I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4904 

To reduce spending on nuclear weapons and related defense spending and 

to prohibit the procurement and deployment of low-yield nuclear warheads, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 29, 2019 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

HUFFMAN, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. POCAN, Mr. 

DEFAZIO, and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was 

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 deployment of low-yield nuclear warheads, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smarter Approaches 

5 to Nuclear Expenditures Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the Soviet 

2 Union no longer exists, and the Cold War is over. 

3 The nature of threats to the national security and 

4 military interests of the United States has changed. 

5 However, the United States continues to maintain 

6 an excessively large and costly arsenal of nuclear de7 livery systems and warheads that are a holdover 

8 from the Cold War. 

9 (2) The current nuclear arsenal of the United 

10 States includes approximately 3,800 total nuclear 

11 warheads in its military stockpile, of which approxi12 mately 1,750 are deployed with five delivery compo13 nents: land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, 

14 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, long-range 

15 strategic bomber aircraft armed with nuclear gravity 

16 bombs, long-range strategic bomber aircraft armed 

17 with nuclear-armed air-launched cruise missiles, and 

18 short-range fighter aircraft that can deliver nuclear 

19 gravity bombs. The strategic bomber fleet of the 

20 United States comprises 87 B–52 and 20 B–2 air21 craft, over 60 of which contribute to the nuclear 

22 mission. The United States also maintains 400 

23 intercontinental ballistic missiles and 14 Ohio-class 

24 submarines, up to 12 of which are deployed. Each 


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1 of those submarines is armed with approximately 90 

2 nuclear warheads. 

3 (3) The maintenance of this force comes at sig4 nificant cost. Between fiscal years 2019 and 2028, 

5 the United States will spend $494,000,000,000 to 

6 maintain and recapitalize its nuclear force, according 

7 to a January 2019 estimate from the Congressional 

8 Budget Office. This is $94,000,000,000 higher than 

9 the Congressional Budget Office’s 2017 estimate, 

10 with additional cost driven in part by the new nu11 clear weapons called for in the 2018 Nuclear Pos12 ture Review. Over the next 30 years, the price tag 

13 is likely to exceed $1,500,000,000,000 and could 

14 even approach $2,000,000,000,000. 

15 (4) Numerous United States Government offi16 cials have warned of the affordability problem posed 

17 by the current nuclear weapons sustainment plans, 

18 cautioning that these plans cannot be executed in 

19 the absence of significant long-term increases to de20 fense spending or cuts to other military priorities. 

21 For example, Brian McKeon, former Principal Dep22 uty Under Secretary of Defense stated in October 

23 2015 that: ‘‘We’re looking at that big bow wave [in 

24 nuclear weapons spending] and wondering how the 

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1 ing our lucky stars we won’t be here to answer the 

2 question.’’ Projected spending on the nuclear weap3 ons budget has grown even larger since 2015. 

4 (5) The projected growth in nuclear weapons 

5 spending is coming due as the Department of De6 fense is seeking to replace large portions of its con7 ventional forces to better compete with the Russian 

8 Federation and the People’s Republic of China and 

9 as internal and external fiscal pressures are likely to 

10 limit the growth of, and perhaps reduce, military 

11 spending. ‘‘We’re going to have enormous pressure 

12 on reducing the debt which means that defense 

13 spending—I’d like to tell you it’s going to keep 

14 going up—[but] I’m not terribly optimistic.’’, Alan 

15 Shaffer, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Ac16 quisition and Sustainment, said in February 2019. 

17 (6) A substantial decrease in spending on the 

18 nuclear arsenal of the United States is prudent for 

19 both the budget and for national security. The De20 partment of Defense’s June 2013 nuclear policy 

21 guidance entitled ‘‘Report on Nuclear Employment 

22 Strategy of the United States’’ found that force lev23 els under the April 2010 Treaty on Measures for the 

24 Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Of25 fensive Arms between the United States and the 


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1 Russian Federation (commonly known as the ‘‘New 

2 START Treaty’’) ‘‘are more than adequate for what 

3 the United States needs to fulfill its national security objectives’’ and can be reduced by up to 1 4 ⁄3

5 below levels under the New START Treaty to 1,000 

6 to 1,100 warheads. 

