We, who have been chosen as their leaders by the people who live in many of the great cities of the world, hereby join in the calls made by many past and present presidents, prime ministers, generals, admirals, and others for steps to reduce swiftly and to eliminate as soon as possible the grave dangers posed by nuclear weapons.

These experienced and respected leaders, many of whom led powerful nations and their military forces during the Cold War, warn that as long as nuclear weapons exist we will all face the same threat that we faced during those dark days: that they will be used inadvertently or deliberately by nations possessing them. They warn that another danger is rising: that they will be acquired and used by terrorists,
rogue rulers or criminals who will not share the inhibitions that have prevented use of these weapons for half a century.

We believe it is our responsibility to speak out, for if nuclear weapons are ever again used, it is virtually certain that one or more of our cities will be the target and the people we represent will be the victims.

We know that during the Cold War, U.S. and Soviet cities were the main targets of the nuclear forces of the two countries. The U.S. and Russia no longer target each other, but we understand that the cities remain in the memory banks of thousands of missiles standing on high alert in both countries, and that the cities can be retargeted in a few seconds by a few strokes on computer key boards. So the same
cities are still threatened, and so are cities everywhere, in part because vital military installations and command and communication centers are in and around so many of them, and in part because the destruction of any one of them would be such a shattering blow to the morale and the economy of an entire nation.

The world's cities, teeming with life, are home for much of humankind. They are the birthplace of dreams, the workshops of commerce, learning and government, the cradles of social harmony and progress and the repositories of the irreplaceable gifts of creative genius. All this is threatened with total destruction.

Two of us, the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, speak from experience. For the rest of us, the fate of those cities is an indelible reminder of the infinite dangers all face.

It is intolerable that the family of man, delivered from the nightmare of the Cold War, still faces this menace. It is unacceptable that while so many human needs are neglected and while poverty afflicts so many, particularly in cities, vast resources that could be put to wiser use are spent on nuclear weapons that no responsible nation wants to use and that, if nonetheless used, could not only destroy
cities and nations and their peoples, but could conceivably exterminate humanity.

It is most of all the responsibility of the U.S. and Russia to abandon outmoded policies and postures developed in the Cold War which have no rightful place in today's world.

And so to the American and Russian Presidents we say this:

We thank you for what you have done to advance treaties intended to prevent proliferation, to ban test explosions, and to control, limit and reduce nuclear weapons.

There is no greater legacy you can leave in your time for all time, for our generation and for all generations to come.

Signatories as of June 24, 2001

ARMENIA
Yerevan * - Mayor Albert Bazieian

AUSTRALIA
Sydney - Lord Mayor Frank Sartor
Melbourne - Lord Mayor Ivan Devenson

AUSTRIA
Vienna * - Mayor Michael Häupl

BELARUS
Minsk * - Mayor Vladimir Yermoshin

BRAZIL
Brasilia * - Governor Joaquim Roriz
Rio de Janeiro - Mayor Luiz Paulo Conde
São Paulo - Mayor Celso Pitta

CANADA
Calgary - Mayor Al Duerr
Lakefield - Reeve Robert Helsing
Montreal - Mayor Pierre Borque
Toronto - Mayor Mel Lastman

CHILE
Santiago * - Mayor Jaime Ravinet

COSTA RICA
San Jose * - Mayor Johnny Araya M.

