Peace Action Congratulates ICAN for Nobel Peace Prize; US Must Work Towards Nuclear Disarmament

On the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize award to ICAN, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Peace Action, released the following statement:

"The Nobel Committee wisely awarded ICAN the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in showing the horrible humanitarian affects of nuclear weapons and, more importantly, for their efforts on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The treaty, which just last month open for signatures at the UN, was supported by 122 countries but has unfortunately been boycotted by nuclear weapon states including the U.S.

"With the US and Russia possessing over 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons, it is time for them and all nuclear weapon states to take serious action towards nuclear disarmament. Instead, the U.S. plans to spend $1.2 trillion dollars on upgraded nuclear weapons and their delivery systems.

"ICAN's work shows that the majority of countries want a world free of nuclear weapons. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is one avenue towards that goal. Meanwhile, negotiations and diplomacy are needed today to reduce immediate nuclear tensions with North Korea, between India and Pakistan and elsewhere.

"Peace Action is a proud partner organization of ICAN and will continue, as we have since our inception 60 years ago, to work towards a world free of nuclear weapons. We congrtualte ICAN for this well-deserved award."