7 (7) A December 2018 Congressional Budget 

8 Office analysis showed that the projected costs of 

9 nuclear forces over the next decade can be reduced 

10 by $8,000,000,000 to $9,000,000,000 by trimming 

11 back current plans, while still maintaining a triad of 

12 delivery systems. Even larger savings would accrue 

13 over the subsequent decade. 

14 (8) Even without additional reductions below 

15 the New START Treaty limit of 1,550 deployed 

16 strategic warheads, the United States can save tens 

17 of billions of dollars by deploying those warheads 

18 more efficiently on delivery systems and by deferring 

19 production of new delivery systems until they are 

20 needed. 

21 (9) President Donald Trump is proposing to ex22 pand the role of, and spending on, nuclear weapons 

23 in United States policy at the same time that it has 

24 undermined critical arms control and nonprolifera25 tion agreements. The President has provided no 


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1 clear indication that the President intends to extend 

2 the New START Treaty. The potential expiration of 

3 that treaty will remove all limits on the size of the 

4 United States and Russian nuclear arsenals, height5 ening further the risk of unconstrained nuclear 

6 weapons competition and even greater spending on 

7 nuclear weapons. 

8 SEC. 3. REDUCTIONS IN NUCLEAR FORCES. 

9 (a) REDUCTION OF NUCLEAR-ARMED SUB10 MARINES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

11 none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or other12 wise made available for fiscal year 2020 or any fiscal year 

13 thereafter for the Department of Defense may be obli14 gated or expended for purchasing more than eight Colum15 bia-class submarines. 

16 (b) REDUCTION OF GROUND-BASED MISSILES.— 

17 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, beginning in 

18 fiscal year 2020, the forces of the Air Force shall include 

19 not more than 150 intercontinental ballistic missiles. 

20 (c) REDUCTION OF DEPLOYED STRATEGIC WAR21 HEADS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, be22 ginning in fiscal year 2020, the forces of the United States 

23 Military shall include not more than 1,000 deployed stra24 tegic warheads, as that term is defined in the New START 

25 Treaty. 


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1 (d) LIMITATION ON NEW LONG-RANGE PENE2 TRATING BOMBER AIRCRAFT.—Notwithstanding any 

3 other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to 

4 be appropriated or otherwise made available for any of fis5 cal years 2020 through 2028 for the Department of De6 fense may be obligated or expended for purchasing more 

7 than 80 B–21 long-range penetrating bomber aircraft. 

8 (e) PROHIBITION ON F–35 NUCLEAR MISSION.— 

9 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the 

10 funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made 

11 available for fiscal year 2020 or any fiscal year thereafter 

12 for the Department of Defense or the Department of En13 ergy may be used to make the F–35 Joint Strike Fighter 

14 aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons. 

15 (f) PROHIBITION ON NEW AIR-LAUNCHED CRUISE

16 MISSILE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

17 none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or other18 wise made available for fiscal year 2020 or any fiscal year 

19 thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Depart20 ment of Energy may be obligated or expended for the re21 search, development, test, and evaluation or procurement 

22 of the long-range stand-off weapon or any other new air23 launched cruise missile or for the W80 warhead life exten24 sion program. 


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1 (g) PROHIBITION ON NEW INTERCONTINENTAL BAL2 LISTIC MISSILE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

3 law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or 

4 otherwise made available for fiscal year 2020 or any fiscal 

5 year thereafter for the Department of Defense may be ob6 ligated or expended for the research, development, test, 

7 and evaluation or procurement of the ground-based stra8 tegic deterrent or any new intercontinental ballistic mis9 sile. 

