IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1079 

Expressing support for the continued value of arms control agreements and 

condemning the Russian Federation’s purported suspension of its participation in the New START Treaty. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2024 

Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. BEYER, Mr. 

GARAMENDI, Ms. TITUS, Mr. KEATING, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. OMAR, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. PORTER, Ms. 

KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. LIEU, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 

Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Mr. AMO, and Mr. ALLRED) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for the continued value of arms control 

agreements and condemning the Russian Federation’s 

purported suspension of its participation in the New 

START Treaty. 

Whereas the United States maintains bipartisan support to 

ensure national security and the defense of United States 

allies and partners; 

Whereas President Reagan stated that ‘‘a nuclear war cannot 

be won and must never be fought’’ in his 1984 State of 

the Union address, and affirmed the conviction with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985; 


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•HRES 1079 IH 

Whereas, in January 2022, President Biden joined the leaders of the People’s Republic of China, the French Republic, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of 

Great Britain and Northern Ireland to reaffirm that ‘‘a 

nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’’; 

Whereas the United States, the Russian Federation, and the 

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 

signed the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, committing ‘‘to 

respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing 

borders of Ukraine’’ and ‘‘to refrain from the threat or 

use of force’’ against the country; 

Whereas the United States has a history of leadership in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, including its work 

with Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the Russian 

Federation to ensure Ukraine did not retain any nuclear 

weapons left on its territory when it became independent; 

Whereas the Russian Federation further illegally invaded 

Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and has used veiled and 

blatant nuclear saber-rattling in service of its war of aggression against a sovereign state; 

Whereas the war has led to thousands of casualties, including 

over 10,000 civilians and more than 560 children killed, 

along with the displacement of over 6,400,000 Ukrainians and an enduring global food crisis; 

Whereas the Russian Federation’s illegal war against 

Ukraine represents the greatest threat to European security and freedom in a generation; 

Whereas, on February 27, 2022, Russian President Putin ordered his military to put Russia’s nuclear forces on ‘‘special combat readiness’’ in an escalatory response to the 

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•HRES 1079 IH 

demnation of the Russian Federation’s illegal invasion of 

Ukraine; 

Whereas, on September 21, 2022, President Putin warned he 

was ‘‘not bluffing’’ when he said Russia has ‘‘various 

weapons of mass destruction’’ and ‘‘will use all the means 

available to us’’ to defend its territory shortly before annexing additional Ukrainian lands through ‘‘referendums’’; 

Whereas, in February 2021, the United States and the Russian Federation extended the treaty between the United 

States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, also known as New START, for 5 

years until February 5, 2026; 

Whereas, on February 21, 2023, President Putin announced 

the Russian Federation’s purported suspension of the 

New START Treaty, the last major remaining bilateral 

nuclear arms control agreement, in a move deemed legally invalid by the United States; 

Whereas New START has had bipartisan support and limits 

the Russian nuclear arsenal to 1,550 warheads on no 

more than 700 deployed delivery vehicles, and to 800 deployed and nondeployed strategic launchers; 

Whereas New START has permitted robust and strict transparency and verification measures and onsite inspections, 

which have provided valuable insight into Russia’s nuclear arsenal; 

Whereas the United States has decades of bipartisan leadership in nuclear arms control, including cooperation with 

the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation even when 

relations were strained; 


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•HRES 1079 IH 

Whereas, in June 2023, the United States Government announced it is now ready to engage in a dialogue with the 

Russian Federation on a post-2026 nuclear arms control 

framework and is ‘‘prepared to stick to the central limits 

as long as Russia does’’ while also stating a ‘‘willingness 

to engage in bilateral arms control discussions’’ with the 

Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China 

‘‘without preconditions’’; 

Whereas the nuclear weapon states recognized by the Nuclear 

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), including the Russian 

Federation, the United States, as well as the People’s Republic of China, have an obligation to ‘‘pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to 

nuclear disarmament’’; 

Whereas, in November 2023, senior United States and Chinese officials held ‘‘a candid and in-depth discussion on 

issues related to arms control and nonproliferation as 

part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the U.S.-PRC relationship’’; and 

Whereas the absence of a new framework for nuclear arms 

control after the expiration of New START would affect 

strategic stability and increase the risk of an unrestrained nuclear arms race with the Russian Federation: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) condemns in the strongest terms the Rus3 sian Federation’s nuclear escalatory rhetoric and 

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•HRES 1079 IH 

1 ons to further its invasion and aggression against a 

2 free and independent Ukraine; 

3 (2) condemns the Russian Federation’s pur4 ported suspension of its participation in the New 

5 START Treaty; 

6 (3) calls for immediate cessation of nuclear 

7 saber-rattling and nuclear escalatory rhetoric from 

8 the Russian Federation; 

9 (4) emphasizes the continued value of arms 

10 control agreements between the United States and 

11 the Russian Federation; 

12 (5) calls for the Russian Federation to prompt13 ly return to full implementation of New START, in14 cluding onsite inspections, provision of treaty-man15 dated notifications and data, and resumption of Bi16 lateral Consultative Commission meetings; 

17 (6) calls on the Biden administration to con18 tinue to engage the People’s Republic of China in 

19 further bilateral talks on nuclear risk reduction and 

20 arms control, and to pursue new multilateral arms 

21 control efforts involving the five permanent members 

22 of the United Nations Security Council; and 

23 (7) calls on the Biden administration to con24 tinue to pursue nuclear arms control and risk reduc25 tion dialogue with the Russian Federation to mainVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Mar 14, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1079.IH HR1079

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•HRES 1079 IH 

1 tain strategic stability, ensure the conflict in 

2 Ukraine does not escalate to nuclear use, and avoid 

3 an unrestrained nuclear arms race. 

Æ 


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