May 15, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 81 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages S2890-S2891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 16--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
THE TREATY ON THE NON-PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS (NPT) CONTINUES 
 TO MAKE AN INVALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES AND INTERNATIONAL 
 SECURITY, AND NOTING FORMER SENATOR RICHARD G. LUGAR'S INDISPENSABLE 
 CONTRIBUTIONS TO INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND REDUCING NUCLEAR WEAPONS-
                             RELATED RISKS

  Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. Young, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Paul, Mr. 
Markey, Mr. Braun, Mr. Brown, Ms. Collins, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Gillibrand, 
Ms. Smith, and Mrs. Feinstein) submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 16

       Whereas the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear 
     Weapons (NPT) opened for signature 50 years ago on July 1, 
     1968;
       Whereas the United States and the former Soviet Union 
     averted a catastrophic nuclear exchange during the October 
     1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, which led to a series of bilateral 
     and multilateral agreements to lessen the chance of nuclear 
     war, including the NPT;
       Whereas President John F. Kennedy predicted in 1963 that as 
     many as 25 countries would acquire nuclear weapons by 1970 
     absent a treaty to control nuclear weapons;
       Whereas the United States Senate provided its advice and 
     consent to the NPT on March 13, 1969, with a vote on 
     ratification of 83 to 15;
       Whereas the NPT has grown to include 191 State Parties, 
     making an irreplaceable contribution to international 
     security by preventing the spread of nuclear weapons;
       Whereas former Senator Richard G. Lugar made indispensable 
     contributions to reducing nuclear weapon risks, most notably 
     through his leadership in standing up the Cooperative Threat 
     Reduction Program (commonly referred to as the ``Nunn-Lugar 
     Program''), which eliminated 7,600 nuclear weapons in the 
     former Soviet Union;
       Whereas Senator Lugar successfully secured the advice and 
     consent of the Senate to the Treaty between the United States 
     of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the 
     Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, 
     signed at Prague April 8, 2010, and entered into force 
     February 5, 2011 (commonly known as the ``New START 
     Treaty'');
       Whereas Article III of the NPT obligates each nonnuclear 
     weapon state to the NPT to conclude a Safeguards Agreement 
     with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to verify 
     treaty compliance, 174 of which are

[[Page S2891]]

     Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements crafted to detect the 
     diversion of nuclear materials from peaceful to non-peaceful 
     uses;
       Whereas the 2018 Department of Defense Nuclear Posture 
     Review affirms, ``The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) 
     is a cornerstone of the nuclear nonproliferation regime. It 
     plays a positive role in building consensus for non-
     proliferation and enhances international efforts to impose 
     costs on those that would pursue nuclear weapons outside the 
     Treaty.'';
       Whereas the success of the NPT has and will continue to 
     depend upon the full implementation by all State Parties of 
     the Treaty's three mutually reinforcing pillars: 
     nonproliferation, access to peaceful uses of nuclear energy, 
     and disarmament;
       Whereas, over the past half century, the United States has 
     exhibited leadership in strengthening each of the NPT's three 
     pillars for the global good, including--
       (1) reducing its nuclear weapons stockpile by more than 85 
     percent from its Cold War heights of 31,225 in parallel with 
     equally massive reductions of the Russian Federation's 
     stockpile through bilateral coordination;
       (2) cooperating with Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Belarus to 
     facilitate the surrender of nuclear weapons on their soil 
     after the fall of the Soviet Union--leading to each country's 
     accession to the NPT as nonnuclear weapons states;
       (3) providing voluntary contributions to the IAEA to 
     promote peaceful nuclear activities exceeding $378,000,000 
     since 2010, including activities that help in the treatment 
     of cancer and other life-saving applications; and
       (4) extending deterrence to United States allies in the 
     North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Japan, and the 
     Republic of Korea--which is an unmistakable demonstration of 
     the United States commitment to collective security;
       Whereas heightened geopolitical tensions in recent years 
     have made cooperation on nonproliferation and arms control 
     issues with the Russian Federation more challenging;
       Whereas a range of actions by the Government of the Russian 
     Federation has led to a deterioration in bilateral relations 
     with the United States, including Russia's brazen 
     interference in the 2016 United States presidential 
     elections, its violation of the Treaty between the United 
     States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 
     on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-
     Range Missiles (commonly known as the ``INF Treaty''), signed 
     at Washington, D.C., December 8, 1987, and entered into force 
     June 1, 1988, its use of a chemical nerve agent in an 
     assassination attempt against Sergei Skripal and his daughter 
     Yulia in the United Kingdom in March 2018, its illegal 
     annexation of Crimea, its invasion of Eastern Ukraine, and 
     its destabilizing actions in Syria;
       Whereas, within a difficult environment, preserving 
     agreements that continue to contribute to United States and 
     global security, particularly the New START Treaty, is 
     important, and that to that end, the Department of State 
     confirmed in February 2018 that Russia had met New START's 
     Central Treaty Limits and stated that ``implementation of the 
     New START Treaty enhances the safety and security of the 
     United States'';
       Whereas United States efforts to reduce dangers associated 
     with nuclear arsenals through ambitious arms control 
     agreements with both the Russian Federation and the People's 
     Republic of China would advance United States and global 
     security, adding to the benefits of stability and 
     transparency provided by existing agreements.
       Whereas, in a March 2018 speech, President Vladimir Putin 
     of the Russian Federation unveiled details of new kinds of 
     strategic nuclear weapons under development, including 
     hypersonic nuclear weapons, nuclear-powered cruise missiles, 
     and multi-megaton nuclear torpedoes shot from drone 
     submarines that may be accountable under the New START 
     Treaty;
       Whereas the Russian Federation erroneously claimed that the 
     United States may have not reached New START Treaty central 
     limits by February 5, 2018, as is mandated by the Treaty;
       Whereas the Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC) is the 
     appropriate forum for the Parties to engage constructively on 
     any New START Treaty implementation issues that arise; and
       Whereas the collapse of the INF Treaty and expiration of 
     the New START Treaty would lead to the absence of any 
     binding, bilateral treaty or agreement governing United 
     States and Russian nuclear forces, which account for 90 
     percent of those currently in existence globally, for the 
     first time since 1972: Now, therefore be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the United States should continue to encourage all 
     States Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of 
     Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to comply fully with the Treaty;
       (2) the United States should maintain support for the IAEA 
     through its assessed and voluntary contributions and promote 
     the universal adoption of the IAEA Additional Protocol;
       (3) the United States should--
       (A) consider extending the New START Treaty, within the 
     context of wider enhancement of strategic stability between 
     the United States and the Russian Federation and provided the 
     Treaty continues to advance United States national security;
       (B) assess whether Russia's recently announced nuclear 
     capabilities should be accountable under the New START 
     Treaty, and raise the issue directly with the Russian 
     Federation;
       (C) conclude an interagency process to consider an 
     extension of the New START Treaty and to engage with the 
     Russian Federation on the full range of strategic stability 
     issues and other arms control and nonproliferation issues;
       (D) begin negotiations with the Russian Federation on an 
     agreement to address the massive disparity between the 
     nonstrategic nuclear weapons stockpiles of the Russian 
     Federation and of the United States and to secure and reduce 
     nonstrategic nuclear weapons in a verifiable manner; and
       (E) consider the consequences of the New START Treaty's 
     expiration in 2021 in relation to the insights it provides 
     into the location, movement, and disposition of current and 
     future Russian strategic systems;
       (4) the United States strongly condemns the Russian 
     Federation's violations of the INF Treaty and its 
     noncompliance with its other arms control commitments and 
     treaty obligations, and urges the Russian Federation to come 
     back into full compliance;
       (5) in responding to the Russian Federation's deployment of 
     INF-range systems, advocate for those defense and deterrence 
     steps which preserve NATO alliance cohesion and are aimed at 
     averting an arms race on the European continent;
       (6) pursuit of a verifiable and comprehensive arms control 
     agreement with the Russian Federation and the People's 
     Republic of China, which may capture strategic and 
     nonstrategic nuclear weapons capabilities, would enhance 
     United States and global security by building upon other 
     treaties, agreements, and transparency measures that reduce 
     nuclear risk; and
       (7) the United States should continue to encourage 
     opportunities for cooperation with other nuclear weapon 
     possessing states to reduce the salience, number, and role of 
     nuclear weapons in their national military strategies.

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