[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 401 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 401

To prohibit the research and development, production, and deployment of 
   the Trident D5 low-yield nuclear warhead, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 7, 2019

Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Warren, Mrs. 
Gillibrand, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Murphy, and Mr. Sanders) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the research and development, production, and deployment of 
   the Trident D5 low-yield nuclear warhead, 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 ``Hold the Low-Yield Nuclear Explosive 
Act'' or the ``Hold the LYNE Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States has an unparalleled nuclear arsenal, 
        including 1,350 strategic nuclear warheads deployed on 
        intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched 
        ballistic missiles, and strategic bombers.
            (2) A new low-yield nuclear weapon to be carried on a 
        ballistic missile submarine risks lowering the threshold for 
        nuclear use and increasing the chance of miscalculation that 
        could escalate into all-out nuclear exchange.
            (3) When launched, such a low-yield nuclear warhead would 
        be indistinguishable to an adversary from the high-yield W76 
        and W88 submarine-launched warheads.
            (4) On January 25, 2018, former Secretary of State George 
        Schultz testified before the Committee on Armed Services of the 
        Senate that ``A nuclear weapon is a nuclear weapon. You use a 
        small one, [and] then you go to a bigger one. I think nuclear 
        weapons are nuclear weapons and we need to draw the line 
        there.''.
            (5) Former Senator Sam Nunn and former Secretary of Energy 
        Ernest Moniz stated in an op-ed on February 1, 2018, that, 
        ``The most immediate priority should be to structure and 
        posture U.S. and Russian nuclear forces to deter nuclear use 
        and reduce the risk of an accidental, mistaken or unauthorized 
        launch. Against this backdrop, the current Russian concept of 
        `escalate to de-escalate'--i.e., limited nuclear use designed 
        to create a pause in the conflict and open a pathway for a 
        negotiated settlement on Moscow's terms--and U.S. calls for 
        more `usable' nuclear weapons taken together make the world a 
        vastly more dangerous place.''.
            (6) The ballistic missile submarines of the United States 
        have never carried low-yield nuclear warheads, and setting a 
        historical precedent could undermine the unique and paramount 
        role of ballistic-missile submarines as the assured, survivable 
        second-strike capability of the United States to deter large-
        scale nuclear war.
            (7) The United States should reject policies that increase 
        the likelihood of nuclear war and weaken national security, 
        including investments in low-yield nuclear weapons.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION, AND 
              DEPLOYMENT OF TRIDENT D5 LOW-YIELD NUCLEAR WARHEAD.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none 
of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available 
for fiscal year 2019 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department 
of Defense or the Department of Energy may be obligated or expended for 
the research and development, production, or deployment of the Trident 
D5 low-yield nuclear warhead.
    (b) Conforming Repeal and Restoration.--Section 3111 of the John S. 
McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public 
Law 115-232; 132 Stat. 2289) is repealed, and the provisions of law 
amended by such section are restored as if such section had not been 
enacted.
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