[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 333 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 333
Recognizing non-proliferation options for nuclear understanding to keep
everyone safe (NO NUKES).
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 2, 2009
Ms. Woolsey (for herself, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Conyers, and Mr.
Fattah) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing non-proliferation options for nuclear understanding to keep
everyone safe (NO NUKES).
Whereas nuclear weapons are inherently indiscriminate and represent a
disproportionate use of force;
Whereas, since the end of the Cold War, the United States has squandered a
superb opportunity to diminish the role of nuclear weapons in foreign
and military affairs and failed to verifiably eliminate existing stocks
of nuclear weapons as well as prevent new nuclear dangers from arising,
and consequently the threat of nuclear disaster remains unacceptably
high;
Whereas United States foreign policy is eroding the network of security treaties
that have helped to stem the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological
weapons, thus decreasing security for Americans and non-Americans alike;
Whereas the United States has a vital security interest in promoting the
nonproliferation and disarmament of nuclear weapons, since the only
genuine and permanent security from the threat of the use of nuclear
weapons is their elimination under strict and effective international
control;
Whereas the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) (21 UST
483) entered into force and became part of United States law on March 5,
1970;
Whereas more countries (a total of 188) have ratified the NPT than any other
arms limitation and disarmament agreement, a testament to the
significance of the NPT;
Whereas the United States has undertaken, in accordance with article VI of the
NPT, 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 the long-term viability of the nonproliferation goal is at risk if the
United States fails to implement its article VI obligations;
Whereas the United States agreed, in connection with the indefinite extension of
the NPT in 1995, to the ``determined pursuit'' of ``systematic and
progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally, with the
ultimate goal of eliminating those weapons'', including a pledge to
complete negotiations on a ``universal and internationally and
effectively verifiable Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty no later
than 1996'';
Whereas, on July 8, 1996, the International Court of Justice, in response to a
request for an advisory opinion from the United Nations General
Assembly, concluded that--
(1) ``the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be
considered contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed
conflict'';
(2) ``there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to
conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects
under strict and effective international control''; and
(3) ``[t]he legal import of [the NPT article VI] obligation . . . is an
obligation to achieve a precise result--nuclear disarmament in all its
aspects--by adopting a particular course of conduct, namely, the pursuit of
negotiations on the matter in good faith'';
Whereas, from April 24 to May 19, 2000, the United States and all NPT parties
participating in the 2000 NPT Review Conference unanimously agreed to 13
steps for the systematic implementation of article VI, including--
(1) an unequivocal undertaking to eliminate their nuclear arsenals;
(2) prompt ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty;
(3) full implementation of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty II
(START II) (ratified on January 26, 1996) and conclusion of negotiations on
the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty III (START III) as soon as possible,
while preserving and strengthening the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (23
UST 3435; entered into force on October 3, 1972);
(4) taking concrete measures to reduce the operational status of
nuclear weapons;
(5) taking irreversible measures toward total nuclear disarmament;
(6) increasing transparency regarding nuclear weapons capabilities; and
(7) diminishing the role of nuclear weapons in security policies;
Whereas the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), signed on May 24, 2002
(ratified on March 6, 2003), by President George W. Bush, fails to
incorporate key elements of the START II and START III agreements
regarding the destruction of delivery vehicles and the dismantlement of
warheads, and it fails to provide new verification procedures necessary
to effect transparent, meaningful, and permanent reductions crucial to
the de-nuclearization process;
Whereas the SORT called for a decrease in the number of deployed strategic
nuclear warheads, but projected storage of thousands of strategic
warheads, including many capable of quick redeployment;
Whereas rather than affirming the United States obligations under the NPT, the
January 9, 2002, Department of Defense Nuclear Posture Review (NPR)
called for a New Strategic Triad consisting of nuclear and conventional
offensive strike systems integrated with active and passive defenses and
a revitalized defense infrastructure with new capabilities;
Whereas the NPR--
(1) projected indefinite retention of a large, modern, and diverse
nuclear force totalling many thousands of weapons;
(2) maintains and expands the role of nuclear weapons in United States
national security policy, including the use of nuclear weapons in
``immediate, potential, or unexpected contingencies'';
(3) reiterated Administration plans not to support ratification of the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty;
(4) pledged to increase readiness to resume nuclear testing and proceed
with development of a Ballistic Missile Defense; and
(5) called for the development of new nuclear weapons capabilities for
a wide range of missions, including nuclear earth-penetrating weapons to
