[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 88 (Wednesday, June 3, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3697-S3698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1526. Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Mr. Franken) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 1463 proposed by Mr.
McCain to the bill H.R. 1735, to authorize appropriations for fiscal
year 2016 for military activities of the Department of Defense and for
military construction, to prescribe military personnel strengths for
such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on
the table; as follows:
At the end of title XVI, add the following:
Subtitle F--Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures
SEC. 1671. SHORT TITLE.
This subtitle may be cited as the ``Smarter Approach to
Nuclear Expenditures Act''.
SEC. 1672. 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. 1673. 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
[[Page S3698]]
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. 1674. 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 1673.
(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 1673, 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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