I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3489

To protect the United States and its Armed Forces, wherever engaged, from

ballistic missile attack, to state the policy and priorities of the United

States for developing and deploying more effective defenses against ballistic missiles, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 16, 1996

Mr. SPRATT (for himself, Mr. GEPHARDT, Mr. HAMILTON, Mr. DICKS, Mr.

SKELTON, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. BROWDER, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. MCHALE, Mr. PETERSON of Florida, Mr.

KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. FAZIO of California, Mr.

HOYER, and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on National Security, and in addition to the Committee

on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To protect the United States and its Armed Forces, wherever

engaged, from ballistic missile attack, to state the policy

and priorities of the United States for developing and

deploying more effective defenses against ballistic missiles, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ballistic Missile De3 fense Act of 1996’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress makes the following findings:

6 (1) Short-range theater ballistic missiles threat7 en United States Armed Forces wherever engaged

8 abroad. Therefore, the expeditious deployment of

9 theater missile defenses to intercept ballistic missiles

10 at greater ranges and higher altitudes is the highest

11 priority among all ballistic missile defense programs.

12 (2) The United States is developing defensive

13 systems to protect the United States against the

14 threat of limited ballistic missile attacks. Ground15 based defensive systems are attainable, compliant

16 with the ABM Treaty, more affordable than spaced17 based interceptors or space-based lasers, and can

18 protect all of the United States from limited ballistic

19 missile attack.

20 (3) Defending against ballistic missile attacks

21 upon our national territory requires not only missile

22 defenses but arms control agreements and non23 proliferation measures that lower the threat and

24 curb the spread of ballistic missile technology.

25 (4) The massive retaliatory capability of the

26 United States deterred the Soviet Union, and any
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1 other nation, from launching an attack by interconti2 nental ballistic missiles throughout the Cold War.

3 The Nuclear Posture Review conducted by the De4 partment of Defense affirms the effectiveness of de5 terrence now and into the future. While the threat

6 of intentional attack upon the United States has re7 ceded, the risk of an accidental or unauthorized at8 tack by Russia or China remains but is remote.

9 (5) United States arms control agreements (no10 tably the START I Treaty and the START II Trea11 ty, once implemented) will lower the threat to the

12 United States from large-scale nuclear attack. The

13 START I Treaty, when fully implemented, will re14 duce deployed warheads by over 40 percent below

15 1990 levels. By the end of 1996, only Russia, among

16 the states of the former Soviet Union, will deploy

17 nuclear weapons. The START II Treaty, if imple18 mented, will reduce warheads deployed in Russia by

19 66 percent below their levels before the Start I Trea20 ty.

21 (6) As strategic offensive weapons are reduced,

22 the efficacy and affordability of defensive systems in23 creases, raising the possibility of deterrence based

24 upon effective defenses rather than deterrence based

25 solely upon threat of massive retaliation.
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1 (7) Countries hostile to the United States (such

2 as Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and Libya) have mani3 fested an interest in developing ballistic missiles ca4 pable of reaching the United States. These countries

5 may accelerate the development of long-range mis6 siles if they receive external support, but in the ab7 sence of outside assistance, newly emerging threats

8 may take as long as 15 years to mature, according

9 to recent intelligence estimates.

10 (8) The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the

11 Missile Technology Control Regime, the Biological

12 and Chemical Weapons Convention, and continuing

13 United States efforts to enforce export controls will

14 prevent or delay external assistance needed by those

15 countries to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles

16 and weapons of mass destruction.

17 (9) The ABM Treaty has added to strategic

18 stability by restraining the requirement on both

19 sides for strategic weapons. At the summit in May

20 1995, the President of the United States and the

21 President of Russia each reaffirmed his country’s

22 commitment to the ABM Treaty.

23 (10) Abrogating the ABM Treaty to deploy a

24 noncompliant system will not add to strategic stabil25 ity if it impedes implementation of the START I or
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1 START II Treaty. Without the removal of strategic

2 weapons scheduled by both treaties, the con3 sequences and risks of unauthorized or accidental

4 launches will remain undiminished, as will the poten5 tial threat of a large-scale attack capable of over6 whelming any defenses deployed.

