<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<leg xml:space="preserve" billnum="SCR003" sponsor="Kathleen A. Riebe" designation="SCR" otherSponsor="Christine F. Watkins" otherHouse="House" sess="2026GS" fileno="2026FL1329" date="1/14/2026 10:01:850" printDate="02-03 11:46" subVer="0" minVer="0" office="LEGISLATIVE GENERAL COUNSEL" actionDate="" impact="reso"><info><nextbuid>2</nextbuid><aminfo anum="0" effdate="01/01/1800"><seclist><sect action="E" src="reso" buid="1" uid="RESO" sort="00000R" mtype="section" effdate="01/01/1800"/></seclist></aminfo></info><tbox><sinfo><nextpairid>0</nextpairid></sinfo><st numlevel="1" lineno="1" slineno="0-1">Concurrent Resolution Regarding Nuclear Weapons Testing</st><sessionhead>2026 GENERAL SESSION</sessionhead><statehead>STATE OF UTAH</statehead><sponsorhead>Chief Sponsor: Kathleen A. Riebe</sponsorhead><otherSponsorhead>House Sponsor: Christine F. Watkins</otherSponsorhead></tbox><lt numlevel="1" lineno="2" slineno="0-2"><lthead lineno="3">LONG TITLE</lthead><gdhead lineno="4">General Description:</gdhead><gd numlevel="1" lineno="5" slineno="0-5">This resolution urges the government of the United States to not resume explosive nuclear <ln numlevel="1" lineno="6" slineno="0-6"/>weapons testing.</gd><hphead lineno="7">Highlighted Provisions:</hphead><hp numlevel="1" lineno="8" slineno="0-8">This resolution:<hl numlevel="1" lineno="9" slineno="0-9" level="1">urges the government of the United States to not resume explosive nuclear weapons <ln numlevel="1" lineno="10" slineno="0-10"/>testing.</hl></hp><moni numlevel="1" lineno="11" slineno="0-11" display="none">Money Appropriated in this Bill:</moni><moniNone lineno="12">None</moniNone><oc numlevel="1" lineno="13" slineno="0-13">Other Special Clauses:</oc><ocNone lineno="14">None</ocNone></lt><enacthead lineno="15"/><enact numlevel="1" lineno="16" slineno="0-16">Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:</enact><bdy><bsec buid="1" type="enact" src="reso" uid="RESO" sort="00000R" numlevel="1" lineno="17" slineno="1-1" sn="1"><section type="enact" display="false" src="reso"><amend anum="0" ea="amend" pairid="1" groupid="1" style="X" owner="jchristopherson" level="1" amendtag="both">WHEREAS, discussions of renewed explosive nuclear testing has resurfaced in <ln numlevel="1" lineno="18" slineno="1-2"/>Washington, D.C. over the past year;<eol numlevel="1" lineno="19" slineno="1-3" display="tab"/>WHEREAS, the United States conducted over 1,000 nuclear weapons tests from 1945 to <ln numlevel="1" lineno="20" slineno="1-4"/>1992, 100 of which were conducted above ground at a test site in Nevada, spreading high <ln numlevel="1" lineno="21" slineno="1-5"/>levels of dangerous radioactive fallout across Utah;<eol numlevel="1" lineno="22" slineno="1-6" display="tab"/>WHEREAS, since the U.S. and Russia enacted moratoria in the early 1990s on explosive <ln numlevel="1" lineno="23" slineno="1-7"/>nuclear testing, the U.S. and Russia have not conducted explosive nuclear weapons tests;<eol numlevel="1" lineno="24" slineno="1-8" display="tab"/>WHEREAS, this moratorium on testing has been observed by presidents from both the <ln numlevel="1" lineno="25" slineno="1-9"/>Democratic and Republican parties;<eol numlevel="1" lineno="26" slineno="1-10" display="tab"/>WHEREAS, if the U.S. resumes explosive nuclear testing, it is likely that countries such as <ln numlevel="1" lineno="27" slineno="1-11"/>North Korea, Russia, China, and other countries will follow suit, escalating the nuclear arms <ln numlevel="1" lineno="28" slineno="1-12"/>race and increasing global tensions;<eol numlevel="1" lineno="29" slineno="1-13" display="tab"/>WHEREAS, there is no military or technical requirement for the U.S. to resume explosive <ln numlevel="1" lineno="30" slineno="1-14"/>nuclear tests, as the Stockpile Stewardship Program, in conjunction with the U.S. National <ln numlevel="1" lineno="31" slineno="1-15"/>Laboratories, the Commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, and the Secretaries of Defense <ln numlevel="1" lineno="32" slineno="1-16"/>and Energy have annually affirmed the safety, security, reliability, and performance of U.S. <ln numlevel="1" lineno="33" slineno="1-17"/>nuclear weapons for over 25 years;<eol numlevel="1" lineno="34" slineno="1-18" display="tab"/>WHEREAS, because the U.S. conducted significantly more nuclear weapons tests and has <ln numlevel="1" lineno="35" slineno="1-19"/>more relevant data than other countries that possess nuclear weapons, restarting testing would <ln numlevel="1" lineno="36" slineno="1-20"/>benefit other countries with nuclear weapons such as North Korea, Russia, China, and other <ln numlevel="1" lineno="37" slineno="1-21"/>countries more than it would the U.S.;<eol numlevel="1" lineno="38" slineno="1-22" display="tab"/>WHEREAS, Brandon Williams, U.S. Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security, <ln numlevel="1" lineno="39" slineno="1-23"/>stated in his confirmation hearing in April 2025, that "we collected more data than anyone <ln numlevel="1" lineno="40" slineno="1-24"/>else" and that he "would not advise testing";<eol numlevel="1" lineno="41" slineno="1-25" display="tab"/>WHEREAS, a majority of the world is united in opposition to the resumption of explosive <ln numlevel="1" lineno="42" slineno="1-26"/>nuclear weapons tests as reflected in 187 countries signing the Comprehensive Test Ban <ln numlevel="1" lineno="43" slineno="1-27"/>Treaty by late 2023 and, according to a 2024 poll conducted by the University of Maryland, <ln numlevel="1" lineno="44" slineno="1-28"/>75% of U.S. adult citizens oppose resumption of explosive nuclear weapons testing;<eol numlevel="1" lineno="45" slineno="1-29" display="tab"/>WHEREAS, the Legislature unanimously passed H.C.R. 7 in 2005 that strongly urged the <ln numlevel="1" lineno="46" slineno="1-30"/>United States to not resume nuclear testing at the federal government's Nevada test site, and <ln numlevel="1" lineno="47" slineno="1-31"/>the Utah House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 4 in 2010 urging ratification of <ln numlevel="1" lineno="48" slineno="1-32"/>the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty;<eol numlevel="1" lineno="49" slineno="1-33" display="tab"/>WHEREAS, with the support of the Utah congressional delegation, Congress passed H.R. 1 <ln numlevel="1" lineno="50" slineno="1-34"/>in 2025, which the President of the United States signed, renewing and expanding the <ln numlevel="1" lineno="51" slineno="1-35"/>Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to recognize the enormous economic and health costs <ln numlevel="1" lineno="52" slineno="1-36"/>borne by Utahns and other Americans downwind of decades of explosive nuclear testing, as <ln numlevel="1" lineno="53" slineno="1-37"/>well as those who worked in the uranium industry and those who were exposed to the <ln numlevel="1" lineno="54" slineno="1-38"/>production, processing, and storage of nuclear weapons materials and wastes;<marker pairid="19"/><marker pairid="20"/><marker pairid="21"/><marker pairid="16"/><marker pairid="17"/><marker pairid="18"/><eol numlevel="1" lineno="55" slineno="1-39" display="tab"/>WHEREAS, in Nevada where the U.S. tested nuclear weapons, the Nevada Legislature <ln numlevel="1" lineno="56" slineno="1-40"/>unanimously passed Assembly Joint Resolution 13 in May 2025, "Urging the Federal <ln numlevel="1" lineno="57" slineno="1-41"/>Government to maintain the moratorium on the testing of explosive nuclear weapons";<eol numlevel="1" lineno="58" slineno="1-42" display="tab"/>WHEREAS, members of the 119th Congress have filed the RESTRAIN Act (H.R. 5894), <ln numlevel="1" lineno="59" slineno="1-43"/>which would prohibit explosive testing of nuclear weapons, and the No Nuclear Testing Act <ln numlevel="1" lineno="60" slineno="1-44"/>(S.3090), which would prohibit the use of funds for an explosive nuclear weapons test; and<eol numlevel="1" lineno="61" slineno="1-45" display="tab"/>WHEREAS, this resolution, the previous resolutions of the Legislature, the resolution from <ln numlevel="1" lineno="62" slineno="1-46"/>the Nevada Legislature, and the proposed acts in Congress are not a threat to modernization <ln numlevel="1" lineno="63" slineno="1-47"/>plans for the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal:<eol numlevel="1" lineno="64" slineno="1-48" display="tab"/>NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the <ln numlevel="1" lineno="65" slineno="1-49"/>Governor concurring therein, strongly urge that the United States g<marker pairid="34"/>overnment not resume <ln numlevel="1" lineno="66" slineno="1-50"/>explosive testing of nuclear weapons.<eol numlevel="1" lineno="67" slineno="1-51" display="tab"/>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the President of the <ln numlevel="1" lineno="68" slineno="1-52"/>United States, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Majority Leader <ln numlevel="1" lineno="69" slineno="1-53"/>of the United States Senate, and the members of Utah's congressional delegation.<eol numlevel="1" lineno="70" slineno="1-54" display="tab"/>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Legislature urges the Utah congressional <ln numlevel="1" lineno="71" slineno="1-55"/>delegation to convey the Legislature<marker pairid="37"/>'<marker pairid="39"/>s opposition to explosive testing of nuclear weapons to <ln numlevel="1" lineno="72" slineno="1-56"/>congressional leadership of both chambers and parties, the President of the United States and <ln numlevel="1" lineno="73" slineno="1-57"/>key members of the Administration, and that the congressional delegation consider <ln numlevel="1" lineno="74" slineno="1-58"/>cosponsoring and supporting the RESTRAIN Act and the No Nuclear Testing Act filed by <ln numlevel="1" lineno="75" slineno="1-59"/>their colleagues in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.</amend><sectionText/></section></bsec></bdy><foot><rev><tm>1-14-26 10:43 AM</tm></rev></foot></leg>