An excerpt from President Obama’s speech on April 5, 2009

Yesterday in Prague, President Barack Obama made a groundbreaking speech in which he pledged “to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” His significant call for the elimination of nuclear weapons re-orients US nuclear policy, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive arms control agreements and of international cooperation.

President Obama’s agenda comes at a time when the nuclear threat is growing, rather than decreasing. His call for a nuclear weapon’s free world has the bipartisan support of a wide swath of political heavy-weights, including former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, former Defense Secretary William Perry, and former Senators Sam Nunn and Chuck Hagel. According to polling, people around the globe also support achieving a nuclear weapons free world.

The Nuclear Weapons Complex Consolidation Policy Network will release “Transforming the U.S. Strategic Posture and Weapons Complex for Transition to a Nuclear Weapons-Free World,” Wednesday, April 8, 2009, 9:00 A.M. – 11:00 A.M. EST. Location: Root Room of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. Teleconference dial-in Number: (641) 715-3635, Access Code: 539953#

Contributors to the report include Tri-Valley CAREs, Natural Resources Defense Council, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Physicians for Social Responsibility – Greater Kansas City Chapter, Just Peace, and the Project on Government Oversight. The report is the result of a collaborative project supported by the Connect U.S. Fund.

 Lead report author Dr. Robert Civiak, a physicist and former White House OMB budget examiner, will summarize major recommendations and findings.