Thursday evening, I attended a gathering at Frederick Friends Meeting to support and encourage a group of people including Americans, Australians, French, Japanese and First Nation people who are on a four-week walk from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to the United Nations with the purpose of drawing attention to the present and potential damage from nuclear waste, nuclear accidents and nuclear weapons. They also want to draw attention to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty discussions about to begin at the United Nations.

I am grateful to President Obama for advocating for humanitarian aid for Iraq and for urging continued negotiations with Iran to reach an agreement about preventing production of nuclear weapons. In my opinion, winning the hearts and minds of people around the world is better done through negotiation and offers of help rather than attempts to dominate through military means that cause fear and destruction of innocent people.

I am hopeful that Sen. Ben Cardin, reaching across the aisle, can persuade others in Congress to stay with the possibility that an agreement can be reached through the path of negotiation. We do that best through humanitarian support, not through perpetuating destruction of lives through intended and non-intended actions. My hope is that all nations will support efforts by the United Nations, and elsewhere, to seek beyond the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty, to dismantling all stores of weapons everywhere!

When will everyone have a place at the negotiating table? What will this take, either here at home, or in our dealings abroad? When will “us” mean “all of us”?