119-sres61

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 61 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
S. RES. 61

 Expressing support for the continued value of arms control agreements 
 and negotiated constraints on Russian and Chinese strategic nuclear 
 forces.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 February 5, 2025

 Mr. Markey submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
 the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

 Expressing support for the continued value of arms control agreements 
 and negotiated constraints on Russian and Chinese strategic nuclear 
 forces.

Whereas the United States maintains bipartisan support to ensure national 
 security and the defense of United States allies and partners;
Whereas President Ronald Reagan stated that ``a nuclear war cannot be won and 
 must never be fought'' in his 1984 State of the Union Address, and 
 affirmed the conviction with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985;
Whereas, in January 2022, President Joseph R. Biden joined the leaders of the 
 People's Republic of China, the French Republic, the Russian Federation, 
 and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to reaffirm 
 that ``a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought'';
Whereas the Russian Federation illegally invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, 
 and has used veiled and blatant nuclear saber rattling in service of its 
 war of aggression against a sovereign state;
Whereas the war has led to thousands of casualties, including over 40,000 
 civilians and more than 650 children killed, along with the displacement 
 of over 10,000,000 Ukrainians;
Whereas the Russian Federation's illegal war against Ukraine represents the 
 greatest threat to European security and freedom in a generation;
Whereas, on February 27, 2022, President of Russia Vladimir Putin ordered his 
 military to put Russia's nuclear forces on ``special combat readiness'' 
 in an escalatory response to the unequivocal condemnation from the 
 United States and its western allies of the Russian Federation's illegal 
 invasion of Ukraine;
Whereas, on September 21, 2022, President Putin warned he was ``not bluffing'' 
 when he said Russia has ``various weapons of mass destruction'' and 
 ``will use all the means available to us'' to defend its territory 
 shortly before annexing additional Ukrainian lands through 
 ``referendums'';
Whereas, in February 2021, the United States and the Russian Federation extended 
 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 April 8, 2010, and entered into force 
 February 5, 2011 (commonly known as the ``New START Treaty'') for 5 
 years until February 5, 2026;
Whereas, on February 21, 2023, President Putin announced the Russian 
 Federation's purported suspension of the New START Treaty, the last 
 major remaining bilateral nuclear arms control agreement, in a move 
 deemed legally invalid by the United States;
Whereas the New START Treaty has had bipartisan support and limits the Russian 
 nuclear arsenal to 1,550 warheads on no more than 700 deployed delivery 
 vehicles, and to 800 deployed and nondeployed strategic launchers;
Whereas the New START Treaty has permitted robust and strict transparency and 
 verification measures and onsite inspections, which have provided 
 valuable insight into Russia's nuclear arsenal;
Whereas the United States has decades of bipartisan leadership in nuclear arms 
 control, including cooperation with the Soviet Union and the Russian 
 Federation even when relations were strained;
Whereas, in June 2023, the United States Government announced it is now ready to 
 engage in a dialogue with the Russian Federation on a post-2026 nuclear 
 arms control framework and is ``prepared to stick to the central limits 
 as long as Russia does'' while also stating a ``willingness to engage in 
 bilateral arms control discussions'' with the Russian Federation and the 
 People's Republic of China ``without preconditions'';
Whereas the Department of State said in a report to Congress released in January 
 2024, ``The United States assesses that the Russian Federation likely 
 did not exceed the New START Treaty's deployed warhead limit in 2023.'';
Whereas Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on September 28, 2024, at a 
 United Nations General Assembly meeting that Russia continues to comply 
 with the New START Treaty numerical limits;
Whereas the nuclear weapon states recognized by the Treaty on the Non-
 Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, done at Washington, London, and Moscow 
 July 1, 1968 (commonly referred to as the ``Nuclear Nonproliferation 
 Treaty'' or ``NPT''), including the Russian Federation, the United 
 States, as well as the People's Republic of China, have an obligation to 
 ``pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to 
 cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear 
 disarmament'';
Whereas, in November 2023, senior United States and Chinese officials held ``a 
 candid and in-depth discussion on issues related to arms control and 
 nonproliferation as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of 
 communication and responsibly manage the U.S.-PRC relationship''; and
Whereas the absence of agreed limits on the United States and Russian strategic 
 nuclear arsenals after the expiration of the New START Treaty would 
 affect strategic stability and increase the risk of a costly and 
 unrestrained nuclear arms race: Now, therefore, be it
 Resolved, That the Senate--

    (1) condemns in the strongest terms the use of nuclear 
 escalatory rhetoric and veiled threats to potentially use 
 nuclear weapons in the context of the illegal invasion of a 
 free and independent Ukraine;

    (2) condemns the Russian Federation's purported suspension 
 of its participation in the New START Treaty;

    (3) calls for immediate cessation of nuclear saber rattling 
 and nuclear escalatory rhetoric from the Russian Federation, or 
 by any other nuclear-armed state;

    (4) emphasizes the continued value of arms control 
 agreements between the United States and the Russian 
 Federation, which possess the world's largest nuclear arsenals;

    (5) calls for the Russian Federation to promptly return to 
 full implementation of the New START Treaty, including onsite 
 inspections, provision of treaty-mandated notifications and 
 data, and resumption of Bilateral Consultative Commission 
 meetings;

    (6) calls on the administration to continue to actively 
 pursue a dialogue with the Russian Federation on a new nuclear 
 arms control framework and on risk reduction in order to 
 maintain strategic stability, ensure the conflict in Ukraine 
 does not escalate to nuclear use, and avoid an unrestrained 
 nuclear arms race following the expiration of the New START 
 Treaty;

    (7) calls upon the United States and the Russian Federation 
 to continue to respect the numerical constraints on the 
 strategic deployed nuclear forces established by the New START 
 Treaty until such time as a new nuclear arms control framework 
 is established; and

    (8) calls on the administration to continue to engage the 
 People's Republic of China in further bilateral talks on 
 nuclear risk reduction and arms control, and to pursue new 
 multilateral arms control efforts.
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