The Freeze

The Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign, initiated by Randall Forsberg’s call to “freeze and reverse the nuclear arms race,” was born in the early 1980s. The Freeze was a grassroots-based confederation of groups spanning the country. (Many original
Freeze chapters and affiliates that formed in the 1980’s still exist as leaders in the Peace Action Network today.) Freeze
leaders included Randall Forsberg, Pam Solo, and Randy Kehler. Elected officials such as Rep. Patricia Schroeder and Sen. Ted Kennedy helped to lead the movement in Congress. The Freeze’s grassroots network pushed for nuclear reductions through ballot initiatives in towns and cities across the nation.

The Freeze was a prolific grassroots organization as the arms race between the Soviet Union and the United States was heating up. Two significant movements spearheaded by the FREEZE had major impacts on the 1982 election. On June 12, 1982 750.000 people took to the streets of New York City to march against the use of nuclear weapons. It was the largest public mobilization of it's time and even measured against today's standards it was quite an event.

Also in 1982 in the run up for the election the FREEZE issued a binding resolution demanding the U.S. stop nuclear testing and proliferation. The resolution was voted on in all 50 states with 30 million people voting to adopt the resolution in their state legislator.