TJ Johnson's statement at the August 9, 2005 public hearing regarding the Olympia Nuclear Free Zone

author : Carrie Lybecker | T. J. Johnson topic : Nuclear Free Zone | Olympia City Council

It was standing room only with overflow into the foyer. About 40 citizens actually spoke, and the end tally was 100% FOR TJ's proposed ordinance. Following the public comments, TJ delivered the remarks below. Up until then the proceedings had been very decorous and muted, but when TJ finished, the crowd erupted into a prolonged standing ovation, the likes of which I've never seen at a city council meeting. (Of course, this was not reported in The Olympian). -- Carrie Lybecker

TJ's statement:

Sixty years ago today, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the City of Nagasaki, incinerating, vaporizing, poisoning and otherwise killing at least 80,000 men, women and children. Three days prior, the United States had dropped an atomic bomb on the City of Hiroshima, killing at least 100,000 people in similar fashion. The bombings were a heinous act for which this nation has yet to take full responsibility or issue an apology, and a clear violation of international law, according to the International Court of Justice. The bombings were also the opening gambit of an international nuclear arms race that has in the US, since 1945, diverted attention and funding from life affirming and socially productive investments to the pursuit of technologies designed to indiscriminately kill humans.

Reflecting on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, General Omar Bradley observed that "the world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants." While we cannot undo the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nor erase the past 60 years squandered in attempts to find ever more creative ways of destroying life, we can, tonight, by adopting this ordinance, display the ethical maturity that Bradley found so lacking, and in so doing send a powerful message about the values of this community.

Some may argue, indeed have, that local governments have no business involving themselves in national or international affairs. The job of local government, they say, is to fix the streets, pick up the trash, and put out fires. And they are right, that is the job of local government. But so are a host of other things. In today's increasingly interlinked and globalized world I believe that the argument that we should draw a line around the City of Olympia and ignore what happens on the other side of that line is naïve and undermines our stated goal of achieving a high quality of life for both today's Olympians and for future generations.

I believe that there are at least six legitimate reasons for local governments, particularly this local government, to take concrete actions towards achieving a world free of what Japanese novelist and Nobel Prize winner Kenzabuoro Oe calls "these awesome weapons that reign over our age like raving mad gods."

First, local governments are compelled to act due to the 60 year failure of national and international institutions to meaningfully address the problem. Simply put, national and international efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons have been ineffective, and are currently on the verge of collapse, a precarious position brought on in large part by a combination of international terrorists and the aggressive pro-nuclear posture of the Bush administration, with its utter disregard for international cooperation and the rule of law. Its time for local communities and local governments to step forward and lead the way to a nuclear free future.

Second, it is appropriate for cities to take action to eliminate nuclear weapons because cities have the most to lose. As centers of culture, commerce and population, cities are the most likely target for the use of nuclear weapons, either by terrorists or nuclear states. As both a state Capitol and Port City, Olympia is especially vulnerable -- and I might add the recent reintroduction of military shipments through the port of Olympia has increased this risk.

Third, the dollars wasted on nuclear weapons rob cities of precious resources needed to deal with a host of growing social and environmental problems. The United States has wasted nearly $6 trillion on nuclear weapons since 1945. Over the past few years funding for the US nuclear weapons program has steadily increased, with the full cost now approaching, by some estimates, nearly $60 billion per year. It is important that we clearly understand that there is a connection between spending on nuclear weapons and the lack of resources available for socially productive and life enhancing investments. President Eisenhower understood this connection well when he stated that "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

Fourth, this City Council has adopted a goal of aligning our values with our actions in order to put sustainability into action to improve the quality of life in our community and do our part to save the planet. Nothing is more contrary to the long-term sustainability of our community than the fact that there are enough nuclear weapons on the planet today to, according to Dr. Helen Caldicott, kill every man, woman and child on the planet 32 times. The City of Olympia is recognized as a pioneer in the area of community sustainability -- reducing the use of toxics in City operations, reducing GHG emissions, developing a sustainable economy chapter of our comprehensive plan, and investing in parks, sidewalks, and urban forestry. Yet what good does it do to take these important local actions for sustainability if we are always 15 minutes away from the end of civilization as we know it?

Fifth, in adopting this ordinance we will send a clear message to other communities and other nations that not everyone in this country agrees with the Bush administration's reckless and arrogant policy of intimidation and violence. As a member of the Mayors for Peace delegation to the Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty conference in May, I was appalled at the mixture of thinly veiled tolerance and outright contempt with which the United States approached the conference, and I found myself frequently surrounded by my international colleagues who pressed me to understand whether the US position had widespread support, since alternative perspectives are rarely heard in the corporate dominated US media. In adopting this ordinance we can send a message to other communities here and abroad that there are democratically elected leaders in the United States who vigorously oppose the Bush administration's nuclear doctrine and who are working to create a world free of the evils of nuclear weapons.

Sixth, one of the roles of local governments is to be responsive to the community we serve. If something is important to members of the community, it is a legitimate concern of local government. Tonight and over the past few weeks members of our community have clearly indicated that this issue is important to them; as such, it is a legitimate issue for action by this Council. This is the essence of the democratic form of government.

Tonight, through our actions, we have the opportunity to join with over 4,500 other communities in 23 countries that have established nuclear free zones, including Bainbridge Island and Bothell, Washington, Oakland and Berkeley, California, Baltimore and Takoma Park, Maryland, Boulder, Colorado, Las Vegas, Nevada, Lane County Oregon, The Big Island of Hawaii, New Zealand, all of South America, and as of this fall five Central Asian nations.

On the eve of this 60th anniversary of the last time nuclear weapons were deliberately used as a weapon of war on a civilian population, let us do what we can as the elected representatives in this city to act consistently with the strong majority of world opinion -- including 66% of Americans and, I believe, a majority of Olympians -- who favor the total elimination of all nuclear weapons. Let us act to move Beyond Hiroshima, Beyond Nagasaki, and in the words of Adalai Stevenson, let us act to stop cursing the darkness and start lighting candles to find our way out.

I ask my colleagues to lay aside your technical, legal, and economic reservations, and listen to your humanity.

I urge your unanimous support for the motion.