7 (11) If the nuclear arsenal of the United States

8 must be maintained at START I levels, significant

9 unbudgeted costs will be incurred, encroaching on

10 funds for ballistic missile defenses and other defense

11 requirements.

12 (12) Should arms control, nonproliferation ef13 forts, and deterrence fail, the United States must be

14 able to defend itself against limited ballistic missile

15 attack.

16 (13) Missile defense systems consistent with the

17 ABM Treaty are capable of defending against lim18 ited ballistic missile attack. Should a national missile

19 defense system require modification of the ABM

20 Treaty, the treaty establishes the means for the par21 ties to amend the treaty, which the parties have used

22 in the past.
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1 SEC. 3. NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE POLICY.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—It is the policy of the United

3 States to develop by the year 2000 a National Missile De4 fense System that can be deployed in 2003.

5 (b) CAPABILITY OF SYSTEM.—The National Missile

6 Defense System to be developed pursuant to subsection

7 (a) shall be capable, when deployed, of providing a highly

8 effective defense of the United States against limited bal9 listic missile attacks.

10 (c) TESTING BEFORE DEPLOYMENT.—The system

11 developed pursuant to subsection (a) shall be rigorously

12 tested during development.

13 (d) IMPROVEMENTS.—If a decision to deploy the sys14 tem developed pursuant to subsection (a) is not made by

15 the end of the year 2000, the Secretary of Defense shall

16 ensure that the system is improved by incorporation of

17 evolving technology to increase effectiveness and reduce

18 costs of a subsequent deployment, and that rigorous test19 ing continues.

20 SEC. 4. BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE PRIORITIES.

21 The following, in the order listed, shall be the policy

22 of the United States with respect to the priority for devel23 opment and deployment of ballistic missile defense pro24 grams:

25 (1) First, maintaining the operational readiness

26 of the Armed Forces, including a good quality of life
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1 for servicemembers and their families, and mod2 ernization of weapons systems to ensure mission ef3 fectiveness in the future.

4 (2) Second, as part of such modernization, com5 pleting the development and deployment of essential

6 theater missile defense (TMD) systems as soon as

7 practicable.

8 (3) Third, developing by the year 2000 for de9 ployment in the year 2003 the system referred to in

10 section 3 and section 5(b) and developing for deploy11 ment as soon as practicable the space-based sensors

12 described in section 5(c).

13 SEC. 5. NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM ARCHITEC14 TURE.

15 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR NATIONAL MISSILE DE16 FENSE PROGRAM.—To implement the policy established in

17 section 3, the Secretary of Defense shall initiate a Na18 tional Missile Defense Program, which shall position the

19 United States, by the end of the year 2000, to be capable

20 of deploying a National Missile Defense system, as de21 scribed in section 3(b), within three years.

22 (b) ELEMENTS OF THE NMD PROGRAM.—The Na23 tional Missile Defense Program shall include the following

24 elements:
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1 (1) A ground-based interceptor system that pro2 vides coverage of the continental United States (in3 cluding Alaska) and Hawaii.

4 (2) Fixed ground-based radars.

5 (3) Space-based sensors.

6 (4) Battle management, command, control and

communications (BM/C3 7 ).

8 SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION OF NMD PROGRAM.

9 The Secretary of Defense shall—

10 (1) initiate plans and actions necessary to meet

11 the deployment readiness goals specified in section

12 5(a);

13 (2) conduct rigorous integrated system testing

14 using elements representative of the National Missile

15 Defense architecture referred to in section 5(b);

16 (3) prescribe and use streamlined acquisition

17 policies and procedures, in accordance with existing

18 law, to reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of

19 developing the system referred to in section 5(b);

20 and

21 (4) develop technologies that have the potential

22 of improving the National Missile Defense system

23 prescribed in section 5(b).
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1 SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

2 Not later than March 15, 1997, the Secretary of De3 fense shall submit to Congress a report on the Secretary’s

4 plan for the National Missile Defense Program required

5 by this Act. The report shall include the following matters:

6 (1) The Secretary’s plan for carrying out this

7 Act, including—

8 (A) a detailed description of the system ar9 chitecture selected for development under sec10 tion 5(b); and

11 (B) a justification of the architecture se12 lected and reasons for the rejection of the other

13 candidate architectures.

