2023 World Conference against A and H Bombs – Nagasaki
August 9, 2023
Margaret Engel
Peace Action New York StateU.S.A.
Good morning. My name is Margaret Engel and I am the Student andCampaigns Coordinator for Peace Action New York State, an affiliate ofPeace Action, the largest grassroots peace network in the United States.
It is truly an honor to be speaking here today at the Nagasaki Day Rally. I
would like to extend my gratitude towards the Nagasaki Organizing
Committee and Gensuikyo for organizing such an important event.
The World Conference Against A and H Bombs has been so thoughtprovoking and powerful as a young organizer. Listening to the actions
taking place in Japan and around the world towards a nuclear-free future
has left me inspired and eager to get back home to New York and get towork with the rest of the Peace Action community.
The U.S. bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused irreparable
devastation for millions that are still very much felt today. But today wemust listen to the stories the hibakusha tell and listen to their calls forchange. We must not reach any closer to midnight on the Doomsday Clock,despite the peril that the global stage faces. We fight for change in the
midst of ongoing warfare, ignored and violated international treaties, andan ever-expanding military industrial complex. Together we must demand
policies from our government bodies that do not simply reform thedangerous stockpiling activities of nuclear states such as the U.S., but lead
us down the path of total nuclear abolition before it is too late.
Peace Action New York State is an organization that operates on theprinciple of community: We march alongside many organizations at home
and abroad who share the same passion for nuclear abolition anddemilitarization. In 2017, Peace Action New York State was able tocelebrate with community partners the adoption of the Treaty on the1Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was made possible by the tirelessefforts of hibakusha and other dedicated anti-nuclear civil society groups
across the world, frustrated by the lack of progress or action from thenuclear-armed states.
We organize actions within coalitions such as the Back from the Brink
campaign and the Move the Money NYC campaign, who have made great
strides in lobbying for concrete political change and make it clear that ournuclear policies and the money we spend on nuclear weapons and“defense” only make us less safe. We are also proud of our student
organizing program, which enables students across the state to establish
Peace Action chapters at their universities to promote youth engagementwith nuclear disarmament and other anti-war issues.
Despite the United States being a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty, my country continues to pour money into nuclear weapons
research and stockpiling. This year, the Department of Energy has spentover $264 billion on plans for a new Intercontinental Ballistic Missile(ICBM) carrying nuclear warheads. The longstanding myth of nuclear
deterrence serving as a valid geopolitical tactic persists in U.S. foreign
policy regardless of which party holds executive power, and Peace Action
New York State continues to work on debunking this myth.
This summer, Peace Action New York State has been advocating for ourCongressional representatives to sponsor H.Res.77. Also called theBack from the Brink resolution, this is a bill that calls on the President toembrace the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition ofNuclear Weapons and make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of U.S.
national security policy. It also calls on the United States to lead a global
effort to move the world back from the nuclear brink and to prevent nuclear
war. With mutual support and the sharing of resources, organizations like
Peace Action have continued to organize for change in nuclear policy year
after year. We have taken to the streets in Manhattan, Washington, D.C.,
and across the country demanding action from our government. We lift up
the voices of our student organizers and encourage their passion for
disarmament. We work together even in the face of uncompromising,2

destabilizing nuclear policy in the United States, such as a planned $1.2
trillion for nuclear weapons over the next thirty years.
The actions that Peace Action New York State has taken is and is stillorganizing and has helped to bring about change in our communities andin federal policy. But our work is far from over, especially this year in theface of brutal warfare that U.S. nuclear policy perpetuates. The TPNW isa hallmark agreement that has seen tremendous success in reducing theglobal nuclear arsenal and garnering attention to the issue of disarmament
around the world.
Peace Action New York State, as well as several other anti-war advocacy
groups, will be at the United Nations Headquarters in NYC this November
for the Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW. There, we will plan
actions inside and outside of the UN to hold our governments accountableand bring awareness to the importance of this treaty. We hope to see manyof you there, so that we can collaborate and further build our international
community of passionate activists. We are eager to share ideas and listen
to the actions you have been taking, as well. Thank you so much for yourtime.

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