WHEREAS Politicians Sign Proclamations: People Must Hold Them Accountable

"If enough Christians followed the gospel, they could bring any state to its knees" - Father Philip Francis Berrigan

Three time Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Kathy Kelly in front of The Banner made from the cloth cut from the clothes of PLOWSHARES 8, Father Philip Francis Berrigan as he lay dying in his bed.

(ORLANDO, Fla.) - Two days ago, Mayor Buddy Dyer was scheduled to sign onto the Mayors for Peace "Cities Are Not Targets", which is an initiative to abolish nuclear weapons by the year 2020, and it was to be one of the many highlights of OLA Fest 2011.

The presentation was scheduled to be held at Orlando City Hall, from 1:00 to 1:30 P.M., but Mayor Dyer couldn't make it, so I do not accuse him of signing onto the following document as just a photo-opportunity, for his representative signed it that day and Mayor Dyer's signature will be on the following document that will be filed in Hiroshima.

I follow with my personal experience of trying to hold Mayor Buddy Dyer to the words of the Twinning Agreement between Orlando, Florida and Bethlehem, Palestine; and end with The Declaration of Independence from Nuclear Weapons which I helped craft on 4 July 2010, while I was in Oakridge, Tennessee.

U.S. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS RESOLUTION SUPPORTING U.S. PARTICIPATION IN GLOBAL ELIMINATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND REDIRECTION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS SPENDING TO MEET THE NEEDS OF CITIES

WHEREAS, August 6 and 9, 2010 mark the 65th anniversaries of the United States atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and

WHEREAS, eight nations still possess a total of nearly 23,000  nuclear warheads – 95% of them held by the U.S. and Russia; and

WHEREAS, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on April 10, 2010 declared: 

“Nuclear weapons are unique in their destructive power, in the unspeakable human suffering
they cause, in the impossibility of controlling their effects in space and time, in the risks of
escalation they create, and in the threat they pose to the environment, to future generations, and
indeed to the survival of humanity…. In the view of the ICRC, preventing the use of nuclear
weapons requires fulfillment of existing obligations to pursue negotiations aimed at prohibiting
and completely eliminating such weapons through a legally binding international treaty;” and

WHEREAS, on April 5, 2009 in Prague, President Obama acknowledged that “as the only
nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act”
for the achievement of the “peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons”; and

WHEREAS, the April 2010  Department of Defense Nuclear Posture Review recognized: “It is
in the U.S. interest and that of all other nations that the nearly 65-year record of nuclear non-use
be extended forever. As President Ronald Reagan declared, ‘, “A nuclear war cannot be won
and must never be fought’;” and

WHEREAS, the October 2007 Final Declaration of the 2nd World Congress of United Cities
and Local Governments endorsed “the Mayors for Peace campaign, which lobbies the
international community to renounce weapons of mass destruction;” and

WHEREAS, the unprecedented membership growth of  Mayors for Peace, now approaching
4000 worldwide, has sent a powerful message to world leaders that cities must be freed from the
nuclear threat; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously adopted resolutions in 2007, “calling
on all nations and all world powers to prohibit the use of any weapon of mass destructionagainst
cities;” in 2008, supporting the Mayors for Peace “Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol” for the global
elimination of nuclear weapons by 2020; and in 2009, “call[ing] on President Obama to
announce at the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference the initiation of good
faith multilateral negotiations on an international agreement to abolish nuclear weapons by the
year 2020;” and

WHEREAS, on May 13, 2010, at the midpoint of the  Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT)
Review Conference, in connection with submission of the new START treaty to the Senate,
President Obama submitted a classified report on a Congressionally-mandated plan to maintain
and modernize U.S. nuclear forces for the foreseeable future. According to a White House fact

sheet: “The plan includes investments of $80 billion to sustain and modernize the nuclear
weapons complex….” and “well over $100 billion in nuclear delivery systems to sustain existing
capabilities and modernize some strategic systems” by the year 2020. Under this plan funding
for the nuclear weapons research and production programs of the National Nuclear Security
Administration will increase by more than 40%, from $6.4 billion in FY 2010 to $9 billion by
2018. In turn, $9 billion is 43% above the Cold War annual average of $5.1 billion for analogous
Department of Energy  nuclear weapons programs; and

WHEREAS, cities have been hard hit by the recent recession which has left them with rapidly
rising unemployment and declining revenues, forcing them to make severe cuts in critical public
services such as police officers, fire fighters, teachers, medical and emergency workers and bus
drivers; and

WHEREAS, on August 9, 2009,  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a fivepoint
plan to rid the world of nuclear weapons, beginning “with a call for the NPT parties to
pursue negotiations in good faith - as required by the treaty - on nuclear disarmament, either
through a new convention or through a series of mutually reinforcing instruments backed by a
credible system of verification.” The Secretary-General has announced that he will visit
Hiroshima on August 6, 2010, the anniversary of the day the first atomic bomb was dropped,
stating: “There I will say, once again, we stand for a world free of nuclear weapons;” and

