Nuclear weapons: Trump must act to reduce them

Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Rep. Ted Lieu of California (both Democrats) have introduced legislation that would prohibit any president from launching a first-strike nuclear attack.

No doubt this is a reaction to what appears to be a shocking tendency by our new president to act impulsively, and a first strike nuclear attack would be the most consequential impulsive act imaginable.

This legislation is unlikely become law. We can only hope that President Trump will use his position of power to engage with Russia in finding ways to eliminate more nuclear weapons while exploring new options with North Korea. The goal must always be a treaty to ban all nuclear weapons everywhere, as 21 Nobel laureates recently endorsed.

Let us join with the Nobel laureates and call for the total abolition of all nuclear weapons.

This story was originally published February 20, 2017 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Nuclear weapons: Trump must act to reduce them."