A resolution affirming that the New START Treaty extension will cover new deployed Russian nuclear delivery systems, and supporting additional initiatives to engage China that advance the goal of concluding an arms control treaty or agreement.

III 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. RES. 673 Affirming that the New START Treaty extension will cover new deployed Russian nuclear delivery systems, and supporting additional initiatives to engage China that advance the goal of concluding an arms control treaty or agreement. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 6, 2020 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. WARREN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. COONS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. LEAHY, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. SANDERS, and Ms. SMITH) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Re- lations RESOLUTION Affirming that the New START Treaty extension will cover new deployed Russian nuclear delivery systems, and sup- porting additional initiatives to engage China that ad- vance the goal of concluding an arms control treaty or agreement. Whereas, on March 1, 2018, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation previewed five new Russian nuclear delivery systems in his State of the Nation address; Whereas two of the new systems, the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, will count under the limits of the Treaty be- VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR673.IS SR673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 673 IS tween the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (commonly re- ferred to as the ‘‘New START Treaty’’), as confirmed by Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of the Russian Federa- tion; Whereas an additional pair of new systems, the Poseidon nu- clear-powered torpedo and the Burevestnik nuclear-pow- ered cruise missile, are not projected to be deployed dur- ing the five-year extension of the New START Treaty to 2026, and even if they were deployed, the United States is able to address its concerns about those weapons through the Bilateral Consultative Committee; Whereas the Russian Federation’s fifth new system, the Kinzhal short-range air-launched ballistic missile, is being deployed as a theater-strike weapon on MiG–31 aircraft, rather than on a heavy bomber, in which case it would be automatically accountable under the New START Treaty; Whereas the advance timing of the Russian Federation’s nu- clear modernization cycle may allow it to significantly ex- pand its strategic nuclear arsenal relative to the United States in the event that the New START Treaty expires on February 5, 2021; Whereas the 2020 Annual Report on the Implementation of the new START Treaty concluded that the Russian Fed- eration was ‘‘in compliance with the terms of the New START Treaty’’; Whereas the People’s Republic of China has never entered into a treaty or agreement with the United States or any other party that places binding limits on its shorter- VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR673.IS SR673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 673 IS range, intermediate-, or strategic-range ballistic missiles, verified by National Technical Means and by on-site in- spections, as the United States and Russian Federation did through the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the START I and START II Treaties, and the New START Treaty, each of which took multiple years to successfully negotiate; Whereas the People’s Republic of China possesses signifi- cantly fewer ICBMs, submarine launched ballistic mis- siles (SLBMs), and heavy bombers than the Russian Federation or the United States, and according to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), China’s warhead stockpile is in ‘‘the low couple of hundreds’’, a fraction of the size of the arsenals of the Russian Federation and the United States; and Whereas the People’s Republic of China has repeatedly de- clined invitations by the United States to enter into tri- lateral negotiations on an arms control treaty or other agreement regarding its nuclear arsenal: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) calls on the President to immediately extend 2 the New START Treaty until 2026; 3 (2) affirms that, by extending the New START 4 Treaty until 2026, the President of the United 5 States can secure limitations on two new types of 6 Russian Federation strategic weapons beyond those 7 accountable when the Treaty entered into force in 8 2011 or at any time thereafter; 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR673.IS SR673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 673 IS (3) calls on the Russian Federation to cease the 1 development of hazardous and provocative new 2 weapons systems including the Burevestnik cruise 3 missile, which is powered by a nuclear reactor and 4 may violate the prohibition in numerous treaties and 5 military manuals against causing superfluous injury 6 and unnecessary suffering; 7 (4) affirms the December 1987 statement by 8 President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Mi- 9 khail S. Gorbachev of the Soviet Union that ‘‘a nu- 10 clear war cannot be won and must never be fought’’; 11 (5) calls on the President to consider the views 12 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and other 13 United States allies and partners who overwhelm- 14 ingly back extension of the New START Treaty; and 15 (6) supports, following the extension of the New 16 START Treaty, a United States initiative to engage 17 China in negotiations towards the eventual conclu- 18 sion of an arms control treaty or agreement, starting 19 with steps to reduce the risk of strategic miscalcula- 20 tion and the threat of a nuclear exchange, which 21 may include— 22 (A) a formal invitation to appropriate offi- 23 cials from the People’s Republic of China, and 24 to each of the permanent members of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR673.IS SR673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •SRES 673 IS United Nations Security Council, to observe a 1 United States-Russian Federation New START 2 Treaty on-site inspection in 2020 to dem- 3 onstrate the security benefits of transparency 4 into strategic nuclear forces; 5 (B) an agreement with the People’s Re- 6 public of China that allows for advance notifica- 7 tions of ballistic missile launches, through the 8 Hague Code of Conduct or other data ex- 9 changes or doctrine discussions related to stra- 10 tegic nuclear forces; 11 (C) an agreement not to target or interfere 12 in nuclear command, control, and communica- 13 tions (commonly referred to as ‘‘NC3’’) infra- 14 structure; or 15 (D) any other cooperative measure that 16 benefits United States-China strategic stability. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR673.IS SR673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS