To the editor:

Frankly, I’m scared. I’ve watched Republicans prop up Donald Trump as he undermines the Constitution, as he profits from the presidency, as he uses the U.S. Treasury as his privy purse, as he vilifies our allies because they disagree with him, as he lies extravagantly about everything, as he muddies the separation of powers referring to “my generals” and “my Justice Department.” But certainly, their greed must take a back seat to Trump’s request for new “low-yield” nuclear weapons. Surely this is the final red line.

Thanks to Trump’s incendiary tweets and war-mongering rhetoric, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has advanced the Doomsday Clock a notch closer to the end of life as we know it. That a grandfather can even consider the use of any type of nuclear missile is an act of outrageous betrayal, egregious selfishness and blind, conscienceless hostility and shows an indecent disregard for their future and everyone’s. No human being with children or grandchildren can possibly support a nuclear strike of any “yield.”

We must urge our representatives to support the bipartisan Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017 (HR669/S200), which prevents the president of the United States from launching a nuclear attack absent a declaration of war by Congress.

The survival of our world is in their hands. Nuclear war is not an option. Life on Earth before party.