III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 442 

Expressing solidarity with the United Kingdom after the nerve agent attack 

in Salisbury. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2018 

Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. PORTMAN, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing solidarity with the United Kingdom after the 

nerve agent attack in Salisbury. 

Whereas the United States and the United Kingdom have a 

special relationship grounded in the rule of law, democratic principles, a common language, and a strong commitment to peace and security; 

Whereas, on August 14, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt 

and Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued the Atlantic 

Charter, which defined American and British war aims 

and laid the foundation for a post-war international system founded on free trade and freedom of the seas that 

persists to this day; 

Whereas, on March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his 

‘‘Iron Curtain Speech’’ in Fulton, Missouri, stating, 


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•SRES 442 IS 

‘‘Neither the sure prevention of war, nor the continuous 

rise of world organization will be gained without what I 

have called the fraternal association of the English-speaking peoples . . . a special relationship between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States.’’; 

Whereas the United States and the United Kingdom have 

stood side by side through two World Wars, the Korean 

War, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and the ongoing wars 

in Iraq and Afghanistan with Americans and Britons 

fighting and dying together to defend our common interests and principles; 

Whereas the United States and the United Kingdom have 

played central roles in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and are critical to maintaining its future 

strength; 

Whereas, in the 1970s and 1980s, scientists in the Soviet 

Union developed a group of advanced nerve agents, 

known as ‘‘Novichok’’, designed to escape detection by 

international inspectors; 

Whereas Russia is party to the Convention on the Prohibition 

of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of 

Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, done at 

Paris January 13, 1993 (commonly known as the 

‘‘Chemical Weapons Convention’’), which clearly prohibits 

the production and use of chemical weapons; 

Whereas former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was killed 

by a radioactive substance in London in November 2006, 

and an inquiry by the Government of the United Kingdom found that President of the Russian Federation 

Vladimir Putin ‘‘probably’’ approved the murder; 


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•SRES 442 IS 

Whereas, on March 4, 2018, Sergei Skripal and his daughter, 

Yulia Skripal, were found unconscious on a park bench 

in Salisbury, United Kingdom; 

Whereas dozens of British civilians and first responders were 

exposed to the nerve agent, a British police officer who 

responded to the attack remains seriously ill, and the 

lives of innocent British citizens and residents of Salisbury have been endangered; 

Whereas, on March 12, 2018, Theresa May, Prime Minister 

of the United Kingdom, in a speech before the House of 

Commons, noted that the attack was conducted ‘‘with a 

military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia. 

This is part of a group of nerve agents known as 

‘Novichok’ ’’; 

Whereas, on March 12, 2018, Secretary of State Rex 

Tillerson noted the nerve agent ‘‘came from Russia’’ and 

‘‘does not exist widely’’, and that its use would ‘‘certainly 

trigger a response’’; 

Whereas, on March 14, 2018, the United Kingdom expelled 

23 Russian diplomats identified as undeclared intelligence 

officers; 

Whereas, on March 14, 2018, United States Ambassador to 

the United Nations Nikki Haley said the United States 

‘‘stands in absolute solidarity’’ with the United Kingdom 

and that ‘‘the United States believes that Russia is responsible for the attack’’; and 

Whereas, on March 15, 2018, the United States, the United 

Kingdom, France, and Germany issued a joint statement 

and noted the incident ‘‘constitutes the first offensive use 

of a nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War’’ 

and that ‘‘there is no plausible alternative explanation’’ 


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to Russia’s responsibility for the attack: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) reaffirms the special relationship between 

3 the United States and the United Kingdom; 

4 (2) expresses its solidarity with the people of 

5 Salisbury and the United Kingdom; 

6 (3) reiterates its commitment to collective de7 fense and security through NATO; 

8 (4) wishes for the full recovery of Sergei 

9 Skripal, his daughter, and the British police official 

10 seriously injured in the attack; 

11 (5) condemns the indiscriminate and reckless 

12 assault by the Government of the Russian Federa13 tion on United Kingdom sovereignty, and notes that 

14 any use of a nerve agent by a state party is a clear 

15 contravention of the Chemical Weapons Convention 

16 and a violation of international law; 

17 (6) calls on the Government of the Russian 

18 Federation to fully and completely answer questions 

19 related to the chemical attack and also provide full 

20 and comprehensive disclosure of its Novichok pro21 gram to the Organization for the Prohibition of 

22 Chemical Weapons (OPCW); and 

23 (7) urges the President of the United States to 

24 personally condemn the attack in clear, unambigVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 23, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR442.IS SR442

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1 uous terms and to take proportionate, measured, 

2 and defensive retaliatory actions against the Govern3 ment of the Russian Federation in coordination with 

4 United States allies in Europe. 

Æ 


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