Presidential candidates: Where do you stand on nuclear weapons?

We, the undersigned, agree and urge all the 2020 presidential candidates to make reducing nuclear weapons risks a top priority and lay out their plans for doing so.

Today, some 9,000 nuclear weapons remain on the planet—with over 90 percent owned by the United States and Russia. Most of these weapons have a destructive power far greater than the atomic bombs the United States dropped on Japan at the end of World War II, killing several hundred thousand people. The use of nuclear weapons anywhere in the world could have devastating human, environmental, and economic consequences—potentially affecting everyone on the planet.

Currently:

• The United States reserves the option to start a nuclear war
• The U.S. president—like previous presidents—has sole authority over using U.S. nuclear weapons
• The United States keeps many hundreds of nuclear weapons on hair trigger alert, increasing the risk of mistaken launches in response to false warning of attack

These policies are left over from the Cold War and make the U.S. public less safe than it should be. The candidates should tell the public what their plans are for changing U.S. policies to reduce these dangers.

In addition, the United States has withdrawn from several nuclear arms control agreements and may be laying the groundwork to withdraw from another. And it has a trillion-dollar plan to rebuild the entire nuclear arsenal with upgraded nuclear weapons in the coming decades. These are steps in the wrong direction.

Humanity faces two existential threats—climate change and nuclear war.

The time for bold action and U.S. leadership is now. We cannot leave the solutions to future generations. Our children and grandchildren are counting on us.

Signed

• Phillip D. Albright
  Concerned Citizen Vietnam Veteran
  Durham, NH
• Martine Behra, Ph.D.
  Bedford, NH
• Dr. Janet Collett
  Marlow, NH
• Josh Denton
  Portsmouth City Councilor
  Portsmouth, NH
• Robert Drysdale
  Professor Emeritus, Computer Science (Ret.)
  Dartmouth College
• Judith Elliott
  Peace Activist
  Canterbury, NH
• Dr. David J. Ellis
  Londonderry, NH
• Will Hopkins
  Iraq War Veteran Director – NH Peace Action
  Belmont, NH
• Phillip S. Hunt, Sc.D.
  Newfields, NH
• Lila Kohrman-Glaser
  Co-Director, 350NH
  Dover, NH
• Dr. Christine Kuhlman
  North Sutton, NH
• Colonel Gary E. Lambert
  U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)
  Nashua, NH
• John Lamperti
  Professor of Mathematics, Emeritus
  Dartmouth College Hanover, NH
• C. David London, M.D.
  Stratham, NH
• David and Debra Luchsinger
  Greenland, NH
• Richard Mark
  Former Executive Director Professionals’ Coalition for Nuclear Arms Control
  Grantham, NH
• Elizabeth Mello
  Environmental Conservation/Education
  Kingston, NH
• Mary Day Mordecai and Ned Hulbert
  National Advisory Board Members Union of Concerned Scientists
  Harrisville, NH
• Ryan D. Palmer
  Former US Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Specialist
  3rd Battalion of 197th Field Artillery Regiment Concord, NH
• Charles Pinkerton, M.D.
  Portsmouth, NH
• Jason L. Rhoades, Ph.D.
  International Service Program Director, Antioch University New England
• Mona Stephenson
  Preschool Teacher
  Stratham, NH
• Sam Tardi
  Senior at University of New Hampshire
  Dover, NH
• John Walter Jr., MD
  Keene, NH
• Abigail Abrash Walton, Ph.D.
  Antioch University New England
• Sidney H. Wanzer, M.D.
  Exeter, NH
• Rob Werner
  Concord City Councilor
  Concord, NH
• Dr. Sandra Yarne
  Psychologist
  Durham, NH

Organizational affiliations are for identification purposes only.