In the upcoming Presidential elections, nuclear weapons issues are poised to take center stage for the first time since the end of the cold war.  Already, candidates are frequently addressing Americans' concerns about the spread of nuclear weapons, and questions about the future of the U.S. nuclear stockpile.  As the campaign progresses, Peace Action West will track public statements by the candidates on nuclear weapons issues.

Click here to read more candidate statements at voter4peace.org

Former Senator John Edwards
"I think I would want to associate myself with the concepts that are conveyed by Kissinger, Sam Nunn and others in..[their] op-ed piece. I thought it was very thoughtful. And I think essentially what they said…was that we should aspire to a nuclear-free world. I agree with that. Now, there are a lot of steps that have to go between here and there. Some of them are pretty obvious, which is America should not be building new nuclear weapons. And then I think America should be doing things like leading an international effort to close the holes in the NPT. There are clearly serious flaws in the NPT. And I think America, leading an international effort to reduce the supplies nuclear sense in the world -- all aimed at the general goal that's described in that [op-ed] piece."

5/07, From a Q&A at the Council on Foreign Relations  Sen. Edwards' statement refers to an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by Kissinger, Nunn and others on nuclear weapons.  Click here to read the op-ed.

Senator Barack Obama
"America must lead a global effort to secure all nuclear weapons and material at vulnerable sites within four years...We must also work with Russia to update and scale back our dangerously outdated Cold War nuclear postures and de-emphasize the role of nuclear weapons. America must not rush to produce a new generation of nuclear warheads. And we should take advantage of recent technological advances to build bipartisan consensus behind ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty... I will work to negotiate a verifiable global ban on the production of new nuclear weapons material."

6/07, from article in Foreign Affairs Magazine. Click here for full article.

Governor Bill Richardson
"Most urgently, we need to lock down all of the world's fissionable material quickly before terrorists get their hands on a nuclear bomb. And to accomplish this, we should increase funds and commitment to the Nunn-Lugar program to secure former Soviet nuclear weapons, and we must work aggressively with our Pakistani allies to make sure that no matter what happens in the future, Pakistan's nuclear arsenal cannot fall into the hands of jihadists…we want other countries to take the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty seriously. If we're going to do that, we need to start taking it seriously ourselves. This means leading a global effort – a new global effort to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world, including our own. And we need to upgrade and tighten the NPT, modernize it to prevent states from legally developing their nuclear capabilities, and then opting out of the treaty as they rush to build bombs."

2/07, from a speech on foreign policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Click here for the full text of the speech.

"We need a new global non-proliferation agreement which prevents states from developing nuclear fuel-enrichment capabilities, and then abandoning the NPT (non-proliferation treaty).  We also need to negotiate a tough universal verification system that gives international inspectors immediate and unfettered access to all sites, worldwide…We should reaffirm our commitment to the long-term goal of global nuclear disarmament, and we should invite the Russians to join us in a moratorium on all new nuclear weapons…And we should negotiate further staged reductions in our arsenals, beyond what has already been agreed, over the next decade."

3/07, from "Gov. Says U.S. Must Address Nuclear Threat" Albuquerque Journal 29 March 07

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
"Last year we had the chance to start talking about what a stronger [nuclear nonproliferation] regime would look like at the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. But while other countries sent foreign ministers or senior ambassadors, the [Bush] administration sent a mid-level official, a clear signal it just wasn't interested. Our influence has already been eroded by our abandonment of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and the administration's interest in developing two new small nuclear weapons, including the robust nuclear earth-penetrator, the so-called bunker-buster. The wholesale abandonment of nonproliferation efforts is a serious mistake. The more countries that have fissile material, the more opportunities for it to go astray."

10/06, from a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations.  Click here for the full text. 

Former Senator Mike Gravel
"We signed a pledge that we would begin to disarm, and we’re not doing it.  We’re expanding our nukes.  Who the hell are we going to nuke?...[When] I’m President of the United States, there will be no pre-emptive wars with nuclear devices."

4/07, Democratic Presidential Debate

Representative Dennis Kucinich
"[I will take the United States in a] different direction…[including] getting rid of all nuclear weapons."

4/07, Democratic Presidential Debate