CZECH REPUBLIC
Prague * - Mayor Jan Kasl

EGYPT
Cairo * - Governor Abdel Reheem Shehata

FINLAND
Helsinki * - Lord Mayor Eva-Ritta Siitonen

GERMANY
Darmstadt - Mayor Peter Benz

ICELAND
Reykjavik * - Mayor Ingbjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir

REPUBLIC of IRELAND
Dublin * - Mayor Joe Doyle

JAPAN
Tokyo * - Governor Yukio Aoshima
Hiroshima - Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba; Mayor Takashi Hiraoka (-1998)
Kyoto - Mayor Yorikane Masumoto
Nagasaki - Mayor Iccho Itoh
Yokohama - Mayor Hidenobu Takahide

MEXICO
Mexico City * - Mayor Cuauhtemoc Cardenas

NEW ZEALAND
Auckland - Mayor Les Mills
Wellington * - Mayor Mark Blumsky

THE NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam * - Mayor Schelto Patijn
The Hague - Mayor W.J. Deetman

PERU
Lima * - Mayor Alberto Andrade

PORTUGAL
Lisbon * - Mayor João Soares

SOUTH AFRICA
Johannesburg - Councillor Isaac Mogase
Cape Town - Alderman Rev. William D Bantom

SPAIN
Barcelona - Mayor Joan Clos
Madrid * - Deputy Mayor Mercedes de la Merced Monge

SWITZERLAND
Geneva - Mayor Alain Vaissade; Jean Erhardt, Secretary General, Executive Council

UKRAINE
Kharkov - Mayor Michail D. Pilipchuk
Odessa - Mayor Ruslan Bodelan
Kiev * - Mayor Alexander Omelchenko

UNITED KINGDOM
Belfast - Lord Mayor David Alderdice
Birmingham - Lord Mayor, Councillor Theresa Stewart
Caernarfon - Mayor Ioan Thomas
Cardiff Lord - Mayor Russell Goodway
Edinburgh - Right Honorable Eric Milligan, Lord Provost
Glasgow - Lord Provost, Councillor Alex Mosson
Leeds - Lord Mayor, Councillor Keith Parker
London * - Mayor Ken Livingstone
Manchester - Lord Mayor Gordon Conquest
Oxford - Lord Mayor Maureen Christian

UNITED STATES of AMERICA
Albuquerque - Mayor Jim Baca
Ann Arbor - Mayor Ingrid Sheldon (-2000)
Atlanta - Mayor Bill Campbell
Baltimore - Mayor Martin O'Malley; Mayor Kurt Schmoke (1981-1999)
Boston - Mayor Thomas Menino
Chapel Hill - Mayor Rosemary Waldorf
Chicago - Mayor Richard M. Daley
Cincinnati - Mayor Charlie Luken
Cleveland - Mayor Michael White
Dallas - Mayor Ronald Kirk
Denver - Mayor Wellington E. Webb
Des Moines - Mayor Preston Daniels
Detroit - Mayor Dennis Archer
Hartford - Mayor Mike Peters
Honolulu - Mayor Jeremy Harris
Houston - Mayor Lee Brown
Little Rock - Mayor Jim Dailey
Louisville - Mayor David Armstrong
Madison - Mayor Susan J.M. Bauman
Newark - Mayor Sharpe James
New Orleans - Mayor Marc Morial
Oakland - Mayor Jerry Brown; Mayor Elihu Harris (1991-1999)
Philadelphia - Mayor Edward G. Rendell (1992-1999)
Pittsburgh - Mayor Tom Murphy
Portland (ME) - Mayor Thomas Kane (-1998)
Portland (OR) - Mayor Vera Katz
Providence - Mayor Vincent Cianci
Sacramento - Mayor Jimmie Yee (1999-2000); Mayor Joe Serna, Jr. (-1999)
Salem (OR) - Mayor Mike Swaim
San Francisco - Mayor Willie Brown
San Jose - Mayor Ron Gonzales; Mayor Susan Hammer (1991-1999)
San Juan, P.R. - Alcaldesa Sila María Calderon (-2000)
Santa Cruz - Mayor Keith Sugar (-2000)
Seattle - Mayor Paul Schell
Saint Louis - Mayor Clarence Harmon (-2001)
Salt Lake City - Mayor Rocky Anderson; Mayor Deedee Corradini (1991-1999)
Tucson - Mayor George Miller (-2001)
Washington, DC * - Mayor Anthony Williams