Back from the Brink believes that we all deserve a say on policies that pose a direct threat to our lives, our families, our communities, our planet, humanity’s future. We furthermore believe that it is our responsibility to act and advocate for policies to help prevent nuclear war and to honor all who have and continue to be harmed by nuclear weapons.
This summer is the 79th anniversary of the Trinity test (July 16, 1945) that launched the atomic age and the August 6th and 9th U.S. atomic bombings that killed and injured hundreds of thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Will you join us in making this a summer of advocacy?
A major priority of our campaign is to cultivate leadership from your local, county and state officials, to get them involved and to speak out on this issue on a regular basis and to bring the voice and influence of communities to Washington decision makers, including your member of Congress. Here’s one thing you can do:
Ask your mayor, governor, city/town councilors, state senators and representatives and/or county commissioners to issue a proclamation or statement. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki anniversaries are a somber, annual reminder of the horrors of nuclear weapons and why abolishing nuclear weapons and preventing nuclear war is every community’s business. Especially with more news coverage of the new global nuclear arms race and the flaws in the theory of mutually assured destruction (aka deterrence) that are used to justify it, this is an ideal opportunity for your elected officials to speak out.
- Here’s a sample letter/email you can adapt to write your own letter or email to your elected officials
- Here’s a link to a sample proclamation you can share with the officials and ask them to use for drafting their own version
Helpful Hints:
- Get Others Involved – The more constituents asking the better. Talk to friends, co-workers, family members and ask them to make similar requests.
- Be persistent (without being heavy handed) – Start with a letter, ideally delivered to their office in person; Follow-up with an email and a phone call, ideally with a senior staff person.
- Meet with/track down the officials at public events or call their office and ask for a brief (5-10 minute) meeting or phone conversation to discuss your request and why it is important.
Not sure who to contact or how to get started? Reach out to us at jeremy@preventnuclearwar.org and we can talk you through this and give you advice and suggestions—and help you identify which officials you might ask and gather their contact information (including for their key staff). For mayors, you can consult this U.S. Conference of Mayors directory of 1400 mayors in cities of 30,000 or more people. Please also consult BftB’s Advocacy Resources page which has loads of helpful tips and resources.
With your help and activism let’s build a growing chorus of elected officials who together send a clear, compelling message to Washington—Nuclear weapons ARE a local issue. Our voices matter and need to be heard and heeded.
SAMPLE CONSTITUENT EMAIL TO LOCAL/STATE OFFICIALS
Click here to download a customizable MS word document and here to download a pdf.)
Subject Line: Please speak out on Hiroshima/Nagasaki anniversaries
Dear [INSERT TITLE AND LAST NAME OF OFFICIAL YOU ARE CONTACTING]
My name is [INSERT YOUR NAME]. I’m a constituent and live [INSERT INFORMATION ABOUT WHERE YOU LIVE].
I am gravely concerned about the growing threat of nuclear war which today many experts say is greater than it’s been since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. As you know, there are two major wars underway involving nuclear-armed states. The United States is in the midst of a massive effort to rebuild its entire nuclear arsenal of bombs, missiles, bombers and submarines projected to cost over $1.5 trillion. This is helping fuel a costly, dangerous global nuclear arms race that could lead to nuclear catastrophe and threatens our community and humanity’s very existence.
I write asking you to speak out and use your voice to advocate for policies to help prevent nuclear war and to honor all who have and continue to be harmed by nuclear weapons. This summer is the 79th anniversary of the Trinity test (July 16, 1945) that launched the atomic age and the August 6th and 9th U.S. atomic bombings that killed and injured hundreds of thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In conjunction with these anniversaries I hope you will consider publicly issuing a statement or proclamation to bring attention to the issue, to honor the victims and join other elected officials and communities around the country who are speaking out.
Please find here a sample proclamation drafted by Back from the Brink (BftB): Bringing Communities Together to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a national grassroots coalition of 465 health, environmental, academic, peace, faith, and justice organizations. Over 80 U.S. municipalities, counties and states have adopted resolutions supporting Back from the Brink’s policy solutions.
[INSERT TITLE AND LAST NAME] – nuclear war would be catastrophic for our community and all of humanity. It threatens all of us. The Back from the Brink campaign is asking local and state elected officials such as yourself to speak out and together send a clear, compelling message to Washington — Nuclear weapons ARE a local issue. Our voices matter and need to be heard and heeded.
I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this request with you or your staff and to further explain why this is so important. I can be reached at [INSERT YOUR PHONE OR EMAIL ADDRESS]. I also encourage you or your staff to reach out to Sean Meyer – sean@preventnuclearwar.org with any questions or suggestions and to discuss other ways in which you might get involved..
I look forward to hearing from you.
