Bill Text: HI SR115 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Urging Hawaii's Congressional Delegation And The United States Congress To Enact Legislation Prohibiting The President Of The United States From Conducting A First-use Nuclear Strike Without Authorization By Congress.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-16 - Referred to PSM/JDC. [SR115 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2018-SR115-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	115
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING hawaii's CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION AND THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO ENACT LEGISLATION PROHIBITING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES FROM CONDUCTING A FIRST-USE NUCLEAR STRIKE WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION BY CONGRESS.

 

 

     WHEREAS, section 2(c) of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 states that "[t]he constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces"; and

 

     WHEREAS, the framers of the United States Constitution believed that the decision to declare war should be made by representatives of the people, rather than a single person; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States Constitution gives Congress the sole power to declare war; and

 

     WHEREAS, the framers of the United States Constitution understood the social, economic, military, and humanitarian costs of declaring war, including massive casualties, economic insecurity, and the erosion of civil order; and

 

     WHEREAS, nuclear weapons have the ability to instantly kill millions of people, create global health and environmental disasters, undermine international peace, and put the United States at existential risk from retaliatory nuclear strikes; and

 

     WHEREAS, a first-use nuclear strike from the United States would constitute a major act of war; and

 

     WHEREAS, President Donald Trump has repeatedly used inflammatory rhetoric about the use of nuclear weapons against North Korea, escalating conflict between the two nations; and

 

     WHEREAS, North Korea is an established nuclear power, according to the consensus of the United States military, intelligence, and diplomatic communities; and

 

     WHEREAS, a false threat of a ballistic missile strike was issued to Hawai‘i citizens on January 13, 2018, causing widespread fear and revealing the extent to which the State is unprepared to defend against or respond to a nuclear attack; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, that Hawaii's congressional delegation and the United States Congress are urged to enact legislation prohibiting the President of the United States from conducting a first-use nuclear strike unless Congress authorizes such a strike pursuant to a formal declaration of war; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Minority Leader of the United States Senate, Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Nuclear First Strike; Declaration of War; President of the United States; Congress