14 (2) The Secretary’s estimate of the amount of

15 appropriations required for research, development,

16 test, evaluation, and for procurement, for each of

17 fiscal years 1997 through 2003 in order to achieve

18 an initial operational capability in 2003.

19 (3) A description of promising technologies to

20 be pursued in accordance with the requirements of

21 section 6(4).

22 (4) A determination of the point at which any

23 activity that is required to be carried out under this

24 Act would conflict with the terms of the ABM Trea25 ty, together with a description of any such activity,

26 the legal basis for the Secretary’s determination, and
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1 an estimate of the time at which such point would

2 be reached in order to meet an initial operating ca3 pability in the year 2003.

4 SEC. 8. POLICY REGARDING REDUCTION OF THE THREAT

5 TO THE UNITED STATES FROM WEAPONS OF

6 MASS DESTRUCTION.

7 (a) MEASURES TO ADDRESS THREATS FROM WEAP8 ONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.—In order to defend against

9 weapons of mass destruction by preventing the spread of

10 fissile materials and other components of weapons of mass

11 destruction, the President shall—

12 (1) enhance efforts, both unilaterally and in co13 operation with other nations, to prevent terrorist or14 ganizations from obtaining and using weapons of

15 mass destruction;

16 (2) expedite United States efforts to assist the

17 Governments of the Russian Federation, Ukraine,

18 Belarus, and Kazakhstan, as appropriate, in improv19 ing the safety, security, and accountability of fissile

20 materials and nuclear warheads;

21 (3) undertake additional steps to prevent weap22 ons of mass destruction and their components from

23 being smuggled into the United States, through the

24 use of improved security devices at United States

25 ports of entry, increased numbers of Border Patrol
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1 agents, increased monitoring of international bor2 ders, and other appropriate measures;

3 (4) seek the widest possible international adher4 ence to the Missile Technology Control Regime and

5 pursue to the fullest other export control measures

6 intended to deter and counter the spread of weapons

7 of mass destruction and their components; and

8 (5) enhance conventional weapons systems to

9 ensure that the United States possesses effective de10 terrent and counterforce capabilities against weap11 ons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.

12 (b) MEASURES TO ADDRESS THREATS FROM

13 ICBMS.—In order to reduce the threat to the United

14 States from weapons of mass destruction delivered by

15 intercontinental ballistic missiles, including accidental or

16 unauthorized launches, the President shall—

17 (1) urge the Government and Parliament of the

18 Russian Federation to ratify the START II Treaty

19 as soon as possible, permitting its expeditious entry

20 into force;

21 (2) pursue with the Government of the Russian

22 Federation, after START II entry-into-force, a sym23 metrical program of early deactivation of strategic

24 forces to be eliminated under START II; and
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1 (3) work jointly with countries possessing inter2 continental ballistic missiles to improve command

3 and control technology and operations to the maxi4 mum extent practicable.

5 (c) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PROGRAM.—Consist6 ent with, and in order to compelement, the steps to be

7 taken by the President under subsection (a)(3), the Sec8 retary of Defense shall carry out a program to enhance

9 the capabilities of the United States relating to the threat

10 to the United States of a chemical or biological weapons

11 attack inside the United States by unconventional means.

12 In carrying out such program, the Secretary shall take

13 into consideration the assessments and recommendations

14 of the task force established under subsection (d). The ac15 tivities to be carried out by the Secretary under the pro16 gram shall include the following:

17 (1) Research, development, test, and evaluation

18 of technologies relating to any of the following:

19 (A) Detection of chemical or biological

20 weapons.

21 (B) Interception of such weapons.

22 (C) Protection against such weapons.

