III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 16 

Expressing the sense of Congress that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation 

of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) continues to make an invaluable contribution 

to United States and international security, and noting former Senator 

Richard G. Lugar’s indispensable contributions to international security 

and reducing nuclear weapons-related risks. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 15, 2019 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. PAUL, Mr. 

MARKEY, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. BROWN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, Ms. SMITH, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) submitted the following 

concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Relations 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of Congress that the Treaty on the 

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) continues 

to make an invaluable contribution to United States and 

international security, and noting former Senator Richard G. Lugar’s indispensable contributions to international security and reducing nuclear weapons-related 

risks. 

Whereas the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear 

Weapons (NPT) opened for signature 50 years ago on 

July 1, 1968; 


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Whereas the United States and the former Soviet Union 

averted a catastrophic nuclear exchange during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, which led to a series of 

bilateral and multilateral agreements to lessen the chance 

of nuclear war, including the NPT; 

Whereas President John F. Kennedy predicted in 1963 that 

as many as 25 countries would acquire nuclear weapons 

by 1970 absent a treaty to control nuclear weapons; 

Whereas the United States Senate provided its advice and 

consent to the NPT on March 13, 1969, with a vote on 

ratification of 83 to 15; 

Whereas the NPT has grown to include 191 State Parties, 

making an irreplaceable contribution to international security by preventing the spread of nuclear weapons; 

Whereas former Senator Richard G. Lugar made indispensable contributions to reducing nuclear weapon risks, 

most notably through his leadership in standing up the 

Cooperative Threat Reduction Program (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Nunn-Lugar Program’’), which eliminated 7,600 nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union; 

Whereas Senator Lugar successfully secured the advice and 

consent of the Senate to the Treaty between the United 

States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, signed at Prague April 8, 2010, 

and entered into force February 5, 2011 (commonly 

known as the ‘‘New START Treaty’’); 

Whereas Article III of the NPT obligates each nonnuclear 

weapon state to the NPT to conclude a Safeguards 

Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency 

(IAEA) to verify treaty compliance, 174 of which are 


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Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements crafted to detect 

the diversion of nuclear materials from peaceful to nonpeaceful uses; 

Whereas the 2018 Department of Defense Nuclear Posture 

Review affirms, ‘‘The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 

(NPT) is a cornerstone of the nuclear nonproliferation 

regime. It plays a positive role in building consensus for 

non-proliferation and enhances international efforts to 

impose costs on those that would pursue nuclear weapons 

outside the Treaty.’’; 

Whereas the success of the NPT has and will continue to depend upon the full implementation by all State Parties of 

the Treaty’s three mutually reinforcing pillars: nonproliferation, access to peaceful uses of nuclear energy, 

and disarmament; 

Whereas, over the past half century, the United States has 

exhibited leadership in strengthening each of the NPT’s 

three pillars for the global good, including— 

(1) reducing its nuclear weapons stockpile by more 

than 85 percent from its Cold War heights of 31,225 in 

parallel with equally massive reductions of the Russian 

Federation’s stockpile through bilateral coordination; 

(2) cooperating with Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and 

Belarus to facilitate the surrender of nuclear weapons on 

their soil after the fall of the Soviet Union—leading to 

each country’s accession to the NPT as nonnuclear weapons states; 

(3) providing voluntary contributions to the IAEA to 

promote peaceful nuclear activities exceeding 

$378,000,000 since 2010, including activities that help in 

the treatment of cancer and other life-saving applications; 

and 


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(4) extending deterrence to United States allies in 

the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Japan, 

and the Republic of Korea—which is an unmistakable 

demonstration of the United States commitment to collective security; 

Whereas heightened geopolitical tensions in recent years have 

made cooperation on nonproliferation and arms control 

issues with the Russian Federation more challenging; 

Whereas a range of actions by the Government of the Russian Federation has led to a deterioration in bilateral relations with the United States, including Russia’s brazen 

interference in the 2016 United States presidential elections, its violation of the Treaty between the United 

States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range 

and Shorter-Range Missiles (commonly known as the 

‘‘INF Treaty’’), signed at Washington, DC, December 8, 

1987, and entered into force June 1, 1988, its use of a 

chemical nerve agent in an assassination attempt against 

Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the United 

Kingdom in March 2018, its illegal annexation of Crimea, its invasion of Eastern Ukraine, and its destabilizing actions in Syria; 

