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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1059 Introduced in House (IH)]

109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1059

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Senate 
should act swiftly and expeditiously to give its advice and consent to 
           ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 28, 2006

  Mrs. Tauscher (for herself, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Farr, Mr. Serrano, Mr. 
Leach, Mr. Rothman, Mr. Stark, Mr. Meehan, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Allen, 
   Mr. Crowley, Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California, Mr. Skelton, Mr. 
  McDermott, Mr. Delahunt, Ms. Lee, Mr. Doggett, Mr. George Miller of 
 California, Ms. Pelosi, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island, and 
Mr. McGovern) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Senate 
should act swiftly and expeditiously to give its advice and consent to 
           ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Whereas securing a global nuclear test ban has been a central arms control 
        objective for more than 40 years;
Whereas on September 10, 1996, the United Nations approved the Comprehensive 
        Test Ban Treaty;
Whereas on September 24, 1996, the United States signed the Comprehensive Test 
        Ban Treaty at the United Nations;
Whereas 176 nations have signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty so far, 
        including Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, and Israel;
Whereas 135 nations have ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, including 
        all of the NATO partners of the United States;
Whereas 10 states, including the United States must still ratify the Treaty for 
        it to enter into force;
Whereas the United States commitment to conclude the Comprehensive Test Ban 
        Treaty was a pivotal factor in gaining international support for the 
        indefinite extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear 
        Weapons, the cornerstone of the nonproliferation regime;
Whereas the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty will strengthen the global norm 
        against nuclear testing, reinforce the nonproliferation regime, and 
        thereby help efforts by the United States to stop the spread of nuclear 
        weapons to additional nations or groups;
Whereas by verifiably prohibiting ``any nuclear weapon test explosion or any 
        other nuclear explosion,'' the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty would help 
        constrain the development of new types of nuclear warheads by existing 
        nuclear-weapon states--including China, Russia, India, and Pakistan--and 
        impede the development of smaller, more easily deliverable warheads by 
        would-be nuclear weapon states;
Whereas independent nuclear weapons experts, including a National Academy of 
        Sciences Panel in 2002, believe that the United States has the technical 
        capabilities to maintain confidence in the safety and reliability of its 
        existing nuclear-weapon stockpile under a test ban, if adequate 
        resources are made available to the Department of Energy's nuclear 
        weapon complex and are properly focused on this task;
Whereas the National Academy of Sciences panel, which included 3 former lab 
        directors, found that age-related defects mainly related to non-nuclear 
        components can be expected, but that ``nuclear testing is not needed to 
        discover these problems and is not likely to be needed to address 
        them'';
Whereas, since 1992, the United States has observed a moratorium on nuclear 
        testing;
Whereas, for each of the last 10 years, the Secretary of Defense and Secretary 
        of Energy have formally certified to the President that the United 
        States nuclear stockpile continues to be safe and reliable without 
        nuclear testing;
Whereas the entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is essential 
        to realizing the full benefits of the Treaty's extensive international 
        monitoring system and on-site inspection capabilities, which enhance the 
        national security of the United States; and
Whereas the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty remains on the executive calendar of 
        the United States Senate: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the Senate should act swiftly and expeditiously to give its advice and 
consent to ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
                                 <all>
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