Ms. WOOLSEY submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations

RESOLUTION

Whereas on February 2, 1998, former President Jimmy Carter and more than 100 former or current heads of state and civilian leaders from 46 nations issued a statement that "the world is not condemned to live forever with threats of nuclear conflict, or the anxious fragile peace imposed by nuclear deterrence" and that '"the sheer destructiveness of nuclear weapons invokes a moral imperative for their elimination";

Whereas on December 5, 1996, General Lee Butter (U.S. Air Force, Ret.) and more than 60 other retired generals and admirals from 17 countries issued a statement that "the continuing existence of nuclear weapons in the armories of nuclear powers, and the ever-present threat of acquisition of these weapons by others, constitute a peril to global peace and security and to the safety and survival of the people we are dedicated to protect," and that "the creation of a nuclear-weapons-free world" is both "necessary" and "possible";

Whereas the development and maintenance of nuclear arsenals are extraordinarily expensive;

Whereas the end of the Cold War and the current strategic environment provide an unprecedented opportunity to revise our national policies on nuclear weapons;

Whereas the United States has a vital security interest in promoting the nonproliferation and disarmament of nuclear weapons;

Whereas the only security from the threat of nuclear weapons is their elimination under strict and effective international control;

Whereas the United States has undertaken, under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to nuclear disarmament;

Whereas the long-term viability of the nonproliferation regime is at risk if the United States fails to implement the Article VI obligation;

Whereas the United States has successfully achieved nuclear arms reductions and other arms control measures through bilateral negotiations and reciproca1 actions;

Whereas on July 8, 1996, the International Court of Justice, in response to a request for an advisory opinion from the United Nations General Assembly, concluded that "the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict" and that "there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control";

Whereas on December 9, 1997, the United Nations General Assembly adopted by an overwhelming majority Resolution 52/38 O following up on the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice and calling upon all states to fulfill their nuclear disarmament obligation by commencing multilateral negotiations in 1998 leading to the early conclusion of a nuclear weapons convention prohibiting the development, production, testing, deployment, stockpiling, transfer, threat, or use of nuclear weapons and providing for their elimination, and requesting all states to inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the efforts and measures they have taken on the implementation of the resolution and nuclear disarmament; and

Whereas on November 17, 1997, Costa Rica submitted to the Secretary-General of the United Nations a Model Nuclear Weapons Convention as a "work in progress setting forth the legal, technical, and political issues that should be considered in order to obtain an actual nuclear weapons convention," and the Model Nuclear Weapons Convention subsequently was translated into the 6 official United Nations languages and circulated as a United Nations document (A/C. 1/52/7): Now, therefore be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--