[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 593 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 593

 Expressing support for the continued value of arms control agreements 
  and condemning the Russian Federation's purported suspension of its 
                 participation in the New START Treaty.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 19, 2024

 Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Warren, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. 
    Wyden, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Sanders) 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 condemning the Russian Federation's purported suspension of its 
                 participation in the New START Treaty.

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 ``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 United States, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of 
        Great Britain and Northern Ireland signed the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, 
        committing ``to respect the independence and sovereignty and the 
        existing borders of Ukraine'' and ``to refrain from the threat or use of 
        force'' against the country;
Whereas the United States has a history of leadership in preventing the spread 
        of nuclear weapons, including its work with Ukraine, the United Kingdom, 
        and the Russian Federation to ensure Ukraine did not retain any nuclear 
        weapons left on its territory when it became independent;
Whereas the Russian Federation further 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 10,000 
        civilians and more than 560 children killed, along with the displacement 
        of over 6,400,000 Ukrainians and an enduring global food crisis;
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 United States' and its Western allies' 
        unequivocal condemnation 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 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 on April 8, 2010, and entered into force on 
        February 5, 2011 (commonly referred to 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 New START 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 non-deployed strategic launchers;
Whereas New START has permitted robust and strict transparency and verification 
        measures and on-site 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 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, and 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 a new framework for nuclear arms control after the 
        expiration of New START would affect strategic stability and increase 
        the risk of an unrestrained nuclear arms race with the Russian 
        Federation: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) condemns in the strongest terms the Russian 
        Federation's nuclear escalatory rhetoric and veiled threats on 
        the potential use of nuclear weapons to further its invasion 
        and aggression against 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;
            (4) emphasizes the continued value of arms control 
        agreements between the United States and the Russian 
        Federation;
            (5) calls for the Russian Federation to promptly return to 
        full implementation of the New START Treaty, including on-site 
        inspections, provision of treaty-mandated notifications and 
        data, and resumption of Bilateral Consultative Commission 
        meetings;
            (6) calls on the President 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 involving the 5 permanent 
        members of the United Nations Security Council; and
            (7) calls on the President to continue to pursue nuclear 
        arms control and risk reduction dialogue with the Russian 
        Federation to maintain strategic stability, ensure the conflict 
        in Ukraine does not escalate to nuclear use, and avoid an 
        unrestrained nuclear arms race.
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