Barbara Lee: “I thank Mr. McGovern for this Special Order and for giving me a minute to speak, but also for his tremendous leadership…”

“I thank Mr. McGovern for this Special Order and for giving me a minute to speak, but also for his tremendous leadership because this is such an important issue that I think sometimes gets swept under the rug. There are a couple of things I remember about my last life. I was a very active member of the SANE/Nuclear Freeze disarmament movement. I worked for a phenomenal Member of Congress, Congressman Ron Dellums. We talked about nuclear weapons and how it is an equalizer. It is an equal-opportunity destroyer. I think everyone in our country and throughout the world needs to understand what impacts nuclear weapons have had and will have. I visited Nagasaki. I visited Hiroshima. I also had a chance to meet with many children who were survivors of Chernobyl. I saw what the human impact was: permanent disabilities, generational trauma, generational DNA changes, physical disabilities. Let me read you what one report explains in a very quick paragraph: ``Nuclear weapons produce ionizing radiation, which kills or sickens those exposed, contaminates the environment, and has long-term health consequences, including cancer and genetic damage.'' I have seen this with people who had relatives who were impacted by a nuclear bomb and the genetic damage through the generations. ``Their widespread use in atmospheric testing has caused grave, long- term consequences.…”