Letter: Officials must oppose nuclear war

With the war in Ukraine, the dangers of nuclear war have risen sharply this year. Unfortunately, very few members of the House and Senate, including our own representatives here in Western North Carolina, have spoken out to deescalate tensions between nuclear powers and seriously revive negotiations to re-create treaties between nuclear armed countries. We actually need immediate action by public officials at all levels of government to decrease the risks of nuclear war, as the dangers of nuclear war impact all of us, and the voices of all public officials are important.

In particular, we need the following:
• End the policy of first use — meaning, all countries pledge to never use nuclear weapons.
• Rejoin and reestablish the nuclear treaties that the U.S. recently abandoned. Eliminating those treaties seriously increases the risks of war.
• Take U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert, which greatly increases the risks of accidental use and war.
• Dismantle intercontinental ballistic missiles (land-based nuclear missiles).
• Support congressional action to avert nuclear war (HR 1185).
• Move money away from war and into human needs, such as addressing the issue of homelessness in Asheville.

We urge everyone to take a simple action by calling  the U.S. Capitol switchboard and demand that our representatives take action to reduce or eliminate the risk of nuclear war (202-224-3121). During this election season, you can and should ask all candidates for public office what their plans may be to address this crisis, which endangers all of humanity.

— Steven Norris
Fairview