Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1148 To restrict the first-use strike of nuclear weapons. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 15, 2021 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. SMITH, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To restrict the first-use strike of nuclear weapons. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restricting First Use 4 of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The Constitution gives Congress the sole 8 power to declare war. 9 (2) The framers of the Constitution understood 10 that the monumental decision to go to war, which 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1148.IS S1148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1148 IS can result in massive death and the destruction of 1 civilized society, must be made by the representa- 2 tives of the people and not by a single person. 3 (3) As stated by section 2(c) of the War Powers 4 Resolution (Public Law 93–148; 50 U.S.C. 1541), 5 ‘‘the constitutional powers of the President as Com- 6 mander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed 7 Forces into hostilities, or into situations where im- 8 minent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated 9 by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to 10 (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory au- 11 thorization, or (3) a national emergency created by 12 attack upon the United States, its territories or pos- 13 sessions, or its armed forces’’. 14 (4) Nuclear weapons are uniquely powerful 15 weapons that have the capability to instantly kill 16 millions of people, create long-term health and envi- 17 ronmental consequences throughout the world, di- 18 rectly undermine global peace, and put the United 19 States at existential risk from retaliatory nuclear 20 strikes. 21 (5) A first-use nuclear strike carried out by the 22 United States would constitute a major act of war. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1148.IS S1148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1148 IS (6) A first-use nuclear strike conducted absent 1 a declaration of war by Congress would violate the 2 Constitution. 3 (7) The President has the sole authority to au- 4 thorize the use of nuclear weapons, an order which 5 military officers of the United States must carry out 6 in accordance with their obligations under the Uni- 7 form Code of Military Justice. 8 (8) Given its exclusive power under the Con- 9 stitution to declare war, Congress must provide 10 meaningful checks and balances to the President’s 11 sole authority to authorize the use of a nuclear 12 weapon. 13 (b) DECLARATION OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 14 United States that no first-use nuclear strike should be 15 conducted absent a declaration of war by Congress. 16 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON CONDUCT OF FIRST-USE NU- 17 CLEAR STRIKES. 18 (a) PROHIBITION.—No Federal funds may be obli- 19 gated or expended to conduct a first-use nuclear strike un- 20 less such strike is conducted pursuant to a war declared 21 by Congress that expressly authorizes such strike. 22 (b) FIRST-USE NUCLEAR STRIKE DEFINED.—In this 23 section, the term ‘‘first-use nuclear strike’’ means an at- 24 tack using nuclear weapons against an enemy that is con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1148.IS S1148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1148 IS ducted without the Secretary of Defense and the Chair- 1 man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff first confirming to the 2 President that there has been a nuclear strike against the 3 United States, its territories, or its allies (as specified in 4 section 3(b)(2) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 5 2753(b)(2))). 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1148.IS S1148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS