Washington, D.C. — May 3, 2017 — In response to the delivery of nearly half a million petition signatures to Congress in support of the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act, S. 200 introduced by Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and H.R. 669 introduced by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy and Political Affairs for Peace Action, released the following statement:

“The U.S. was founded on a system of checks and balances to protect Americans from tyranny.  The use of nuclear weapons — the most destructive weapon capable of ending life as we know it — should be constrained by checks and balances as well. Thankfully, Representative Lieu and Senator Markey have introduced this legislation to prohibit the President from starting a nuclear war without a congressional declaration of war.”

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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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