Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 669 To prohibit the conduct of a first-use nuclear strike absent a declaration of war by Congress. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 17, 2019 Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. BEYER, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. RUSH, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. BONAMICI, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. PORTER, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JONES, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SHER- MAN, Mr. PAYNE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. POCAN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. CRIST, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. SERRANO, and Mr. COURTNEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To prohibit the conduct of a first-use nuclear strike absent a declaration of war by Congress. 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 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jan 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H669.IH H669 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 669 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY. 1 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 2 (1) The Constitution gives Congress the sole 3 power to declare war. 4 (2) The framers of the Constitution understood 5 that the monumental decision to go to war, which 6 can result in massive death and the destruction of 7 civilized society, must be made by the representa- 8 tives of the people and not by a single person. 9 (3) As stated by section 2(c) of the War Powers 10 Resolution (Public Law 93–148; 50 U.S.C. 1541), 11 ‘‘the constitutional powers of the President as Com- 12 mander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed 13 Forces into hostilities, or into situations where im- 14 minent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated 15 by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to 16 (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory au- 17 thorization, or (3) a national emergency created by 18 attack upon the United States, its territories or pos- 19 sessions, or its armed forces’’. 20 (4) Nuclear weapons are uniquely powerful 21 weapons that have the capability to instantly kill 22 millions of people, create long-term health and envi- 23 ronmental consequences throughout the world, di- 24 rectly undermine global peace, and put the United 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jan 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H669.IH H669 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 669 IH States at existential risk from retaliatory nuclear 1 strikes. 2 (5) By any definition of war, a first-use nuclear 3 strike from the United States would constitute a 4 major act of war. 5 (6) A first-use nuclear strike conducted absent 6 a declaration of war by Congress would violate the 7 Constitution. 8 (b) DECLARATION OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 9 United States that no first-use nuclear strike should be 10 conducted absent a declaration of war by Congress. 11 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON CONDUCT OF FIRST-USE NU- 12 CLEAR STRIKES. 13 (a) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 14 sion of law, the President may not use the Armed Forces 15 of the United States to conduct a first-use nuclear strike 16 unless such strike is conducted pursuant to a declaration 17 of war by Congress that expressly authorizes such strike. 18 (b) FIRST-USE NUCLEAR STRIKE DEFINED.—In this 19 section, the term ‘‘first-use nuclear strike’’ means an at- 20 tack using nuclear weapons against an enemy that is con- 21 ducted without the President determining that the enemy 22 has first launched a nuclear strike against the United 23 States or an ally of the United States. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jan 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H669.IH H669 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS