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Panel urges favorable report on HJR6, a resolution urging federal steps to reduce nuclear risks
Summary
Supporters told the Rules Committee passage of House Joint Resolution 6 would urge Congress and the President to endorse measures such as the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and other steps to reduce the risk of nuclear weapons use.
Delegate Nicole Williams (District 22) presented House Joint Resolution 6 to the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee, saying the measure seeks to reduce the possibility of nuclear weapons use by urging federal leaders to take specific risk-reduction steps.
"The purpose of this resolution is to reduce the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons within The United States and ultimately around the world," Delegate Williams said. She noted that "in the world, there are over 13,000 nuclear weapons" and urged Maryland to call on the President and Senate to endorse the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which she said has been ratified by 73 nations.
A panel of medical, policy and advocacy witnesses — including Daryl Carrington (Carrington Associates LLC), Dr. Terrence "Terry" Fitzgerald (physician, Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility), Arthur Milholland (remote), Gwen DuBois (speaking from the U.N. meeting), and James Wagner (Frederick resident) — urged the committee to report the resolution favorably. Speakers described the humanitarian and catastrophic consequences of nuclear war, cited a growing network of local governments that have adopted similar "Back from the Brink" resolutions, and urged Maryland to join the effort as a moral and political statement.
Carrington said local jurisdictions and many county and city councils already passed similar measures. Dr. Fitzgerald, an emergency physician, described the medical consequences, including long-term global impacts discussed in recent books and reporting. Multiple witnesses emphasized that the resolution would cost the state nothing and is designed to send an appeal to federal officials.
The committee held the public hearing and recorded no vote. Witnesses told the committee they have built local support in Maryland jurisdictions and other states and urged the panel to give the resolution a favorable report.
