# What This Resolution Actually Says About Nuclear Weapons

This is a resolution—basically a formal statement of what Congress thinks the President should do—calling on the U.S. government to pursue a world without nuclear weapons and reduce the risk of nuclear war. It's not a law that forces anyone to do anything, but rather Congress saying "we believe the President should take these steps." The resolution argues that with roughly 12,000 nuclear weapons still existing worldwide, the danger of accidental or intentional nuclear war is too high, and the U.S. should lead efforts to reduce this threat.

The resolution lays out several specific things it wants the President to do. First, it calls for serious negotiations with Russia, China, and the other six nuclear-armed nations to stop building up their weapons and actually reduce their arsenals over time. Second, it wants all nuclear-armed countries to agree never to use nuclear weapons first—only in response to being attacked with them. Third, it asks the President to put limits on the President's own power to launch nuclear weapons without input from others, since currently the President can order a nuclear strike alone. Fourth, it wants to end the "hair-trigger alert" system, which keeps missiles ready to launch within minutes, since this increases the chance of accidental war if someone misreads a situation.

The resolution also calls for stopping the development of new nuclear weapons and warheads, maintaining the current ban on nuclear weapons testing, and cleaning up environmental damage from past nuclear weapons production—particularly helping people and communities harmed by radiation exposure. Finally, it wants the government to help workers and communities that depend on nuclear weapons facilities transition to other jobs and industries if nuclear weapons production is reduced. The resolution emphasizes that modernizing and maintaining the current nuclear arsenal costs hundreds of billions of dollars, money supporters argue could be spent elsewhere.