Bill Text: HI HCR156 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Urging The United States Government To Place A Moratorium On The Development, Production, Deployment, And Use Of Lethal Autonomous Robotics And To Encourage Other Nations To Do The Same.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-14 - Referred to TIA/PVM, JUD, referral sheet 33 [HCR156 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2019-HCR156-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	156
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TO PLACE A MORATORIUM ON THE DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION, DEPLOYMENT, AND USE OF LETHAL AUTONOMOUS ROBOTICS AND TO ENCOURAGE OTHER NATIONS TO DO THE SAME.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, lethal autonomous robotics are robotic systems that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further intervention by a human operator; and

 

     WHEREAS, lethal autonomous robotics have been described as the next major revolution in military technology, on par with the introduction of gunpowder or nuclear weapons; and

 

     WHEREAS, a United States Air Force assessment predicted that by 2030, due to growing technology, humans will be the weakest component in a wide array of systems and processes; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States has banned the use of lethal force by fully autonomous weapons for ten years, with limited exceptions; and

 

     WHEREAS, use of lethal autonomous robotics removes the potential for loss of human life on the deploying side and could result in a lower threshold for a country's decision to engage in armed conflict; and

 

WHEREAS, the use of lethal autonomous robotics places the final decision to kill a human with a robot instead of a human and is a potential violation of international treaties, including the Hague Convention (IV), which requires every combatant to be commanded by a person; and

     WHEREAS, it is unclear whether robots can meet the requirements of international law, including the ability to distinguish between civilians and combatants or assess whether the likely harm to civilians during a military action would exceed the military advantage gained by the conflict; and

 

     WHEREAS, accountability for deaths caused by lethal autonomous robotics would be unclear, particularly in instances of death of innocent civilians caused by lethal autonomous robot malfunctions; and

 

     WHEREAS, nongovernmental organizations and human rights groups have campaigned to ban fully autonomous weapons to preempt deployment in the same way that blinding laser weapons were banned; and

 

     WHEREAS, more than one hundred leading robotics experts and artificial intelligence leaders are urging the United Nations to take action to prevent the development of "killer robots" through a letter to the organization which warns of "a third revolution in warfare"; and

 

     WHEREAS, the letter states that lethal autonomous robotic technology is a Pandora's box and time is of the essence; and

 

     WHEREAS, these leading robotics and artificial intelligence experts are calling for a ban on the use of artificial intelligence in managing weaponry because once developed, it will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend; and

 

     WHEREAS, the weapons can be used by despots and terrorists against innocent populations and can be hacked to behave in undesirable ways; and

 

     WHEREAS, experts are calling for the addition of lethal autonomous weapons to the list of weapons that are banned under the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions by Christof Heyns to the United Nations General Assembly, recommends that nations establish national moratoria on aspects of lethal autonomous robotics and that a panel articulate an international policy on the use of lethal autonomous robotics; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2019, the Senate concurring, that the United States government is urged to place a moratorium on the development, production, deployment, and use of lethal autonomous robotics and is urged to encourage other nations to do the same until an internationally agreed upon framework on the future of autonomous robotics has been established; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States is urged to advocate for the addition of lethal autonomous robotics and similar weapons technology to the list of weapons banned under the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, Vice President of the United States in the Vice President's capacity as presiding officer of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, and members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Lethal Autonomous Robotics; War; Drones; Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles