[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1931 Introduced in Senate (IS)]


109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1931

   To state the policy of the United States on the intercontinental 
                        ballistic missile force.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 27, 2005

 Mr. Conrad (for himself, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Burns, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Enzi, 
        Mr. Salazar, and Mr. Thomas) introduced the following bill; 
        which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed 
        ServicesYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To state the policy of the United States on the intercontinental 
                        ballistic missile force.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES ON THE INTERCONTINENTAL 
              BALLISTIC MISSILE FORCE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Consistent with warhead levels agreed to in the Moscow 
        Treaty, the United States is permanently modifying the capacity 
        of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) 
        from its prior capability to carry up to three independent 
        reentry vehicles to a single reentry vehicle system, a process 
        known as downloading.
            (2) Through the downloading process and the elimination of 
        the Peacekeeper (MX) intercontinental ballistic missile, the 
        United States is now transitioning to a land-based 
        intercontinental ballistic missile force of 500 Minuteman III 
        missiles, each equipped with a single nuclear warhead.
            (3) A series of Department of Defense studies of United 
        States strategic forces has confirmed the need for 500 
        Minuteman III missiles with a single warhead, including the 
        1993 Nuclear Posture Review, the 2001 Nuclear Posture Review, 
        and an ongoing assessment by retired General Larry Welch.
            (4) In a potential nuclear crisis it is important that the 
        nuclear weapons systems of the United States be configured so 
        as to discourage other nations from making a first strike, and 
        downloading Minuteman III missiles further reduces the 
        likelihood of any country preemptively attacking the 
        intercontinental ballistic missile force of the United States.
            (5) The intercontinental ballistic missile force is 
        currently being considered as part of the deliberations of the 
        Department of Defense for the Quadrennial Defense Review.
    (b) Statement of United States Policy.--It is the policy of the 
United States to continue to transition to an intercontinental 
ballistic missile force with 500 missiles each equipped with a single 
nuclear warhead.
    (c) Moscow Treaty Defined.--In this section, the term ``Moscow 
Treaty'' means the Treaty Between the United States of America and the 
Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions, done at Moscow on 
May 24, 2002.
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