[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 831 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 831

To reduce the number of nuclear-armed submarines operated by the Navy, 
  to prohibit the development of a new long-range penetrating bomber 
aircraft, to prohibit the procurement of new intercontinental ballistic 
                   missiles, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 23, 2015

  Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Franken) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                      Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To reduce the number of nuclear-armed submarines operated by the Navy, 
  to prohibit the development of a new long-range penetrating bomber 
aircraft, to prohibit the procurement of new intercontinental ballistic 
                   missiles, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Smarter Approach to Nuclear 
Expenditures Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the Soviet Union no 
        longer exists, and the Cold War is over. The nature of threats 
        to the national security and military interests of the United 
        States has changed. However, the United States continues to 
        maintain an enormous arsenal of nuclear weapons and delivery 
        systems that were devised with the Cold War in mind.
            (2) The current nuclear arsenal of the United States 
        includes approximately 5,000 total nuclear warheads, of which 
        approximately 2,000 are deployed with three delivery 
        components: long-range strategic bomber aircraft, land-based 
        intercontinental ballistic missiles, and submarine-launched 
        ballistic missiles. The bomber fleet of the United States 
        comprises 93 B-52 and 20 B-2 aircraft. The United States 
        maintains 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles. The United 
        States also maintains 14 Ohio-class submarines, up to 12 of 
        which are deployed at sea. Each of those submarines is armed 
        with up to 96 independently targetable nuclear warheads.
            (3) This Cold War-based approach to nuclear security comes 
        at significant cost. Over the next 10 years, the United States 
        will spend hundreds of billions of dollars maintaining its 
        nuclear force. A substantial decrease in spending on the 
        nuclear arsenal of the United States is prudent for both the 
        budget and national security.
            (4) The national security interests of the United States 
        can be well served by reducing the total number of deployed 
        nuclear warheads and their delivery systems, as stated by the 
        Department of Defense's June 2013 nuclear policy guidance 
        entitled, ``Report on Nuclear Employment Strategy of the United 
        States''. This guidance found that force levels under the 
        Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of 
        Strategic Offensive Arms, signed on April 8, 2010, and entered 
        into force on February 5, 2011, between the United States and 
        the Russian Federation (commonly known as the ``New START 
        Treaty'') ``are more than adequate for what the United States 
        needs to fulfill its national security objectives'' and that 
        the force can be reduced by up to \1/3\ below levels under the 
        New START Treaty to 1,000 to 1,100 warheads.
            (5) Even without additional reductions in deployed 
        strategic warheads, the United States can save tens of billions 
        of dollars by deploying those warheads more efficiently on 
        delivery systems and by deferring production of new delivery 
        systems until they are needed.
            (6) Economic security and national security are linked and 
        both will be well served by smart defense spending. Admiral 
        Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated on 
        June 24, 2010, ``Our national debt is our biggest national 
        security threat'' and on August 2, 2011, stated, ``I haven't 
        changed my view that the continually increasing debt is the 
        biggest threat we have to our national security.''.
            (7) The Government Accountability Office has found that 
        there is significant waste in the construction of the nuclear 
        facilities of the National Nuclear Security Administration of 
        the Department of Energy.

SEC. 3. REDUCTION IN NUCLEAR FORCES.

    (a) Prohibition on New Long-Range Penetrating Bomber Aircraft.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds 
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for any of 
fiscal years 2015 through 2024 for the Department of Defense may be 
obligated or expended for the research, development, test, and 
evaluation or procurement of a long-range penetrating bomber aircraft.
    (b) Prohibition on F-35 Nuclear Mission.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or 
otherwise made available for fiscal year 2015 or any fiscal year 
thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department of Energy 
may be used to make the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft capable of 
carrying nuclear weapons.
    (c) Reduction in the B61 Life Extension Program.--Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be 
appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2015 or any 
fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department 
of Energy may be obligated or expended for the B61 life extension 
program until the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy 
jointly certify to Congress that the total cost of the B61 life 
extension program has been reduced to not more than $4,000,000,000.
    (d) Termination of W78 Life Extension Program.--Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated 
or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2015 or any fiscal year 
thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department of Energy 
may be obligated or expended for the W78 life extension program.
    (e) Reduction of Nuclear-Armed Submarines.--Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, beginning in fiscal year 2021, the forces of 
the Navy shall include not more than eight ballistic-missile submarines 
available for deployment.
    (f) Limitation on SSBN-X Submarines.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law--
            (1) none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or 
        otherwise made available for any of fiscal years 2015 through 
        2024 for the Department of Defense may be obligated or expended 
        for the procurement of an SSBN-X submarine; and
            (2) none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or 
        otherwise made available for fiscal year 2025 or any fiscal 
        year thereafter for the Department of Defense may be obligated 
        or expended for the procurement of more than eight such 
        submarines.
    (g) Prohibition on New Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds 
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for any of 
fiscal years 2015 through 2024 for the Department of Defense may be 
obligated or expended for the research, development, test, and 
evaluation or procurement of a new intercontinental ballistic missile.
    (h) Termination of Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility Project.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds 
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal 
year 2015 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense 
or the Department of Energy may be obligated or expended for the Mixed 
Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project.
    (i) Termination of Uranium Processing Facility.--Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be 
appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2015 or any 
fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department 
of Energy may be obligated or expended for the Uranium Processing 
Facility located at the Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge, 
Tennessee.
    (j) Prohibition on New Air Launched Cruise Missile.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds 
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal 
year 2015 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense 
or the Department of Energy may be obligated or expended for the 
research, development, test, and evaluation or procurement of a new 
air-launched cruise missile or for the W80 warhead life extension 
program.

SEC. 4. REPORTS REQUIRED.

    (a) Initial Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 
Energy shall jointly submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 
report outlining the plan of each Secretary to carry out section 3.
    (b) Annual Report.--Not later than March 1, 2016, and annually 
thereafter, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy shall 
jointly submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 
outlining the plan of each Secretary to carry out section 3, including 
any updates to previously submitted reports.
    (c) Annual Nuclear Weapons Accounting.--Not later than September 
30, 2016, and annually thereafter, the President shall transmit to the 
appropriate committees of Congress a report containing a comprehensive 
accounting by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget of 
the amounts obligated and expended by the Federal Government for each 
nuclear weapon and related nuclear program during--
            (1) the fiscal year covered by the report; and
            (2) the life cycle of such weapon or program.
    (d) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on 
        Foreign Relations, the Committee on Appropriations, and the 
        Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate; and
            (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on 
        Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee 
        on Energy and Commerce, and the Committee on Natural Resources 
        of the House of Representatives.
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