[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 19, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2443-S2444]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 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

  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:

                              S. Res. 593

       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

[[Page S2444]]

       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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