[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 102 (Tuesday, June 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S4051]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2972. Mr. MERKLEY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
to amendment SA 2910 proposed by Mr. Shelby to the bill H.R. 5895, 
making appropriations for energy and water development and related 
agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other 
purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of title III of division A, insert the 
     following:
       Sec. 305. (a) Of the funds appropriated by this Act or 
     otherwise made available for fiscal year 2019 for the W76-2 
     warhead modification program, not more than 50 percent may be 
     obligated or expended until the date on which the Secretary 
     of Energy and the Secretary of Defense jointly submit to the 
     congressional defense committees a report--
       (1) assessing the potential effects of the modification of 
     the W76-2 warhead and the development of a low-yield nuclear 
     warhead for submarine-launched ballistic missiles on 
     strategic stability;
       (2) providing evidence for the conclusion in the 2018 
     Nuclear Posture Review that adversaries have a ``mistaken 
     perception of an exploitable `gap' '' in United States 
     regional deterrence capabilities; and
       (3) assessing options--
       (A) to reduce the risk of miscalculation associated with 
     adversaries being unable to distinguish between a submarine-
     launched ballistic missile carrying a low-yield warhead and 
     such a missile carrying several high-yield warheads; and
       (B) to preserve the survivability and the second-strike 
     capability of ballistic missile submarines without increasing 
     risk.
       (b) The report described in subsection (a) shall be 
     submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified 
     annex.
       (c) In this section, the term ``congressional defense 
     committees'' has the meaning given that term in section 
     101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code.
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