Senator Markey and Congressman Lieu reintroduce their No First Use bill

Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) -- above right -- and Representative Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) today reintroduced their bill that would stop the President of the United States from authorizing a nuclear first strike without congressional approval. In prepared statements and a press release, Lieu pointed out how much more dangerous this eventuality has become under the impulsive Donald Trump. “Trump’s brand is to be unpredictable and rash, which is exactly what you don’t want the person who possesses the nuclear football to be,” said Lieu. Markey agreed, saying “No American President, and certainly not Donald Trump, should have the power to launch a first use nuclear first strike absent such an attack without explicit Congressional approval." The bill is “Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2019” (H.R.669/S.200). A number of representatives from arms control groups also spoke at the press conference. A video of the press conference is available on Congressman Lieu's Twitter page -- scroll for January 28 tweets. Read more.