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The Alabama Voter 
Summer 2010 Edition
Published July 19, 2010

Updated LWVUS Position on Arms Control

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The LWVUS policy on arms control was developed and adopted in 1983, before the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the rise of organizations not aligned with a nation state.  An effort to update our position was made at the 2008 convention but did not pass. A League task force spent two years conducting research and posting results of their research on the national web site.  The task force held a caucus Saturday night to explain their methodology and seek support when the resolution came to the floor on Monday. The TF, which included our longtime LWV observer at the UN, had a sense of urgency because of the expiration of nonproliferation treaties and the existence of more nuclear-capable states than in 1983.  The TF did a thoughtful job of adding key words that updated our position without having to completely overhaul the position.  Two examples of language that gives us a much more current position:  the TF recommended adding language to “oppose the proliferation of weapons, nuclear technology and fissile materials to non-state actors”; in another section, the TF included language which would impose limitations on the transfer or trade of all weapons.  When this proposed update came before the convention, no one spoke in opposition, and it was quickly adopted.

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