ABOUT PROPOSITION ONE: Successful Grassroots Citizen Action On September 14, 1993 Proposition One won 56% of the vote as DC Initiative 37. As a result of the election, DC's Congresswoman, Eleanor Holmes Norton, proposed a similar law (bill) to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1994 and 1995- 96 sessions: "The Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act" (HR-1647 in 1996). The bill is a promise by the U.S. government to eliminate all its nuclear weapons if everyone else does: a reasonable idea, relatively risk free. It earmarks the billions of dollars saved annually for converting nuclear and defense industries to peacetime needs. The bill has gained eight co-sponsors, from Alabama, California, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New York. -------------------------------------------------------------- PROPOSITION ONE: (1) DISABLE AND DISMANTLE ALL NUCLEAR WARHEADS (BY THE YEAR 2000) AND REFRAIN FROM REPLACING THEM WITH ANY WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION AT ANY TIME; (2) USE RECENT ANNUAL LEVELS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM RESOURCES TO - (A) CONVERT ALL NUCLEAR WEAPONS INDUSTRY EMPLOYEES, PROCESSES, PLANTS,PROGRAMS, AND COMPLEXES SMOOTHLY INTO CONSTRUCTIVE AND ECOLOGICALLY BENEFICIAL PEACETIME INDUSTRIES DURING THE THREE YEARS FOLLOWING THE RATIFICATION OF THIS AMENDMENT; AND (B) REDIRECT THOSE RESOURCES INTO HUMAN NEEDS SUCH AS HOUSING, HEALTH CARE, EDUCATION, AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION; (3) ENTER INTO A VIGOROUS GOOD FAITH EFFORT TO ELIMINATE WAR, ARMED CONFLICT, AND ALL MILITARY OPERATIONS; (4) ACTIVELY PROMOTE POLICIES INTENDED TO INDUCE ALL NATIONS ON EARTH TO JOIN IN THESE COMMITMENTS FOR PEACE ON EARTH. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Proposition One is International! Many thousands of visitors from all nations and states have signed our petition to abolish nuclear weapons worldwide. In 1995, an emissary carried a letter from Congresswoman Norton to the World Court in Den Haag, Netherlands, about this grassroots effort to make nuclear weapons illegal in the U.S. and globally through binding laws. A Proposition One speaker was invited to Japan in November 1994 to tell about the successes in Washington. Volunteers were warmly received in Moscow in 1990-91. Proposition One Committee supports the rapidly growing Abolition 2000 Network, working for a global convention with the purpose of abolishing nuclear weapons by 2000. Much other good work has already been done. Nuclear free towns and regions are multiplying. Kobe Port in Japan was the first city to deny access to nuclear-armed ships, New Zealand the first country. Most South Pacific nations have now signed the Treaty of Roratonga. Argentina and Brazil agreed not to go nuclear, and Latin American countries signed the Treaty of Tlatelolco. South Africa disarmed unilaterally; there will soon be a pan-Africa nuclear-free-zone treaty. The eight current nuclear powers are under pressure to reduce their stockpiles to zero, as promised in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (Article 6). Russia, China, France and India have all indicated in the past year that they will disarm if everyone else does. But the U.S. stubbornly clings to its warheads under "national sovereignty." Fortunately, the World Court has now ruled that nuclear weapons should be illegal, quickly. HOW YOU CAN HELP! WORLD CITIZENS: Letter-writing is urgently needed. Write the United Nations Ambassadors for all countries possessing nuclear weapons (Britain, China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, United States), c/o U.N. Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA, and say, "Please promise, and use your influence to convince all nuclear powers to publicly promise, 'YES, we will eliminate all our nuclear weapons if everyone else does.' Don't quit until the job is done!" For too long politicians have been making ever-more lethal and expensive decisions. At the brink of extinction, it's time for all of us to say, "STOP!" U.S. RESIDENTS: ask your Representative, your Senators, and the House "National Security" and "International Relations" Committees, to actively support Delegate Norton's "Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act." Write c/o U.S. Congress, Washington, DC 20515, USA; switchboard 202-225-3121. We anticipate that Congress won't change overnight; as Ms. Norton has said, "These ideas take time. We must be patient." But we can make a difference, if we're active. Write us for information and to brainstorm how to approach your community. If your politicians are unresponsive to letters, phone calls, and visits on behalf of Proposition One, start your own voter initiative campaign. Sure, you can do it! We did! If your community has no voter initiative provisions, lobby your state legislators to establish that right. Then USE that right to make your world a safer, saner place. Please? And keep us informed? Suggestions appreciated. --------------------------------------------- PROPOSITION ONE COMMITTEE/ PEACE PARK ANTINUCLEAR VIGIL POB 27217, Washington DC 20038 202-682-4282 -- email: prop1@prop1.org Worldwide Web - http://prop1.org