For the first time since the Nuclear Ban Treaty was agreed by 122 countries at the United Nations in 2017, the US Congress is represented at a treaty meeting.

The Second Meeting of State Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is taking place at the United Nations headquarters in New York from November 27 – December 1, 2023. 69 countries are now parties to this treaty, and 93 have signed it. The treaty bans everything to do with nuclear weapons, including assisting with their development or manufacture.

The US government continues to oppose the treaty. But 12 Members of Congress have so far explicitly called on the Biden Administration to sign the treaty, and another 42 have called for the Administration to embrace the goals and provisions of the treaty.

US Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) is at the United Nations this week to represent those Members of Congress and to join with other elected officials from around the world who are calling on their governments to sign this treaty and join the global demand for the elimination of these weapons before they eliminate us. McGovern is joined by MA State Senator Paul Mark and MA State Representative Lindsay Sabadosa.

The US, its allies, and the other eight nuclear-armed nations remain outside this treaty. McGovern, Mark and Sabadosa attended a special private meeting on the sidelines of the treaty conference at which elected representatives from 27 countries (including Scotland, the UK, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, and many other NATO allies) will discuss how to get their countries on board.

H. Res. 77 is a resolution introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) in January 2023 that calls on the United States to embrace the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and to adopt Back from the Brink’s comprehensive policy prescriptions for preventing nuclear war. There are now 42 co-sponsors! Back from the Brink is all in on using H. Res. 77 as a vehicle for transformative change—as a grassroots organizing and advocacy tool to stimulate real debate about nuclear weapons in communities around the country and for cultivating congressional leaders committed to advancing the cause of nuclear disarmament. Visit their website for actions you can take and resources you can use to help grow the demand for change and build a bold, visible nuclear disarmament constituency in the United States.