridge, Walpole Peace and Justice, Green Century Capital Management, Progressive Democrats of America, Northampton branch, Northampton Friends Meeting, the House of Peace, Veterans for Peace – North Shore, CodePink Western Mass.
Register here to join zoom event in support of State Bill H.3688/S.1555. Click here for more information on MAPA website.
