# What This Bill Actually Does

This bill proposes that the United States should get rid of all its nuclear weapons and stop making new ones. Specifically, it calls on the U.S. government to sign and ratify the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons—an international agreement that would commit America to completely dismantling its nuclear arsenal and allowing international inspectors to verify that the weapons are actually destroyed. The bill also wants the U.S. to push other countries with nuclear weapons to do the same thing, creating a world where no nation has these weapons anymore.

The second major part of the bill is about what happens to all the money and workers currently involved in building and maintaining nuclear weapons. Instead of spending billions on nuclear programs, the bill says that money should be redirected to convert nuclear weapons factories into facilities that make other things—like renewable energy equipment or medical supplies. Workers in these industries would get retraining to help them transition to new jobs. The bill also wants this money used for things like building affordable housing, improving schools and hospitals, developing clean energy sources, and cleaning up environmental damage caused by decades of nuclear weapons production.

However, there's an important catch: the parts about redirecting money and converting factories wouldn't actually happen until the President confirms that every country with nuclear weapons has agreed to start getting rid of them. This means the bill is essentially conditional—it sets up what the U.S. would do if other nuclear powers agreed to disarm first. Right now, this bill hasn't become law, and it faces significant political challenges since it would represent a major shift in U.S. military and foreign policy.

Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act of 2021

Norton, Eleanor Holmes

Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act of 2021 This bill directs the U.S. government to sign and ratify the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons or a similar international agreement that calls for the elimination of all nuclear weapons in every country. The government shall (1) redirect resources currently used in nuclear weapons programs toward building an ecologically beneficial peace economy and addressing human and infrastructure needs, and (2) actively promote policies to induce all other countries to take similar actions.