STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1534-22

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2022

RE: H.C.R. No. 148

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Culture, Arts, & International Affairs, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 148 entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ENDORSING AND ADOPTING THE TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS TO ACHIEVE UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 16 OF PEACE, JUSTICE, AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS OF THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to endorse and adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and urge federal leaders to make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of the United States' national security policy.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-Violent Education & Action; Veterans for Peace, Hawai‘i Chapter 113; and ten individuals.

Your Committee finds that more than fourteen thousand nuclear warheads are still in existence, with the bulk of the world's nuclear arsenal held by the United States and Russia. Your Committee further finds that in July 2017, one hundred twenty-two nations called for the elimination of all nuclear weapons by adopting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This measure recognizes the intolerable threat to human life posed by the threat of nuclear war and urges federal leaders to embrace the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of the United States' national security policy.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the title to more accurately reflect the measure's purpose; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Culture, Arts, & International Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 148, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 148, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Culture, Arts, & International Affairs,

____________________________

CEDRIC ASUEGA GATES, Chair