August, 06 2010, 02:30pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Paul Kawika Martin, Peace Action, +81-90-1787-0997 Japan cell (preferred), 951-217-7285,
pmartin@peace-action.org
Peace Action Statement on 65th Anniversary of the U.S. Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
WASHINGTON
On the 65th anniversary of the U.S. bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
Peace Action, the nation's largest grassroots peace group, released a
statement from Hiroshima by their policy director, Paul Kawika Martin
and announced over 150 commemoration events nationwide.
"After the unnecessary killing of hundreds of thousands civilians in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki by U.S. nuclear weapons 65 years ago, fortunately
the world has not seen these immoral weapons used again. There is
bipartisan support to significantly reduce or abolish nuclear weapons.
It's time for the U.S. Senate to consent to the modest step of
ratifying the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) without
wasting more taxpayer money on nuclear weapons labs as some Republicans
demand.
"By sending John Roos, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, to the
commemoration in Hiroshima - the highest U.S. official to ever attend -
the Obama administration sends another symbolic message of support for a
world free of nuclear weapons. Besides symbolism, the administration
needs to take more action such as reducing the United States' capacity
to build nuclear weapons and increasing the rate of dismantling
warheads."
The group announced tracking nearly 150 commemoration events on their website https://www.hiroshimaandnagasaki.org.
The public may find events near them or organize their own. The group
estimated that there were dozens of more events of Americans
remembering the anniversaries and pushing for a world without nuclear
weapons that didn't make it in their website.
Peace Action is the United States' largest peace and disarmament organization with over 100,000 members and nearly 100 chapters in 34 states, works to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs and encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights.
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