That the House:

(1)   notes that:

(a)   over 2,000 nuclear weapons tests have been conducted between 1945 and 2009;

(b)   the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) bans all nuclear test explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes;

(c)   the sixth Article XIV (Entry Into Force) Conference of the CTBT will be held 24-25 September 2009;

(d)   for more than half a century, countless scientific experts, political leaders and community organisations have pursued the goal of a more secure world free of the dangers of nuclear weapons test explosions;

(e)   the CTBT is important to all states because it stigmatizes nuclear testing, halts the qualitative and quantitative nuclear arms race and the development of increasingly more destructive weapons, and protects human health and the global environment from the devastating effects of nuclear weapons production and testing; and

(f)   nine states required for the entry into force of the treaty have not yet ratified the treaty; and

(2)   calls on the Government to:

(a)   renew and sustain dialogue with those nine states that have not ratified the CTBT, urging them to do so without delay, most notably those states possessing nuclear weapons, the United States, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and the Democratic People's Republic on Korea;

(b)   call on all states possessing nuclear weapons to refrain from research and development efforts that could lead to new warheads and the possibility of the resumption of nuclear testing;

(c)   participate in the Article XIV Conference at the highest level; and

(d)   continue to participate and support the development of the CTBT verification regime, including the international monitoring system.