Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S1649 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 669 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1649
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Joanne M. Comerford
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying
12	12	resolution:
13	13	Resolutions to embrace the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and move the US back
14	14	from the brink of nuclear war.
15	15	_______________
16	16	PETITION OF:
17	17	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Joanne M. ComerfordHampshire, Franklin and WorcesterPatrick M. O'ConnorFirst Plymouth and Norfolk1/24/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk2/4/2025Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth2/25/2025Mary S. Keefe15th Worcester3/5/2025 1 of 3
18	18	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 669 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
19	19	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1649
20	20	By Ms. Comerford, a petition (accompanied by resolutions, Senate, No. 1649) of Joanne M.
21	21	Comerford, Patrick M. O'Connor, Samantha Montaño, Patrick Joseph Kearney and others for the
22	22	adoption of resolutions to embrace the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and move
23	23	the US back from the brink of nuclear war. Public Safety and Homeland Security.
24	24	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
25	25	SEE SENATE, NO. 1487 OF 2023-2024.]
26	26	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
27	27	_______________
28	28	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
29	29	(2025-2026)
30	30	_______________
31	31	Resolutions to embrace the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and move the US back
32	32	from the brink of nuclear war.
33	33	1 WHEREAS, the continued existence of more than 12,000 nuclear weapons worldwide
34	34	2poses a grave and existential threat to the citizens of the Commonwealth; and
35	35	3 WHEREAS, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and repeated threats to use nuclear weapons
36	36	4have dramatically increased the danger of nuclear war; and
37	37	5 WHEREAS, the citizens of the Commonwealth have expressed their deep concern about
38	38	6this continuing threat over many decades and continue to do so; and
39	39	7 WHEREAS, this concern has been expressed through numerous Town Meetings and City
40	40	8Council resolutions throughout the Commonwealth; and 2 of 3
41	41	9 WHEREAS, this concern has also been expressed through numerous resolutions and bills
42	42	10brought before this General Court, including at least 5 such bills introduced in the last legislative
43	43	11session on this topic; and
44	44	12 WHEREAS, in general it is the federal government and not the state which has
45	45	13jurisdiction over matters relating to nuclear weapons, this does not mean there is no role for the
46	46	14Commonwealth to play in this regard; and
47	47	15 WHEREAS, in fact, it has been shown that the policies and actions of states can lead the
48	48	16way to important and necessary changes at the federal level and even internationally; and
49	49	17 WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts played a leading role in ending the
50	50	18nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union in the 1980s, by adopting a Nuclear Freeze resolution
51	51	19and encouraging other states to follow our example; and
52	52	20 WHEREAS, over 40 years later it is not a “freeze” of nuclear weapons that is needed to
53	53	21save the Commonwealth, and the world, from the unthinkable catastrophe of a nuclear war or a
54	54	22nuclear accident, but the complete elimination of these weapons, in line with the Treaty on the
55	55	23Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force as international law on January 22,
56	56	242021;
57	57	25 THEREFORE, be it resolved that the General Court of the Commonwealth of
58	58	26Massachusetts congratulates the 70 countries that have signed and ratified the Treaty on the
59	59	27Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and joins the legislatures of California and Oregon, the Maine
60	60	28State Senate, the New Jersey Assembly, Rhode Island Assembly and Senate and the 21 cities and
61	61	29towns in Massachusetts which have taken action to protect their citizens from the existential
62	62	30threat of nuclear war by embracing this Treaty and endorsing the national Back from the Brink 3 of 3
63	63	31platform, which calls on our federal leaders to embrace the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear
64	64	32Weapons and to take immediate steps to prevent nuclear war by actively pursuing a verifiable
65	65	33agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals, renouncing the option
66	66	34of using nuclear weapons first, ending the President’s sole, unchecked authority to launch a
67	67	35nuclear attack, taking U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert, and canceling the plan to
68	68	36replace its entire arsenal with enhanced weapons; and be it further
69	69	37 RESOLVED, that the General Court urges all members of the Massachusetts
70	70	38Congressional delegation to co-sponsor House Resolution 77, which calls for the US to adopt the
71	71	39policy provisions of the Back from the Brink platform, and urges the two Senators from
72	72	40Massachusetts to introduce a companion resolution in the United States Senate; and be it further
73	73	41 RESOLVED, that it shall henceforth be the policy of the General Court of the
74	74	42Commonwealth of Massachusetts to pursue whatever measures may be found necessary and
75	75	43appropriate to protect the citizens of the Commonwealth from the existential threat posed by
76	76	44nuclear weapons and to contribute in whatever ways it can, as a Commonwealth, towards the
77	77	45total elimination of these weapons from all countries, in line with the Treaty on the Prohibition
78	78	46of Nuclear Weapons; and be it further
79	79	47 RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be transmitted forthwith by the clerk of the
80	80	48Senate to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Speaker and Minority Leader
81	81	49of the United States House of Representatives, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United
82	82	50States Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from the Commonwealth in the Congress
83	83	51of the United States, and to the Governor of the Commonwealth.