Smarter Approaches to Nuclear Expenditures Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1862 To reduce spending on nuclear weapons and related defense spending and to prohibit the procurement and deployment of low-yield nuclear war- heads, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 26, 2021 Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To reduce spending on nuclear weapons and related defense spending and to prohibit the procurement and deploy- ment of low-yield nuclear warheads, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Smarter Approaches 4 to Nuclear Expenditures Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1862 IS (1) The United States continues to maintain an 1 excessively large and costly arsenal of nuclear deliv- 2 ery systems and warheads that are a holdover from 3 the Cold War. 4 (2) The current nuclear arsenal of the United 5 States includes approximately 3,800 total nuclear 6 warheads in its military stockpile, of which approxi- 7 mately 1,750 are deployed with five delivery compo- 8 nents: land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, 9 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, long-range 10 strategic bomber aircraft armed with nuclear gravity 11 bombs, long-range strategic bomber aircraft armed 12 with nuclear-armed air-launched cruise missiles, and 13 short-range fighter aircraft that can deliver nuclear 14 gravity bombs. The strategic bomber fleet of the 15 United States comprises 87 B–52 and 20 B–2 air- 16 craft, over 60 of which contribute to the nuclear 17 mission. The United States also maintains 400 18 intercontinental ballistic missiles and 14 Ohio-class 19 submarines, up to 12 of which are deployed. Each 20 of those submarines is armed with approximately 90 21 nuclear warheads. 22 (3) Between fiscal years 2021 and 2030, the 23 United States will spend an estimated 24 $634,000,000,000 to maintain and recapitalize its 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1862 IS nuclear force, according to a January 2019 estimate 1 from the Congressional Budget Office, an increase of 2 $140,000,000,000 from the Congressional Budget 3 Office’s 2019 estimate, with 36 percent of that addi- 4 tional cost stemming ‘‘mainly from new plans for 5 modernizing [the Department of Energy’s] produc- 6 tion facilities and from [the Department of De- 7 fense’s] modernization programs moving more fully 8 into production’’. 9 (4) Adjusted for inflation, the Congressional 10 Budget Office estimates that the United States will 11 spend $1,700,000,000,000 through fiscal year 2046 12 on new nuclear weapons and modernization and in- 13 frastructure programs. 14 (5) Inaccurate budget forecasting is likely to 15 continue to plague the Department of Defense and 16 the Department of Energy, as evidenced by the fis- 17 cal year 2021 budget request of the President for 18 the National Nuclear Security Administration 19 ‘‘Weapon Activities’’ account, which far exceeded 20 what the National Nuclear Security Administration 21 had projected in its fiscal year 2020 request and 22 what it had projected in previous years. 23 (6) The projected growth in nuclear weapons 24 spending is coming due as the Department of De- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1862 IS fense is seeking to replace large portions of its con- 1 ventional forces to better compete with the Russian 2 Federation and the People’s Republic of China and 3 as internal and external fiscal pressures are likely to 4 limit the growth of, and perhaps reduce, military 5 spending. As then-Air Force Chief of Staff General 6 Dave Goldfein said in 2020, ‘‘I think a debate is 7 that this will be the first time that the nation has 8 tried to simultaneously modernize the nuclear enter- 9 prise while it’s trying to modernize an aging conven- 10 tional enterprise. The current budget does not allow 11 you to do both.’’. 12 (7) In 2017, the Government Accountability Of- 13 fice concluded that National Nuclear Security Ad- 14 ministration’s budget forecasts for out-year spending 15 downplayed the fact that the agency lacked the re- 16 sources to complete multiple, simultaneous billion 17 dollar modernization projects and recommended that 18 the National Nuclear Security Administration con- 19 sider ‘‘deferring the start of or cancelling specific 20 modernization programs’’. 21 (8) According to the Government Accountability 22 Office, the National Nuclear Security Administration 23 has still not factored affordability concerns into its 24 planning as was recommended by the Government 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1862 IS Accountability Office in 2017, with the warning that 1 ‘‘it is essential for NNSA to present information to 2 Congress and other key decision maker indicating 3 whether the agency has prioritized certain mod- 4 ernization programs or considered trade-offs (such 5 as deferring or cancelling specific modernization pro- 6 grams)’’. 7 (9) A December 2020 Congressional Budget 8 Office analysis showed that the projected costs of 9 nuclear forces over the next decade can be reduced 10 by $12,400,000,000 to $13,600,000,000 by trim- 11 ming back current plans, while still maintaining a 12 triad of delivery systems. Even larger savings would 13 accrue over the subsequent decade. 14 (10) The Department of Defense’s June 2013 15 nuclear policy guidance entitled ‘‘Report on Nuclear 16 Employment Strategy of the United States’’ found 17 that force levels under the April 2010 Treaty on 18 Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation 19 of Strategic Offensive Arms between the United 20 States and the Russian Federation (commonly 21 known as the ‘‘New START Treaty’’) ‘‘are more 22 than adequate for what the United States needs to 23 fulfill its national security objectives’’ and can be re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1862 IS duced by up to 1⁄3 below levels under the New 1 START Treaty to 1,000 to 1,100 warheads. 2 (11) Former President Trump expanded the 3 role of, and spending on, nuclear weapons in United 4 States policy at the same time that he withdrew 5 from, unsigned, or otherwise terminated a series of 6 important arms control and nonproliferation agree- 7 ments. 8 SEC. 3. REDUCTIONS IN NUCLEAR FORCES. 9 (a) REDUCTION OF NUCLEAR-ARMED SUB- 10 MARINES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 11 none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or other- 12 wise made available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year 13 thereafter for the Department of Defense may be obli- 14 gated or expended for purchasing more than eight Colum- 15 bia-class submarines. 16 (b) REDUCTION OF GROUND-BASED MISSILES.— 17 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, beginning in 18 fiscal year 2022, the forces of the Air Force shall include 19 not more than 150 intercontinental ballistic missiles. 