WHEREAS, on May 28, 2010, at the conclusion of the month-long NPT Review Conference, a
22-point action plan for nuclear disarmament was adopted by consensus of the states parties. By
agreeing to this plan the U.S. government inter alia:

• reaffirms the unequivocal undertaking of the  nuclear weapon states to accomplish the
total elimination of their nuclear arsenals notes the United Nations Secretary-General’s
Five Point Proposal for Nuclear Disarmament, which proposes consideration of
negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention

• expresses deep concern at the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any nuclear
weapons use and reaffirms the need for all states at all times to comply with international
humanitarian law

• seeks early entry-into-force of the new START treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty

• commits to working for further reductions in all types of nuclear weapons and a
diminished role for nuclear weapons in its national security policy
• commits to a principle of “irreversibility” with regard to its nuclear disarmament
obligation,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on
President Obama to work with the leaders of the other nuclear weapon states to implement the
U.N. Secretary-General’s Five Point Proposal for Nuclear Disarmament forthwith, so that a
Nuclear Weapons Convention, or a related set of mutually reinforcing legal instruments, can be
agreed upon and implemented by the year 2020, as urged by Mayors for Peace; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on the U.S. Senate
to ratify the new START treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty without conditions and
without delay; and


BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on the U.S.
Congress to terminate funding for modernization of the nuclear weapons complex andnuclear
weapons systems, to reduce spending on nuclear weapons programs well below Cold War levels,
and to redirect funds to meet the urgent needs of cities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors encourages President
Obama, members of the Cabinet and Congress to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the earliest
possible date; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors agrees to take up this
matter at the June 2011 Conference of Mayors. http://olafest.org/free-screenings.html

In 2006, on the second day of my third stay in the Little Town of Bethlehem- which is Occupied Territory- my group met four of the newly elected members of Hamas, and for the fourth time I met the Mayor of Bethlehem, Victor Batarseh.

Mayor Batarseh spoke once more about the dire need for tourists and pilgrims to sleep and eat in Bethlehem for unemployment was well over 50% and the Bethlehem Municipality had to borrow money to pay its own employees.

The first time I met Mayor Batarseh was when he traveled to Orlando to meet with Mayor Buddy Dyer, with the hope to re-ignite The Twinning Agreement that was signed in May 2001 by the then Mayors of Bethlehem and Orlando. The Twinning Agreement is a sister-pact that affirmed Orlando and Bethlehem would encourage tourism to the other and promote a global community.

I followed up on Mayor Batarseh’s visit with my own visit to Mayor Buddy Dyer’s office one week after the Mayors had met. I informed the Orlando Mayor’s public relations representative about an opportunity to help the city of Bethlehem and was seeking the Mayors support in getting the word out about two events that were already scheduled and my involvement with Palestinian Children’s Welfare Fund.

Palestinian Children’s Welfare Fund was an all volunteer effort that imported goods crafted by the artisans in Bethlehem and sold throughout the world. We returned all proceeds back to the crafts people-who were mostly all Christian- and also helped support the children in the three Bethlehem refugee camps.

Mayor Buddy Dyer's office did not even have the common courtesy to respond to any of my three follow up emails after my meeting with his PR Rep.

I also had informed The Orlando Sentinel about the opportunity for the Central Florida community to do something to make true the words of the Twinning Agreement without having to travel all the way to the Little Town of Bethlehem in occupied territory.

I was ignored by all.

        The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 indicted a government that engaged in barbaric conduct contrary to the laws of Humanity that included "works of death, destruction and tyranny unparalleled in the most barbaric ages" until the Age of Now!

        Current Law requires an end to all planning, preparation, production, threat, or use of nuclear weapons and we the people have gathered here today, July 4, 2010 at Y-12 to demand this Government adhere to the fundamental rules and principles of Humanitarian Law.

        These rules and principles require that civilians never be the object of attack. Consequently we must never use weapons that are incapable of distinguishing between civilians and military targets.

        Whereas, all W-76 and W-76-1 thermonuclear secondaries produced at Y-12 are designed and produced to unleash 100 KT of uncontrollable and indiscriminate heat, blast and radiation, six times more than the Hiroshima Bomb,

       Whereas, the International Court of Justice found that the destructive power of nuclear weapons cannot be contained in either space or time, and that the potential to destroy all civilization and the entire ecosystem of the planet,

       Whereas, citizens have both rights and duties we the people of conscience must ensure future generations their right to life,

        Whereas, under the principals of democracy we the people of conscience demand this government to fulfill its promise and responsibilities to pursue and achieve nuclear disarmament,

       We the people of conscience therefore exercise the right of every citizen of this republic and this planet to peacefully resist the nuclear threat; attacking as it does every core concept of human rights.

        Whereas it is a basic human right to be free of threat or violence, and it is our duty to protect children and future generations we call on this government to use our tax dollars that are now being used to wage permanent war unequivocally demand they be used to pursue a nuclear free world and clean up all chemical and radioactive contamination.