[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1394 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1394
To prohibit the use of Federal funds to launch a nuclear weapon using
an autonomous weapons system that is not subject to meaningful human
control, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 1, 2023
Mr. Markey (for himself, Ms. Warren, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Sanders)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the use of Federal funds to launch a nuclear weapon using
an autonomous weapons system that is not subject to meaningful human
control, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous
Artificial Intelligence Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Department of Defense Directive 3000.09 (relating to
Autonomy in Weapons Systems), dated November 21, 2012, defines
``autonomous weapons system'' as a weapons system that, once
activated, can select and engage targets without further
intervention by an operator.
(2) Article 3, clause 8 of the Convention on Prohibitions
or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons
Which may be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have
Indiscriminate Effects, signed at Geneva October 10, 1980
(commonly known as the`` Convention on Certain Conventional
Weapons'') prohibits the indiscriminate use of weapons, which
is defined in the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons as
``any placement of such weapons. . .which may be expected to
cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians,
damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which
would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct
military advantage anticipated''.
(3) Section 5.10 of the Department of Defense Law of War
Manual states that ``[c]ommanders, at all levels, have a great
responsibility to exercise the leadership necessary to reduce
the risk of harm to civilians and civilian objects''.
(4) In a report on autonomous weapons systems published on
December 1, 2021, Human Rights Watch and the International
Human Rights Clinic of Harvard Law School argue that ``[r]obots
lack the compassion, empathy, mercy, and judgment necessary to
treat humans humanely, and they cannot understand the inherent
worth of human life''.
(5) The 2022 Nuclear Posture Review states ``[i]n all
cases, the United States will maintain a human `in the loop'
for all actions critical to informing and executing decisions
by the President to initiate and terminate nuclear weapon
employment''.
(6) The National Security Commission on Artificial
Intelligence recommends that the United States ``clearly and
publicly affirm existing U.S. policy that only human beings can
authorize employment of nuclear weapons and seek similar
commitments from Russia and China''.
(7) On February 16, 2023, the Secretary of State issued a
Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial
Intelligence and Autonomy, which states that ``States should
maintain human control and involvement for all actions critical
to informing and executing sovereign decisions concerning
nuclear weapons''.
(8) Large-scale nuclear war would lead to the deaths of
millions of people, firestorms, radioactive fallout
contamination, agricultural failure, and catastrophic climate
results.
(9) Compliance with international humanitarian law, human
control and human legal judgment is essential in the nuclear
command and control process.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the use of lethal, autonomous nuclear weapons systems
that are not subject to meaningful human control cannot
properly adhere to international humanitarian law; and
(2) any decision to launch a nuclear weapon should not be
made by artificial intelligence.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS TO DEPLOY NUCLEAR WEAPONS
WITH AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS SYSTEMS NOT SUBJECT TO MEANINGFUL
HUMAN CONTROL.
(a) In General.--None of the funds authorized to be appropriated or
otherwise made available for any fiscal year may be obligated or
expended to use an autonomous weapons system that is not subject to
meaningful human control--
(1) to launch a nuclear weapon; or
(2) to select or engage targets for the purposes of
launching a nuclear weapon.
(b) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Autonomous weapons system.--The term ``autonomous
weapons system'' has the meaning given such term in Department
of Defense Directive 3000.09 (relating to Autonomy in Weapons
Systems), as in effect on the date of the enactment of this
Act.
(2) Meaningful human control.--The term ``meaningful human
control'' means, with respect to an autonomous weapons system,
human control of--
(A) the selection and engagement of targets; and
(B) the time, location, and manner of use.
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