A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO TO ACTIVELY WORK FOR PEACE, SEEK NONVIOLENT ALTERNATIVES TO VIOLENCE FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND PROMOTE PEACEFUL AND SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

WHEREAS, New Mexico is located on an international border and is a state with a diverse, multicultural population; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to world leaders in science and technology and is the birthplace of the atomic bomb as a weapon of mass destruction; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico's economy disproportionately depends upon the military industrial complex and preparation for war; and

WHEREAS, conflict resolution dependent upon violence leads to desperate human conditions such as poverty, hopelessness and indignity, which in turn lead to violent acts such as terrorism; and

WHEREAS, meeting violence with violence only produces more violence;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that New Mexico seek nonviolent solutions to the problems created by violence so that the vicious cycle of violence can be broken on the local, national and international levels; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that New Mexico support economic alternatives that will transition the state economy from one that is disproportionately dependent on war to one that is sustainable, life-affirming and based on peaceful pursuits; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that New Mexico support and provide incentives for continued and increased participation of the national laboratories located in New Mexico and state institutions of higher education in the research, development and dissemination of life-affirming and peaceful pursuits, including technology sharing, solar and wind energy technologies, environmental restoration and other such peaceful pursuits and related research, thereby enabling a decreased participation in and dependence on the business of war and weapons of mass destruction; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor, the state institutions of higher education and the national laboratories located in New Mexico.