[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 61 (Wednesday, April 10, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H2261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       DOOMSDAY CLOCK IS TICKING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Khanna) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KHANNA. Mr. Speaker, the Doomsday Clock is set at 90 seconds to 
midnight, the closest it has ever been. We should heed its warning.
  We are inching dangerously close to nuclear war and must do 
everything we can to reduce the risk of nuclear catastrophe. Russia has 
threatened to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Iran is closer 
to developing the nuclear bomb. North Korea is increasing its nuclear 
arsenal. The risks of miscalculation and rapid escalation are 
exacerbating these threats.
  The nuclear arms race needs to stop. We can and must turn back the 
Doomsday Clock. We need to work with Russia and China to collectively 
reduce our stockpiles, increase transparency, reduce the risk of 
miscalculation, and avoid a dangerous arms race. Nuclear negotiation 
has always been part of the United States' history, and we must do that 
again.
  First, let's revive a version of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty 
that Richard Nixon negotiated to cap the arms race by limiting homeland 
missile defenses. This will reduce pressure on the United States, 
China, and Russia to build more nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, 
President George W. Bush withdrew from the treaty in 2002. We need to 
negotiate to reenter.

  Second, we must reenter the Treaty on Open Skies that was first 
proposed under Dwight Eisenhower and signed by President George H.W. 
Bush. Open Skies authorizes treaty parties, including the United 
States, to conduct unarmed flights that provide opportunities to 
monitor others' nuclear capabilities. Donald Trump withdrew from this 
treaty in 2020 that Republican Presidents had negotiated. We need to 
get back in.
  Third, we should restore the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty 
and expand it to include China. This was Ronald Reagan and Mikhail 
Gorbachev's achievement, yet Donald Trump withdrew from this treaty in 
2019. We need to get back in.
  Fourth, we need to resume implementation of the New START Treaty 
negotiated under President Barack Obama to limit the number of deployed 
strategic nuclear warheads. Putin suspended New START in 2023, ripping 
up the last remaining nuclear treaty with the United States. He did 
this because of our support of Ukraine. We need to pass funding for 
Ukraine to defend its sovereignty, end the war justly, and renegotiate 
New START with Russia and China.
  Lastly, we must negotiate with Russia to agree that both of our 
countries will adopt a no-first-use policy. We would be joining China 
and India, which already have this posture, unlike Russia and the 
United States. Adopting a no-first-use policy only if Russia agrees as 
well would clarify that our nuclear weapons are for deterrence and 
avoid unintentionally escalating a crisis.
  Maintaining the nuclear triad as a deterrent should not bankrupt us. 
We must cut the costs of modernization that are excessive and going to 
defense contractor lobbyists. The Air Force's new Sentinel ICBM program 
is already 37 percent over budget, costing taxpayers $132 billion. That 
is money that could be going to feed our kids in school, to help pay 
for college or vocational education, or to pay for childcare.
  I call on my colleagues in Washington to help avoid a global 
catastrophe and a nuclear arms race, to look to previous Presidents 
like Eisenhower, Reagan, Bush, Obama, and Clinton and negotiator-
statesmen to reduce the risk of nuclear war.
  We must stop this arms race. We must take our weapons off hair-
trigger alert. We must spend our tax dollars here at home, where 
Americans most need it. We must ensure diplomacy prevails, not nuclear 
war.
  As Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev said: ``A nuclear war cannot be 
won and must never be fought.''

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