A BILL

To Create the UCSB Student DOE Nuclear Weapons Lab Oversight Committee

Whereas: as a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) the United States is required “to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to the cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control,” and

Whereas: this Committee’s mission is to provide student oversight of UC’s nuclear warhead research, design and production labs in order to ensure that the UC and United States government obey their treaty obligations to work toward the abolition of nuclear weapons, and

Whereas: the mission of this Committee is to provide more democratic and open supervision of UC’s nuclear weapons labs and the UC Regents management of these facilities, and

Therefore let it be enacted by the Associated Students in the Legislative Council assembled: add the following as Article X of the Associated Students Legal Code:

SECTION 31. A.S. DOE Nuclear Weapons Lab Oversight Committee

A.) Charge of the Committee:

                The purposes of the DOE Nuclear Weapons Lab Oversight Committee are to educate students and the community about UC’s nuclear weapons labs, US nuclear weapons programs, and international law, to provide accountability and oversight of UC’s nuclear weapons labs by the UCSB and UC student bodies, and to lobby and advise policymakers, the Regents and US Congress on issues related to nuclear weapons and non-proliferation.

B.) Membership:

1.) Committee members must be UC students, undergraduates, graduate students and professional students.  Tenure on the committee is for one year from the date which a student is appointed.  Students may leave the committee at any time for any reason.  A student may be reappointed to the committee for as long as they are a student.
2.) The Committee shall be composed of no more than twenty (20) and no fewer than two (2) students at any given time.
3.) The composition of the Committee is determined as per article X, section 2 of the AS Legal Code which outlines the process of appointing members to the Committee by creating its own interview structure.
4.) The Committee will have the power to appoint (by consensus) advisors who shall provide the Committee with information and guidance on technical, scientific and political issues related to the nuclear weapons labs and US nuclear weapons programs.

C.) Meetings:

1.) The Committee shall meet at least once per quarter.  The Committee shall brief AS Legislative Council at least once per quarter on ongoing activities.

D.) Procedures:

1.) The Committee will operate on a consensus basis.  All members are of equal standing regardless of roles fulfilled.  All decisions and appointments must be reached by consensus.  A facilitator, record keeper, treasurer will be selected as needed by the committee; however, they are not officers in the sense that they hold no authority over the committee as a whole.

E.) Dissolution of the Committee:

1.) The Committee will be dissolved upon the abolition of nuclear weapons, or upon the UC’s withdrawal from its position as manager of nuclear weapons facilities.