23 (D) Response to an attack inside the Unit24 ed States using such weapons.
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1 (E) Decontamination of areas affected by

2 an attack using such weapons.

3 (2) Training of personnel for the activities spec4 ified in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph

5 (1).

6 (3) Identification of Federal equipment and

7 technologies that can be transferred from one Fed8 eral agency to another agency or to State and local

9 agencies consistent with the purposes of the program

10 under this subsection.

11 (d) INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE.—(1) There is here12 by established in the executive branch an interagency task

13 force to assess, and make recommendations concerning,

14 the capabilities of the United States relating to the threat

15 of a chemical or biological weapons attack inside the Unit16 ed States by unconventional means.

17 (2) The task force shall on an ongoing basis assess

18 the current state of the United States with respect to each

19 of the following and shall identify and recommend poten20 tial improvements:

21 (A) The nature of the threat to the United

22 States of a chemical or biological weapons attack in23 side the United States by unconventional means.
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1 (B) Capabilities related to detection and inter2 ception of such weapons or the possibility of such an

3 attack.

4 (C) Capabilities related to protection against

5 the effects of such an attack.

6 (D) Capabilities related to preparedness for,

7 and response to, such an attack.

8 (E) Capabilities related to decontamination fol9 lowing such an attack.

10 (F) Public education concerning the dangers of

11 such an attack and the appropriate response to such

12 an attack.

13 (3) Membership of the task force shall include rep14 resentatives of the following departments and agencies:

15 (A) The Department of Defense.

16 (B) The Central Intelligence Agency, but only

17 with respect to assessment of the nature of the

18 threat.

19 (C) The Department of Justice, including the

20 Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Immigra21 tion and Naturalization Service.

22 (D) The Federal Emergency Management

23 Agency.
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1 (E) The Department of the Treasury, including

2 the Customs Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, To3 bacco, and Firearms.

4 (F) The Department of Health and Human

5 Services, including the Centers for Disease Control.

6 (4) In carrying out its activities, the task force shall

7 consult regularly with, and shall seek the views of, rep8 resentatives of—

9 (A) State and local government law enforce10 ment authorities; and

11 (B) State and local government emergency

12 planning authorities.

13 (5) Administrative support for the task force shall be

14 provided by the Secretary of Defense.

15 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—The President shall submit to

16 Congress an annual report on actions by the United States

17 to comply with the provisions of this section. The first

18 such report shall be submitted not later than 180 days

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

20 SEC. 9. POLICY REGARDING THE ABM TREATY.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall—

22 (1) carry out the policies, programs, and re23 quirements of this Act in a manner consistent with

24 the ABM Treaty or through processes specified with25 in the ABM Treaty;
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1 (2) at an appropriate time, seek amendments to

2 the ABM Treaty, as provided in Articles XIII and

3 XIV of the Treaty, if such amendments are required

4 to deploy the National Missile Defense system pre5 scribed in section 5; and

6 (3) treat any negotiated amendment to the

7 ABM Treaty as having entered into force only if

8 such amendment is made in the same manner as a

9 treaty (including the requirement that ratification by

10 the United States is subject to the advice and con11 sent of the Senate).

12 (b) MODIFICATIONS RESTRICTING TMD SYSTEMS.—

13 The United States shall not be bound by any amendment

14 or other substantive modification to the ABM treaty that

15 restricts theater ballistic missile defense systems unless—

16 (1) that system is actually flight-tested against

17 a ballistic missile that exceeds (A) a range of 3,500

18 kilometers, or (B) a velocity of 5 kilometers per sec19 ond; or

20 (2) the agreement for such modification is

21 made pursuant to the requirements of section 235 of

22 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal

23 Year 1996 (Public Law 104–106; 110 Stat. 231).
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1 SEC. 10. ABM TREATY DEFINED.

2 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘ABM Treaty’’

3 means the Treaty between the United States and the

4 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Limitation of

5 Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems, signed at Moscow on May

6 26, 1972, and includes Protocols to that Treaty signed

7 at Moscow on July 3, 1974, and all Agreed Statements

8 and amendments to such Treaty in effect.

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