SAMPLE PROCLAMATION
Click here to download a customizable MS word document and here to download a pdf.)
Possible Proclamation Titles
Lifting Community Voices for A World Free of Nuclear Weapons
It’s Time to Step Back from the Brink of Nuclear War
Seeking Justice, Human Security and A World Free of Nuclear Weapons
—————————————————————
Whereas, a world in which nuclear weapons exist and threaten our community and humanity’s very existence is a deeply unjust world;
Whereas, seventy-nine years ago, on August 6th and August 9th, hundreds of thousands of human beings died[1]—many instantly—or suffered severe health consequences in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan when the United States dropped atomic bombs, for the first and only time in armed conflict;
Whereas, many people and communities within the United States have been and continue to be grievously harmed and suffer severe health consequences from the testing, development and production of nuclear weapons and uranium mining;
Whereas, no individual in any community can be truly safe and secure if they are hungry, lack proper housing, education or health care, or are regularly subject to the threat of physical harm, gun violence or nuclear war;
Whereas, nine nations collectively have approximately 12,100 nuclear weapons[2] in their arsenals, most of which are far more destructive than those used against the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the detonation of even a small number of these weapons would affect everyone on the planet, causing catastrophic human and environmental consequences[3] that could threaten human civilization itself;
Whereas, the full cost of U.S. nuclear weapons in 2023 alone, including for weapons development, testing and maintenance, environmental clean-up, missile defense and non-proliferation initiatives, was an estimated $90 billion[4] with plans underway to spend an estimated $1.5 trillion[5] by 2046 to replace its entire nuclear arsenal and the bombers, missiles and submarines that deliver them with more capable, more usable versions;
Whereas, in 2023 U.S. taxpayers [insert name of city/town] taxpayers spent [insert amount from PSR-LA Community Costs Calculator – https://www.psr-la.org/nuclear-costs] on nuclear weapons-related programs – funds which could be better spent addressing urgent community needs for housing, education, infrastructure, jobs, health care, poverty alleviation, climate resilience and environmental protection;
Whereas, current Cold War-era U.S. nuclear weapons policies and spending are contributing to a dangerous, costly new global nuclear arms race, do not make the country safer and increase the risk of nuclear war;
Whereas, a U.S.-based national grassroots campaign called “Back from the Brink: Bringing Communities Together to Abolish Nuclear Weapons[6]” which calls on the United States to lead a global effort among all nuclear weapons states to achieve a verifiable, timebound agreement to eliminate all nuclear weapons from the planet and to adopt common sense policies to reduce the risks of nuclear war, and which has been endorsed by over 465 health, environmental, academic, peace, faith, and justice organizations and over 80 U.S. municipalities, counties and states[7] that have adopted resolutions supporting Back from the Brink’s policy solutions.
Whereas, [INSERT ADDITIONAL TEXT HERE THAT IS SPECIFIC TO YOUR MUNICIPALITY AND REFERENCES ANY PAST LEGISLATION, DECLARATIONS OR RESOLUTIONS]
Whereas, the city of __[city]___ is a member of the Mayors for Peace program[8], a global network of mayors opposed to nuclear war and supporting nuclear abolition; and
Whereas, the people of ___[city]___ join with the people of Hiroshima in their call “that all cities and citizens of the world join together in expanding the circle of solidarity transcending national boundaries, partisan ideologies, and religious creeds to strengthen the bond of human friendship and solidarity”;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, THE MAYOR OF ___[CITY]____, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM August 6, 2024 and August 9, 2024 TO BE
[INSERT PREFERRED TITLE] Day
[1] International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings, https://www.icanw.org/hiroshima_and_nagasaki_bombings
[2] Federation of American Scientists, Status of World Nuclear Forces – https://fas.org/initiative/status-world-nuclear-forces/
[3] International Physicians for the Prevent of Nuclear War, Climate Effects of Regional Nuclear War, https://www.ippnw.org/programs/nuclear-weapons-abolition/nuclear-famine-climate-effects-of-regional-nuclear-war
[4] Physicians for Social Responsibility – Los Angeles – Nuclear Weapons Community Costs Calculator – https://www.psr-la.org/nuclear-costs
[5] U.S. Nuclear Weapons Modernization: Costs & Constraints, Center for Arms Control & Non-Proliferation, https://armscontrolcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/U.S.-Nuclear-Weapons-Modernization-Costs-Constraints-Fact-Sheet-v-May-2023.pdf
[6] Back from the Brink: Bringing Communities Together to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, www.preventnuclearwar.org
[7] Back from the Brink: Municipalities and States https://preventnuclearwar.org/municipalities-and-states/
[8] Mayors for Peace, List of Member Cities – https://www.mayorsforpeace.org/en/members/list-members/
