Resolution on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

WHEREAS the prophetic call for all nations to "beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks" (Isaiah 2:4) demands an ongoing effort on behalf of every nation today to stop nuclear proliferation; and

WHEREAS in the second half of the 20th Century, over 2,000 nuclear weapon tests have affected human health and the environment in devastating ways; and

WHEREAS the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) would permanently ban all testing of nuclear explosives, thereby preventing the renewal of the nuclear arms race among nuclear powers and a proliferation of nuclear arms to nations which have not yet produced nuclear weapons; and

WHEREAS the ratification of CTBT would protect the global environment from the disastrous effects of radioactive fallout resulting from nuclear testing; and

WHEREAS CTBT has been signed by 146 world leaders including President Bill Clinton who signed the treaty in 1996; and

WHEREAS the U.S Senate on October 13, 1999 voted against ratification of CTBT by a margin of 51 to 48, thereby undermining U.S. national security and that of the global community by failing to stop all nations from conducting nuclear testing.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Rabbinical Assembly urge our legislators to break the current impasse and move swiftly to reconsider and ratify the CTBT; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Rabbinical Assembly and its members endeavor to utilize local and national media to educate and influence the public so that the American people's vehement opposition to nuclear testing will be heard in Washington.

Passed by the Rabbinical Assembly Plenum, March, 2000