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A bill to watch: H.Res. 373, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Commitments Act, was introduced to the House of Representatives just two days ago, and promises to cause a great stir of excitement among political progressives. Written by Representative Lynn Woolsey, the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, H.Res. 373 calls for practical steps to move toward nuclear disarmament - not just by other nations, but by the United States as well. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Commitments Act requires the President of the United States to make an official accounting to the American people of its failure to implement United Nations resolutions, to ratify treaties bargained in good faith, and to obey treaties that the United States has already ratified.

There is no more important issue than nuclear disarmament. The attacks of September 11, 2001 would seem like a bad case of acne in comparison to the detonation of a nuclear bomb in one of the world’s major cities - or for that matter, in one of the world’s minor cities. The world has been lucky to prevent another Hiroshima for 60 years, but our luck won’t hold forever, especially when our leaders seem more interested in starting wars than preventing them.

Those of us outside the inner halls of power in Washington D.C. often rail against the Democrats in Congress to do something meaningful for a change. Well, here’s our chance to put some work into our whining. The way that the House of Representatives works is that a bill does not advance unless there is a political reason for members of Congress to spend their time promoting it. If our representatives do not hear their constituents asking for co-sponsorship of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Commitments Act, the bill will die, no matter what its merits.

It is time that America clean out its nuclear closet and set a positive example of peaceful, law-abiding power for the rest of the world to follow. Representative Woolsey is right when she comments,

“There is some irony in the administration’s nonproliferation policy. Think about it. We have sacrificed nearly 2,000 American lives, thousands of our troops have been seriously wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars to end an Iraqi nuclear threat that did not even exist. And as part of a misleading campaign to convince the Nation that there actually was an Iraqi nuclear threat, it appears government officials were even willing to compromise national security by blowing the cover of a CIA agent. Meanwhile, genuine nuclear threats are going dangerously unaddressed, and our own government continues to pursue a large and expensive nuclear arsenal.”

It is long past time for the United States to get rid of its own weapons of mass destruction, just as it demands other nations must do. Those members of Congress who fail to support the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Commitments Act deserve harsh moral condemnation, and should be voted out of office in the upcoming 2006 congressional elections. However, we ordinary Americans deserve an equal, if not greater, measure of condemnation if we fail to ask our representatives for their support. In the shadow of America’s monstrous nuclear stockpile, inaction is inexcusable.

(I’ll translate that for our Republican readers: Nuclear disarmament is a moral issue.)
(Hint to our progressive readers: Contact your member of the House of Representatives - NOW)