10 (h) TERMINATION OF URANIUM PROCESSING FACIL11 ITY.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none 

12 of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise 

13 made available for fiscal year 2020 or any fiscal year 

14 thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Depart15 ment of Energy may be obligated or expended for the Ura16 nium Processing Facility located at the Y–12 National Se17 curity Complex, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 

18 (i) PROHIBITION ON PROCUREMENT AND DEPLOY19 MENT OF NEW LOW-YIELD WARHEAD.—Notwithstanding 

20 any other provision of law, none of the funds authorized 

21 to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal 

22 year 2020 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department 

23 of Defense or the Department of Energy may be obligated 

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1 clear warhead or any other low-yield or nonstrategic nu2 clear warhead. 

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 2020 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 pro10 curement of a new submarine-launched cruise missile ca11 pable of carrying a low-yield or nonstrategic nuclear war12 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 2020 or any fiscal year thereafter 

17 for the Department of Defense or the Department of En18 ergy may be obligated or expended for achieving produc19 tion of more than 30 plutonium pits per year at Los Ala20 mos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico. 

21 (l) LIMITATION ON W87–1 WARHEAD PROCURE22 MENT AND DEPLOYMENT.—Notwithstanding any other 

23 provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appro24 priated or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2020 

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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 2020 or any fiscal year thereafter 

9 for the Department of Defense or the Department of En10 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 DE14 FENSE.—Notwithstanding other provision of law, none of 

15 the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made 

16 available for fiscal year 2020 or any fiscal year thereafter 

17 for the Department of Defense or the Department of En18 ergy may be obligated or expended for the research, devel19 opment, test, and evaluation or procurement of a space20 based missile defense system. 

21 SEC. 4. REPORTS REQUIRED. 

22 (a) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

24 Defense and the Secretary of Energy shall jointly submit 


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1 to the appropriate committees of Congress a report out2 lining the plan of each Secretary to carry out section 3. 

3 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than March 1, 

4 2021, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Defense 

5 and the Secretary of Energy shall jointly submit to the 

6 appropriate committees of Congress a report outlining the 

7 plan of each Secretary to carry out section 3, including 

8 any updates to previously submitted reports. 

9 (c) ANNUAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS ACCOUNTING.— 

10 Not later than September 30, 2020, and annually there11 after, the President shall transmit to the appropriate com12 mittees of Congress a report containing a comprehensive 

13 accounting by the Director of the Office of Management 

14 and Budget of the amounts obligated and expended by the 

15 Federal Government for each nuclear weapon and related 

16 nuclear program during— 

17 (1) the fiscal year covered by the report; and 

18 (2) the life cycle of such weapon or program. 

19 (d) COST ESTIMATE REPORT.—Not later than 180 

20 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec21 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy shall jointly 

22 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 

23 outlining the estimated cost savings that result from car24 rying out section 3. 


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1 (e) REPORT ON FUNDING NATIONAL DEFENSE

2 STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 

3 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 

4 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 

5 explaining how the Secretary proposes to fund the 2018 

6 National Defense Strategy under different levels of pro7 jected defense spending, including scenarios in which— 

8 (1) anticipated cost savings from reform do not 

9 materialize; or 

10 (2) defense spending decreases to the levels 

11 specified by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Public 

12 Law 112–25; 125 Stat. 240). 

13 (f) MODIFICATION OF PERIOD TO BE COVERED BY

14 ESTIMATES OF COSTS RELATING TO NUCLEAR WEAP15 ONS.—Section 1043 of the National Defense Authoriza16 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Law 112–81; 125 

17 Stat. 1576), as most recently amended by section 1670 

18 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization 

19 Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public Law 115–232; 132 Stat. 

20 2157), is further amended in subsections (a)(2)(F) and 

21 (b)(1)(A) by strikning ‘‘10-year period’’ each place it ap22 pears and inserting ‘‘25-year period’’. 

23 (g) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE24 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit25 tees of Congress’’ means— 


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1 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

2 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 

3 Appropriations, and the Committee on Energy and 

4 Natural Resources of the Senate; and 

5 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

6 Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 

7 Appropriations, the Committee on Energy and Com8 merce, and the Committee on Natural Resources of 

9 the House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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