By Bob Katzen

The Senate, on a voice vote without a roll call, adopted a bi-partisan resolution calling on the Bay State Congressional delegation to support the federal treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. Twenty-one cities and towns in the Bay State have individually adopted similar resolutions.

“The Massachusetts Senate passed this resolution just days before the 81st anniversaries of the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” said cosponsor Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton). “States can and should issue calls to action to federal lawmakers when the well-being of their residents is threatened. I am mindful that, in the 1980s, the commonwealth played a leading role in ending the nuclear arms race with the then Soviet Union by adopting a nuclear freeze resolution and encouraging other states to follow its example. Once again … Massachusetts has come forward to help propel a high-stakes national movement.”

“The risk of nuclear conflict transcends politics,” said co-sponsor Sen. Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth). “While there are different views on the best path forward, we can all agree that reducing the risk of nuclear war and promoting global stability is a priority in the Legislature … These efforts strengthen both our national security and our collective future. Massachusetts has a long tradition of being a leader on important national conversations, and I am so proud that the Senate has been involved in this one.”

“It is extremely important that the Massachusetts Senate has added its voice to the national call for a fundamental change in U.S. nuclear policy.” said Dr. Ira Helfand, co-founder of Back from the Brink, whose website says it is “bringing communities together to prevent the growing threat that nuclear weapons pose to our health, environment and all we hold dear.”

“If we don’t change course, we are sleepwalking towards a nuclear disaster. The United States must actively pursue the security of a world free of nuclear weapons, not as some distant goal, but as an urgent national security priority,” continued Halfand. “The current moment is particularly dangerous. In the last 15 months, five of the nine nuclear armed states have been actively engaged in warfare with Russia, with the United States threatening their use. This is not a theoretical threat, but a real and present danger.”