Lutherans Are Rounding up Support for Test Ban Treaty

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Churchwide, synod and congregational leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and other religious leaders in the United States are being asked to sign a statement urging the U.S. Senate to approve the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) before August. The Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA) in Washington, D.C., is rounding up signatures until May 1.
"Last fall, President Clinton submitted the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to the Senate for U.S. ratification," said the Rev. Mark B. Brown, LOGA's associate director for public policy advocacy ministry. "Unfortunately, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), has not identified the treaty as a high priority. If the CTBT continues to languish in the Senate, the U.S. will miss an important opportunity to help curb the proliferation of nuclear weapons worldwide."
Twelve to 15 ELCA synod bishops were among the dozens of Lutherans who had signed on to the statement by April 14, said Brown. "We hope the 'dozens' of signatures will grow to 'hundreds' by May 1."
Brown hopes long lists of signatures from several religious organizations will help move the treaty through the Senate. "The religious community has a long tradition of struggling to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons," he said.
The church's advocacy plan for this Congress "identifies early ratification of the CTBT as a key component of ELCA peacemaking activities," said Brown. Such advocacy is based on a statement, "For Peace in God's World," the ELCA adopted in 1995.
The signatures are to accompany a statement for presentation to Helms and the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), and for entry into the Congressional Record. An April 16 deadline for signatures was extended to May 1. Signatures arriving after the deadline will be added to the statement for future use.

Text of the statement:
A STATEMENT BY AMERICAN RELIGIOUS LEADERS: RATIFY THE CTBT

As persons entrusted by our diverse religious communities with
special responsibilities to address the issues of justice and peace,
we have joined in this appeal for Senate action to approve the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) before the August recess.

For more than forty years, the nuclear arms race dominated the Cold
War policies of the United States. Within our faith communities,
those policies raised the profoundest questions about the sacredness
of God's creation, our moral responsibilities, and human destiny.
With the end of the Cold War, the issues of the nuclear threat have
changed, but the threat remains and the profound moral questions
persist. The retention of thousands of nuclear weapons, combined
with the threats of proliferation and terrorism, requires renewed
attention to these issues. At the moral core of nuclear issues is
the credibility of nuclear-weapon states in seeking to prevent the
proliferation of nuclear weapons by or to other states or political
groups.

We believe that ratification of the CTBT during 1998 is the most
urgent and timely action that could contribute significantly toward
reducing the nuclear danger. We are reminded that ratification of
the CTBT would help fulfill U.S. commitments under the Limited Test
Ban Treaty and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and is
consistent with current U.S. law. In fact, the CTBT would make
permanent internationally the current moratorium on nuclear testing
which the United States already observes. The international
verification regime of this treaty provides a means to effectively
monitor such a permanent ban on testing and to restrict further
proliferation of nuclear weapons technology. U.S. leadership on
ratification of this treaty is critical.

The United States Senate has within its powers the capacity to take
decisive action on some of the most fateful issues affecting the
security of our nation and the peace of our planet. We urge the
Senate to proceed swiftly this session to devote the most serious
consideration to the honoring of our previous treaty commitments and
to the merits of the CTBT. We earnestly hope our senators will then
decide it is time to consent to the treaty's ratification.

We assure our senators of our determination to interpret this issue
as a vital matter of religious conscience for our communities -- and
we pray for their own good health and wisdom.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html