119-s192

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 192 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 192

 To restrict the first-use strike of nuclear weapons.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 January 22, 2025

 Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Warren, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. 
Welch, Mr. Sanders, and Mr. Wyden) introduced the following bill; which 
 was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To restrict the first-use strike of nuclear weapons.

 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 ``Restricting First Use of Nuclear 
Weapons Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY.

    (a) 

=== Findings ===
-Congress finds the following:

    (1) The Constitution gives Congress the sole power to 
 declare war.

    (2) The framers of the Constitution understood that the 
 monumental decision to go to war, which can result in massive 
 death and the destruction of civilized society, must be made by 
 the representatives of the people and not by a single person.

    (3) As stated by 

section 2
            (c) of the War Powers Resolution 
 (Public Law 93-148; 50 U.S.C. 1541), ``the constitutional 
 powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce 
 United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations 
 where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated 
 by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to

    (1) a 
 declaration of war,

    (2) specific statutory authorization, or

    (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United 
 States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces''.

    (4) Nuclear weapons are uniquely powerful weapons that have 
 the capability to instantly kill millions of people, create 
 long-term health and environmental consequences throughout the 
 world, directly undermine global peace, and put the United 
 States at existential risk from retaliatory nuclear strikes.

    (5) A first-use nuclear strike carried out by the United 
 States would constitute a major act of war.

    (6) A first-use nuclear strike conducted absent a 
 declaration of war by Congress would violate the Constitution.

    (7) The President has the sole authority to authorize the 
 use of nuclear weapons, an order which military officers of the 
 United States must carry out in accordance with their 
 obligations under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

    (8) Given its exclusive power under the Constitution to 
 declare war, Congress must provide meaningful checks and 
 balances to the President's sole authority to authorize the use 
 of a nuclear weapon.

    (b) Declaration of 

=== Policy ===
-It is the policy of the United States 
that no first-use nuclear strike should be conducted absent a 
declaration of war by Congress.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON CONDUCT OF FIRST-USE NUCLEAR STRIKES.

    (a) Prohibition.--No Federal funds may be obligated or expended to 
conduct a first-use nuclear strike unless such strike is conducted 
pursuant to a war declared by Congress that expressly authorizes such 
strike.

    (b) First-Use Nuclear Strike Defined.--In this section, the term 
``first-use nuclear strike'' means an attack using nuclear weapons 
against an enemy that is conducted without the Secretary of Defense and 
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff first confirming to the 
President that there has been a nuclear strike against the United 
States, its territories, or its allies (as specified in 

section 3

    (b)

    (2) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2753

    (b)

    (2) )).
 <all>