[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 109 (Thursday, June 28, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4743-S4744]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 562--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE 
 TREATY ON THE NON-PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS (NPT) CONTINUES TO 
  MAKE AN INVALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES AND INTERNATIONAL 
    SECURITY, 50 YEARS AFTER IT OPENED FOR SIGNATURE ON JULY 1, 1968

  Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. 
Warren, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Smith, Mr. Markey, and Mr. Brown) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                              S. Res. 562

       Whereas the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear 
     Weapons (NPT) opened for signature 50 years ago on July 1, 
     1968;
       Whereas the United States and former Soviet Union averted a 
     catastrophic nuclear exchange during the October 1962 Cuban 
     Missile Crisis, which led to a series of bilateral and 
     multilateral agreements to lessen the chance of nuclear war, 
     including the NPT;
       Whereas President John F. Kennedy predicted in 1963 that as 
     many as 25 countries would acquire nuclear weapons by 1970 
     absent a treaty to control nuclear weapons;
       Whereas the United States Senate provided its advice and 
     consent to the NPT on March 13, 1969, with a vote on 
     ratification of 83 to 15;
       Whereas the NPT has grown to include 191 State Parties, 
     making an irreplaceable contribution to United States 
     national and international security by preventing the spread 
     of nuclear weapons;
       Whereas Article III of the NPT obligates each non-nuclear 
     weapon state to the NPT to conclude a Safeguards Agreement 
     with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to verify 
     treaty compliance, 174 of which are Comprehensive Safeguards 
     Agreements crafted to detect the diversion of nuclear 
     materials from peaceful to non-peaceful uses;
       Whereas the 2018 Department of Defense Nuclear Posture 
     Review affirms, ``The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) 
     is a cornerstone of the nuclear nonproliferation regime. It 
     plays a positive role in building consensus for non-
     proliferation and enhances international efforts to impose 
     costs on those that would pursue nuclear weapons outside the 
     Treaty.'';
       Whereas the success of the NPT has and will continue to 
     depend upon the full implementation by all States Parties of 
     the Treaty's three mutually reinforcing pillars: 
     nonproliferation, access to peaceful uses of nuclear energy, 
     and disarmament;
       Whereas over the past half century, the United States has 
     exhibited leadership in strengthening each of the NPT's three 
     pillars for the global good, including--
       (1) reducing its nuclear weapons stockpile of more than 85 
     percent from its Cold War heights of 31,225 in parallel with 
     equally massive reductions of Russia's stockpile through 
     bilateral coordination;
       (2) cooperating with Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Belarus--to 
     facilitate the surrender of nuclear weapons on their soil 
     after the fall of the Soviet Union--leading to each country's 
     accession to the NPT as non-nuclear weapons states;
       (3) providing voluntary contributions to the IAEA Peaceful 
     Uses Initiative exceeded more than $320,000,000 since 2010 to 
     help in the treatment of cancer and in other life-saving 
     applications; and
       (4) extending deterrence to United States allies in the 
     North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Japan, and the 
     Republic of Korea--which is an unmistakable demonstration of 
     the United States commitment to collective security;

       Whereas heightened geopolitical tensions in recent years 
     have made cooperation on nonproliferation and arms control 
     issues with the Russian Federation more challenging;
       Whereas a range of actions by the Government of the Russian 
     Federation has led to a deterioration in bilateral relations 
     with the United States, including Russia's brazen 
     interference in the 2016 United States presidential 
     elections, its violation of the Treaty between the United 
     States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 
     on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-
     Range Missiles (commonly known as the ``INF Treaty''), signed 
     at Washington, D.C., December 8, 1987, and entered into force 
     June 1, 1988 , its illegal annexation of Crimea, its invasion 
     of Eastern Ukraine, and its destabilizing actions in Syria; 
     and
       Whereas within a difficult environment, preserving 
     agreements that continue to contribute to United States and 
     global security, particularly 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 April 8, 2010, and entered into force February 
     5, 2011 (commonly known as the ``New START Treaty''), is all 
     the more essential, and that to that end, the Department of 
     State confirmed in February 2018 that Russia had met New 
     START's Central Treaty Limits and stated that 
     ``implementation of the New START Treaty enhances the safety 
     and security of the United States'': Now, therefore be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) any United States negotiated agreement with the 
     Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on 
     denuclearization must require it to return to the NPT as a 
     Party in good standing;
       (2) the United States must maintain support for the IAEA 
     through its assessed and voluntary contributions and promote 
     the universal adoption of the IAEA Additional Protocol;
       (3) the United States and its allies should pursue 
     diplomatic efforts to ensure that the Islamic Republic of 
     Iran remains in compliance with the NPT, as the 2016 and 2017 
     Reports on Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, 
     Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments 
     both affirmed;
       (4) the United States should enter into negotiations on the 
     extension of the New START Treaty until 2026, which would 
     make any current or future Russian strategic systems of a 
     range greater than 5,500 kilometers accountable under the 
     Treaty;
       (5) the United States should work to resolve Russia's 
     violation of the INF Treaty;
       (6) all countries who have yet to ratify the Comprehensive 
     Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, done at New York September 10, 1996, 
     including the United States, should venture to create the 
     conditions that allow for entry-into-force of the Treaty, and 
     should observe a moratorium on nuclear testing until that 
     time; and
       (7) the United States Government should continue to 
     encourage opportunities for cooperation with other nuclear 
     possessing states to reduce the salience, number, and role of 
     nuclear weapons in global military strategies.

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