Press Release- For Immediate Release
Contacts:
Angela Crowley-Koch, Executive Director, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility
503-274-2720, angela@oregonpsr.org
John Doussard, Director of Communications, Office of Mayor Potter, 503-823-2855
jdoussard@ci.portland.or.us
Jamaal Folsom, Office of Commissioner Erik Sten, 503.823.3597, jfolsom@ci.portland.or.us
Matthew Grumm, Office of Commissioner Dan Saltzman, 503-823-4151 mgrumm@ci.portland.or.us
Mayor Potter, Commissioners Saltzman and Sten Pledge
City’s Support for Abolition of Nuclear Weapons
City officials join 80 other U.S. cities and 1,400 cities worldwide by signing the
“Mayors for Peace” pledge, which calls for worldwide abolition of nuclear weapons.
Portland, OR— Today Mayor Tom Potter and City Commissioners Dan Saltzman and Erik Sten signed
the Mayor’s for Peace Pledge, which states “We pledge to make every effort to create an inter-city
solidarity transcending national boundaries and ideological differences in order to achieve the total
abolition of nuclear weapons and avert the recurrence of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki tragedies.”
"I have visited Hiroshima Peace Park, and learning about the devastation that nuclear weapons caused
there furthered my desire to work with the international community to eliminate nuclear weapons
worldwide,” said Potter. “Signing onto the Mayors for Peace pledge, along with the Mayors of 80 other
U.S. cities, sends a signal to our leaders that it's time to move away from nuclear weapons.”
Commissioners Saltzman and Sten joined the Mayor in taking the pledge. “I join Mayor Potter in taking
this pledge because it is very important at this point in history for us to raise awareness of the dangers and
realities of nuclear weapons,” said Commissioner Erik Sten. “If we are to avoid the tragedies of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the future we must publicly state our opposition to nuclear weapons.”
“Signing onto the Mayors for Peace pledge is the right thing for Portland to do,” commented
Commissioner Dan Saltzman. “Just as we seek to live in a sustainable city, we also seek a sustainable
world, free from the threat of nuclear weapons.”
Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, who requested that the Mayor make this important
commitment, commends the Mayor and Commissioners Saltzman and Sten. “On this 61st anniversary of
the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Portland has taken a strong stance for a world free from nuclear
weapons,” said Dr. Catherine Thomasson, president-elect of Physicians for Social Responsibility and a
board member of the Oregon Chapter. “World survival depends on nations working out their problems
diplomatically and not maintaining the most deadly and destructive weapons ever created.”
Mayors for Peace originated on June 24, 1982, at the Second UN Special Session on Disarmament held at
UN Headquarters in New York, when then Mayor Takeshi Araki of Hiroshima proposed a new Program
to Promote the Solidarity of Cities toward the Total Abolition of Nuclear Weapons. This proposal offered
cities a way to transcend national borders and work together to press for nuclear abolition. Subsequently,
the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki called on mayors around the world to support this program.
The Mayors for Peace is composed of cities around the world that have formally expressed support for the
program Mayor Araki announced in 1982. As of July 21, 2006, membership stood at 1,403 cities in 119
countries and regions. Former Mayor Bud Clark also signed onto Mayors for Peace in 1988.
Internationally, members of Mayors for Peace hold conferences on nuclear weapons issues. This
November Portland will host an exhibit from the Hiroshima - Nagasaki Atomic Bomb museum at
Portland State University. The exhibition opens at the PSU Littman Gallery on Nov. 2nd and will run until
Nov 29th. There will be an opening event that evening in Smith Center , a Nagasaki A-bomb victim will
be in residence for the first week of the exhibition, and two other representatives present for a few days at
the beginning of the exhibition.
In addition, this year Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility host Portland’s 44th annual Hiroshima
Day memorial on Sunday, August 6th at 6 PM at the Japanese American Historical Plaza in Waterfront
Park at NW Couch and Naito Pkwy. The event features: Reverend Alcena Boozer, President of the
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon; Ronault LS. Catalani, Civil Rights Attorney and nephew of Nagasaki
victims; Toki Taiko drums; the Aurora Chorus; and Joel Iwanaga of Channel 6 News. PSR is also
sponsoring the film The Last Atomic Bomb playing on Wed, August 9th at the Clinton St. Theatre at 7 PM
and 9:10 PM. The director, Robert Richter, will be speaking at each show.
Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is an educational organization with over 25,000 members and
supporters committed to the elimination of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and the
achievement of a healthy and sustainable environment. PSR is an affiliate of International Physicians for
the Prevention of Nuclear War, recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize.
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