Washington, D.C. — October 6, 2017 — On the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize award to ICAN, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Peace Action, released the following statement:

“The Nobel Committee wisely awarded ICAN the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in showing the horrible humanitarian affects of nuclear weapons and, more importantly, for their efforts on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The treaty, which just last month open for signatures at the UN, was supported by 122 countries but has unfortunately been boycotted by nuclear weapon states including the U.S.

“With the US and Russia possessing over 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons, it is time for them and all nuclear weapon states to take serious action towards nuclear disarmament. Instead, the U.S. plans to spend $1.2 trillion dollars on upgraded nuclear weapons and their delivery systems.

“ICAN’s work shows that the majority of countries want a world free of nuclear weapons. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is one avenue towards that goal. Meanwhile, negotiations and diplomacy are needed today to reduce immediate nuclear tensions with North Korea, between India and Pakistan and elsewhere.

“Peace Action is a proud partner organization of ICAN and will continue, as we have since our inception 60 years ago, to work towards a world free of nuclear weapons. We congratulate ICAN for this well-deserved award.”

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Founded in 1957, Peace Action (formerly SANE/Freeze), the United States’ largest peace and disarmament organization, with over 100,000 paid members and nearly 100 chapters in 36 states, works to abolish nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs, encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights and support nonmilitary solutions to international conflicts. The public may learn more and take action at http://www.PeaceAction.org.

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