20 (c) REDUCTION OF DEPLOYED STRATEGIC WAR- 21 HEADS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, be- 22 ginning in fiscal year 2022, the forces of the United States 23 Military shall include not more than 1,000 deployed stra- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1862 IS tegic warheads, as that term is defined in the New START 1 Treaty. 2 (d) LIMITATION ON NEW LONG-RANGE PENE- 3 TRATING BOMBER AIRCRAFT.—Notwithstanding any 4 other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to 5 be appropriated or otherwise made available for any of fis- 6 cal years 2022 through 2028 for the Department of De- 7 fense may be obligated or expended for purchasing more 8 than 80 B–21 long-range penetrating bomber aircraft. 9 (e) PROHIBITION ON F–35 NUCLEAR MISSION.— 10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the 11 funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made 12 available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year thereafter 13 for the Department of Defense or the Department of En- 14 ergy may be used to make the F–35 Joint Strike Fighter 15 aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons. 16 (f) PROHIBITION ON NEW AIR-LAUNCHED CRUISE 17 MISSILE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 18 none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or other- 19 wise made available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year 20 thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Depart- 21 ment of Energy may be obligated or expended for the re- 22 search, development, test, and evaluation or procurement 23 of the long-range stand-off weapon or any other new air- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1862 IS launched cruise missile or for the W80 warhead life exten- 1 sion program. 2 (g) PROHIBITION ON NEW INTERCONTINENTAL BAL- 3 LISTIC MISSILE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 4 law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or 5 otherwise made available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal 6 year thereafter for the Department of Defense may be ob- 7 ligated or expended for the research, development, test, 8 and evaluation or procurement of the ground-based stra- 9 tegic deterrent or any new intercontinental ballistic mis- 10 sile. 11 (h) TERMINATION OF URANIUM PROCESSING FACIL- 12 ITY.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none 13 of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise 14 made available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year 15 thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Depart- 16 ment of Energy may be obligated or expended for the Ura- 17 nium Processing Facility located at the Y–12 National Se- 18 curity Complex, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 19 (i) PROHIBITION ON PROCUREMENT AND DEPLOY- 20 MENT OF NEW LOW-YIELD WARHEAD.—Notwithstanding 21 any other provision of law, none of the funds authorized 22 to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal 23 year 2022 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department 24 of Defense or the Department of Energy may be obligated 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1862 IS or expended to deploy the W76–2 low-yield nuclear war- 1 head or any other low-yield or nonstrategic nuclear war- 2 head. 3 (j) PROHIBITION ON NEW SUBMARINE-LAUNCHED 4 CRUISE MISSILE.—Notwithstanding any other provision 5 of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated 6 or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2022 or any 7 fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense or 8 the Department of Energy may be obligated or expended 9 for the research, development, test, and evaluation or pro- 10 curement of a new submarine-launched cruise missile ca- 11 pable of carrying a low-yield or nonstrategic nuclear war- 12 head. 13 (k) LIMITATION ON PLUTONIUM PIT PRODUCTION.— 14 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the 15 funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made 16 available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year thereafter 17 for the Department of Defense or the Department of En- 18 ergy may be obligated or expended for achieving produc- 19 tion of more than 30 plutonium pits per year at Los Ala- 20 mos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico. 21 (l) LIMITATION ON W87–1 WARHEAD PROCURE- 22 MENT AND DEPLOYMENT.—Notwithstanding any other 23 provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appro- 24 priated or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2022 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1862 IS or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department of De- 1 fense or the Department of Energy may be obligated or 2 expended for the procurement or deployment of the W87– 3 1 warhead for use on any missile that can feasibly employ 4 a W87 warhead. 5 (m) LIMITATION ON SUSTAINMENT OF B83–1 6 BOMB.—Notwithstanding other provision of law, none of 7 the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made 8 available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year thereafter 9 for the Department of Defense or the Department of En- 10 ergy may be obligated or expended for the sustainment 11 of the B83–1 bomb beyond the time at which confidence 12 in the B61–12 stockpile is gained. 13 (n) PROHIBITION ON SPACE-BASED MISSILE DE- 14 FENSE.—Notwithstanding other provision of law, none of 15 the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made 16 available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year thereafter 17 for the Department of Defense or the Department of En- 18 ergy may be obligated or expended for the research, devel- 19 opment, test, and evaluation or procurement of a space- 20 based missile defense system. 21 (o) PROHIBITION ON THE W–93 WARHEAD.—Not- 22 withstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds 23 authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available 24 for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year thereafter for the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1862 IS Department of Defense or the Department of Energy may 1 be obligated or expended for the procurement and deploy- 2 ment of a W–93 warhead on a submarine launched bal- 3 listic missile. 4 SEC. 4. REPORTS REQUIRED. 5 (a) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 7 Defense and the Secretary of Energy shall jointly submit 8 to the appropriate committees of Congress a report out- 9 lining the plan of each Secretary to carry out section 3. 10 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than March 1, 11 2022, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Defense 12 and the Secretary of Energy shall jointly submit to the 13 appropriate committees of Congress a report outlining the 14 plan of each Secretary to carry out section 3, including 15 any updates to [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]