strike hardened and deeply buried targets, and low-yield nuclear warheads;
Whereas rather than affirming the United States obligations under the NPT, the
September 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States set forth
an aggressive policy of preventive self-defense in which ``America will
act against . . . emerging threats before they are fully formed'';
Whereas rather than affirming the United States obligations under the NPT, the
December 2002 National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction
(WMD) stated that ``The United States . . . reserves the right to
respond with overwhelming force--including through resort to all of our
options--to the use of WMD against the United States, our forces abroad,
and friends and allies'', with both ``conventional and nuclear
response'' capabilities;
Whereas the above-detailed policies and programs of the United States are--
(1) antithetical to United States obligations under the NPT;
(2) contrary to fundamental requirements of international law, because
the United Nations Charter does not permit preventive war;
(3) counterproductive, because United States reliance on nuclear
weapons encourages other countries to acquire them, ultimately increasing
the likelihood that a nuclear weapon will be used against the United
States;
(4) dangerous, because the assertion of the United States of a right to
engage in preventive war encourages other countries to assert the same
right; and
(5) immoral, because they place a threat of mass destruction, and the
assertion of a right to initiate war, at the core of United States foreign
policy;
Whereas nonproliferation strategies based on internationally accepted standards
of behavior, ranging from treaties to enforcement mechanisms such as on-
site inspections, technical surveillance, intelligence sharing, and the
destruction of all such weapons of mass destruction, are designed to
prevent the proliferation and development of all forms of WMD, so that
hostile countries and entities either are unable to procure WMD or are
required not to use WMD;
Whereas nonproliferation strategies emphasizing reciprocity and cooperation that
are consistent with international law have been used successfully for
the last 50 years, while counterproliferation strategies based primarily
on the unilateral use of force, outside the framework of international
organizations and agreements, are likely to lead to the disintegration
of existing arms control and nonproliferation mechanisms and a renewed,
more complex arms race; and
Whereas former United States national security officials Henry Kissinger, Sam
Nunn, George Schultz, and Bill Perry called for establishing a goal for
the global elimination of nuclear weapons: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) requests the President to inform Congress and the
Secretary General of the United Nations regarding the efforts
and measures the United States has taken with respect to--
(A) implementation and observance of article VI of
the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
(NPT) (21 UST 483);
(B) implementation and observance of United Nations
General Assembly Resolution 52/38O and subsequent
resolutions related to the July 1996 advisory opinion
of the International Court of Justice, which called
upon all countries to fulfill their nuclear disarmament
obligation by commencing multilateral negotiations
leading to the early conclusion of a nuclear weapons
convention;
(C) implementation and observance of United Nations
General Assembly Resolution 55/33C and subsequent
resolutions welcoming the outcome of the 2000 NPT
Review Conference, and affirming that ``a nuclear
weapon free world will ultimately require the
underpinning of a universal and multilaterally
negotiated legally binding instrument''; and
(D) nuclear disarmament;
(2) calls on the President to implement and observe all NPT
obligations and commitments and to revise national policies on
nuclear weapons accordingly; and
(3) urges the President, in the interests of protecting and
advancing human, national, and global security, to--
(A) declare unconditionally that the United States
will not use nuclear weapons first, and that pending
their elimination, nuclear weapons serve only to deter
a nuclear attack by a hostile country or other entity;
(B) initiate and conclude multilateral negotiations
on sweeping, verifiable, and irreversible steps that
countries with nuclear capability shall take to reduce
and eventually eliminate strategic and tactical nuclear
weapons and their delivery systems;
(C) begin verifiable and irreversible reductions in
the United States strategic and tactical nuclear
weapons and their delivery systems;
(D) cooperate with the Russian Federation to remove
from deployment nuclear weapons that presently are
operational and ready to be launched on short notice;
(E) reaffirm the moratorium on nuclear testing and
work for ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty at the earliest possible date;
(F) terminate all efforts aimed at enhancing the
military capabilities of the United States nuclear
arsenal, including research and development for both
low-yield nuclear weapons and the ``robust nuclear
earth penetrator'' (commonly referred to as ``bunker-
busters'');
(G) terminate all plans for upgrades to existing
weapons research and production facilities, and
construction of new facilities, including those for
plutonium pit manufacturing and tritium production;
(H) terminate the declared United States policy of
preventive warfare as a response to threats from
weapons of mass destruction (WMD);
(I) obtain the approval of the Senate or the entire
Congress as a condition for withdrawal from and
termination of both existing and future security
treaties;
(J) terminate development of ballistic missile
defenses and initiate multilateral negotiations to
eliminate ballistic missiles; and
(K) support initiatives and multilateral
negotiations to ban weapons in outer space.
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