SENATE RESOLUTION 24--SUPPORTING A ROBUST AND MODERN ICBM FORCE TO MAXIMIZE THE VALUE OF THE NUCLEAR TRIAD OF THE UNITED STATES; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 10
(Senate - January 17, 2019)
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[Pages S296-S297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATE RESOLUTION 24--SUPPORTING A ROBUST AND MODERN ICBM FORCE TO
MAXIMIZE THE VALUE OF THE NUCLEAR TRIAD OF THE UNITED STATES
Mr. HOEVEN (for himself, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Daines, Mr.
Enzi, and Mr. Tester) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Armed Services:
S. Res. 24
Whereas land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (in
this preamble referred to as ``ICBMs'') have been a critical
part of the strategic deterrent of the United States for 6
decades in conjunction with air and sea-based strategic
delivery systems;
[[Page S297]]
Whereas President John F. Kennedy referred to the
deployment of the first Minuteman missile during the Cuban
Missile Crisis as his ``ace in the hole'';
Whereas the Minuteman III missile entered service in 1970
and is still deployed in 2019, well beyond its originally
intended service life;
Whereas the ICBM force of the United States peaked at more
than 1,200 deployed missiles during the Cold War;
Whereas the ICBM force of the United States currently
consists of approximately 400 Minuteman III missiles deployed
across 450 operational missile silos, each carrying a single
warhead;
Whereas the Russian Federation currently deploys at least
300 ICBMs with multiple warheads loaded on each missile and
has announced plans to replace its Soviet-era systems with
modernized ICBMs;
Whereas the People's Republic of China currently deploys at
least 75 ICBMs and plans to grow its ICBM force through the
deployment of modernized, road-mobile ICBMs that carry
multiple warheads;
Whereas the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of
China deploy nuclear weapons across a variety of platforms in
addition to their ICBM forces;
Whereas numerous countries possess or are seeking to
develop nuclear weapons capabilities that pose challenges to
the nuclear deterrence of the United States;
Whereas the nuclear deterrent of the United States is
comprised of a triad of delivery systems for nuclear weapons,
including submarine-launched ballistic missiles (in this
preamble referred to as ``SLBMs''), air-delivered gravity
bombs and cruise missiles, and land-based ballistic missiles
that provide interlocking and mutually reinforcing attributes
that enhance strategic deterrence;
Whereas weakening one leg of the triad limits the deterrent
value of the other legs of the triad;
Whereas, in the nuclear deterrent of the United States,
ICBMs provide commanders with the most prompt response
capability, SLBMs provide stealth and survivability, and
aircraft armed with nuclear weapons provide flexibility;
Whereas the ICBM force of the United States forces any
would-be attacker to confront more than 400 discrete targets,
thus creating an effectively insurmountable targeting problem
for a potential adversary;
Whereas the size, dispersal, and global reach of the ICBM
force of the United States ensures that no adversary can
escalate a crisis beyond the ability of the United States to
respond;
Whereas a potential attacker would be forced to expend far
more warheads to destroy the ICBMs of the United States than
the United States would lose in an attack, because of the
deployment of a single warhead on each ICBM of the United
States;
Whereas the ICBM force provides a persistent deterrent
capability that reinforces strategic stability;
Whereas ICBMs are the cheapest delivery system for nuclear
weapons for the United States to operate and maintain;
Whereas United States Strategic Command has validated
military requirements for the unique capabilities of ICBMs;
Whereas, in a 2014 analysis of alternatives, the Air Force
concluded that replacing the Minuteman III missile would
provide upgraded capabilities at lower cost when compared
with extending the service life of the Minuteman III missile;
and
Whereas the Minuteman III replacement program, known as the
ground-based strategic deterrent, is expected to provide a
land-based strategic deterrent capability for 5 decades after
the program enters service: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes that land-based intercontinental ballistic
missiles (in this resolution referred to as ``ICBMs'') have
certain characteristics, including responsiveness,
persistence, and dispersal, that enhance strategic stability
and magnify the deterrent value of the air and sea-based legs
of the nuclear triad of the United States;
(2) emphasizes the role that ICBMs have played and continue
to play in deterring attacks on the United States and its
allies;
(3) observes that while arms control agreements have
reduced the size of the ICBM force of the United States,
adversaries of the United States continue to enhance,
enlarge, and modernize their ICBM forces;
(4) supports the modernization of the ICBM force of the
United States through the ground-based strategic deterrent
program;
(5) highlights that ICBMs have the lowest operation,
maintenance, and modernization costs of any part of the
nuclear deterrent of the United States; and
(6) opposes efforts to unilaterally reduce the size of the
ICBM force of the United States or delay the implementation
of the ground-based strategic deterrent program, which would
degrade the deterrent capabilities of a fully operational and
modernized nuclear triad.
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