Whereas, within a difficult environment, preserving agreements that continue to contribute to United States and 

global security, particularly the New START Treaty, is 

important, and that to that end, the Department of State 

confirmed in February 2018 that Russia had met New 

START’s Central Treaty Limits and stated that ‘‘implementation of the New START Treaty enhances the safety and security of the United States’’; 


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Whereas United States efforts to reduce dangers associated 

with nuclear arsenals through ambitious arms control 

agreements with both the Russian Federation and the 

People’s Republic of China would advance United States 

and global security, adding to the benefits of stability and 

transparency provided by existing agreements; 

Whereas, in a March 2018 speech, President Vladimir Putin 

of the Russian Federation unveiled details of new kinds 

of strategic nuclear weapons under development, including hypersonic nuclear weapons, nuclear-powered cruise 

missiles, and multi-megaton nuclear torpedoes shot from 

drone submarines that may be accountable under the 

New START Treaty; 

Whereas the Russian Federation erroneously claimed that the 

United States may have not reached New START Treaty 

central limits by February 5, 2018, as is mandated by 

the Treaty; 

Whereas the Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC) is the 

appropriate forum for the Parties to engage constructively on any New START Treaty implementation issues 

that arise; and 

Whereas the collapse of the INF Treaty and expiration of the 

New START Treaty would lead to the absence of any 

binding, bilateral treaty or agreement governing United 

States and Russian nuclear forces, which account for 90 

percent of those currently in existence globally, for the 

first time since 1972: Now, therefore be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) the United States should continue to en4 courage all States Party to the Treaty on the NonVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 May 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SC16.IS SC16

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1 Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to comply 

2 fully with the Treaty; 

3 (2) the United States should maintain support 

4 for the IAEA through its assessed and voluntary 

5 contributions and promote the universal adoption of 

6 the IAEA Additional Protocol; 

7 (3) the United States should— 

8 (A) consider extending the New START 

9 Treaty, within the context of wider enhance10 ment of strategic stability between the United 

11 States and the Russian Federation and pro12 vided the Treaty continues to advance United 

13 States national security; 

14 (B) assess whether Russia’s recently an15 nounced nuclear capabilities should be account16 able under the New START Treaty, and raise 

17 the issue directly with the Russian Federation; 

18 (C) conclude an interagency process to 

19 consider an extension of the New START Trea20 ty and to engage with the Russian Federation 

21 on the full range of strategic stability issues 

22 and other arms control and nonproliferation 

23 issues; 

24 (D) begin negotiations with the Russian 

25 Federation on an agreement to address the 


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1 massive disparity between the nonstrategic nu2 clear weapons stockpiles of the Russian Federa3 tion and of the United States and to secure and 

4 reduce nonstrategic nuclear weapons in a 

5 verifiable manner; and 

6 (E) consider the consequences of the New 

7 START Treaty’s expiration in 2021 in relation 

8 to the insights it provides into the location, 

9 movement, and disposition of current and fu10 ture Russian strategic systems; 

11 (4) the United States strongly condemns the 

12 Russian Federation’s violations of the INF Treaty 

13 and its noncompliance with its other arms control 

14 commitments and treaty obligations, and urges the 

15 Russian Federation to come back into full compli16 ance; 

17 (5) in responding to the Russian Federation’s 

18 deployment of INF-range systems, advocate for 

19 those defense and deterrence steps which preserve 

20 NATO alliance cohesion and are aimed at averting 

21 an arms race on the European continent; 

22 (6) pursuit of a verifiable and comprehensive 

23 arms control agreement with the Russian Federation 

24 and the People’s Republic of China, which may cap25 ture strategic and nonstrategic nuclear weapons caVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 May 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SC16.IS SC16

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1 pabilities, would enhance United States and global 

2 security by building upon other treaties, agreements, 

3 and transparency measures that reduce nuclear risk; 

4 and 

5 (7) the United States should continue to en6 courage opportunities for cooperation with other nu7 clear weapon possessing states to reduce the sa8 lience, number, and role of nuclear weapons in their 

9 national military strategies. 

Æ 


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