The Beginning of the End of the Nuclear Weapons Era

This video is an excerpt of President Obama’s speech in Prague.

On Sunday, President Obama gave a groundbreaking speech addressing nuclear proliferation in which he stated “clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” By putting a “world without nuclear weapons” at the center of US nuclear policy, Obama has signaled a real shift in strategy that acknowledges the Cold War is long over and that nuclear weapons are a liability that puts all of us in danger. You can watch the entire speech here or read the transcript here.

President Obama outlined a series of steps forward to achieve this vision and work with the international community to reduce the threat posed by nuclear weapons:

• Reducing the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy
• Negotiating a new treaty with Russia for deep, verifiable reductions to both countries’ arsenals
• US ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to help ban nuclear testing globally
• Preventing new nuclear weapons states by negotiating a new treaty that verifiably ends the production of fissile materials
• Strengthening the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
• An international effort to prevent nuclear terrorism by securing loose nuclear material
• Hosting a Global Summit on Nuclear Security within the next year

Congress is likely to pose a significant hurdle for the Obama administration. Treaties require ratification by two-thirds of the Senate or 67 votes, and Congress will need to approve funding for programs to address the nuclear weapons threat. We’ll be working to build bipartisan support for these steps toward a nuclear weapons free world in Congress to ensure they are implemented.