II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4099 

To require the approval of Congress before explosive nuclear testing may 

be resumed. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 29, 2020 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself, Ms. ROSEN, and Mr. COONS) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require the approval of Congress before explosive nuclear 

testing may be resumed. 

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 ‘‘No Nuclear Testing 

5 Without Approval Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR APPROVAL OF CONGRESS FOR 

7 CONDUCT OF EXPLOSIVE NUCLEAR TESTING. 

8 Section 4210(a) of the Atomic Energy Defense Act 

9 (50 U.S.C. 2530(a)) is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(a) EXPLOSIVE NUCLEAR TESTING.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No explosive nuclear test2 ing may be conducted by the United States after the 

3 date of the enactment of the National Defense Au4 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, and none of 

5 the funds described in paragraph (2) may be obli6 gated or expended to conduct such testing, unless— 

7 ‘‘(A)(i) a foreign state conducts a nuclear 

8 test after that date; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) there is a technical need for such test10 ing; 

11 ‘‘(B) not less than 180 days before the 

12 date proposed to conduct such testing, the 

13 President submits to Congress a notification de14 scribed in paragraph (3) with respect to such 

15 testing; and 

16 ‘‘(C) a joint resolution approving the test17 ing with respect to which the notification is 

18 submitted under subparagraph (B) is enacted 

19 into law— 

20 ‘‘(i) in the case of testing proposed to 

21 be conducted after a foreign state conducts 

22 a nuclear test— 

23 ‘‘(I) without use of expedited pro24 cedures under paragraph (4); but 


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1 ‘‘(II) requiring, for passage in 

2 the Senate, the affirmative vote of 

3 two-thirds of Senators, duly chosen 

4 and sworn; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) in the case of testing proposed to 

6 be conducted because there is a technical 

7 need for such testing, pursuant to para8 graph (4). 

9 ‘‘(2) FUNDS DESCRIBED.—The funds described 

10 in this paragraph are funds— 

11 ‘‘(A) authorized to be appropriated or oth12 erwise made available for fiscal year 2021 or 

13 any fiscal year thereafter; or 

14 ‘‘(B) authorized to be appropriated or oth15 erwise made available for any fiscal year before 

16 fiscal year 2021 and available for obligation as 

17 of the date of the enactment of the National 

18 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

19 2021. 

20 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION DESCRIBED.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A notification de22 scribed in this paragraph with respect to a pro23 posal to conduct explosive nuclear testing shall 

24 include— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a description of the testing pro2 posed to be conducted; 

3 ‘‘(ii) a statement of the reasons for 

4 conducting the testing, including— 

5 ‘‘(I) whether or not there is a 

6 technical need for conducting the test7 ing; 

8 ‘‘(II) if there is a technical need 

9 for conducting the testing— 

10 ‘‘(aa) a description of the 

11 technical need; 

12 ‘‘(bb) an assessment of al13 ternative options for addressing 

14 the need; and 

15 ‘‘(cc) an explanation of why 

16 those options were not selected; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(III) if the reason for con19 ducting the testing is in response to a 

20 geopolitical event under the responsi21 bility of the President acting as the 

22 Commander in Chief of the Armed 

23 Forces, a detailed explanation of why 

24 the testing would be in the supreme 

25 national interest of the United States; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) an estimate of the timelines and 

2 costs of conducting the testing; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) any other information the Presi4 dent considers relevant. 

5 ‘‘(B) FORM.—A notification described in 

6 subparagraph (A) shall be submitted in unclas7 sified form but may include a classified annex. 

8 ‘‘(4) JOINT RESOLUTION OF APPROVAL FOR EX9 PLOSIVE NUCLEAR TESTING FOR WHICH THERE IS A

10 TECHNICAL NEED.— 

11 ‘‘(A) JOINT RESOLUTION OF APPROVAL

12 DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the term ‘joint 

13 resolution of approval’ means a joint resolution 

14 of either House of Congress the sole matter 

15 after the resolving clause of which is the fol16 lowing: ‘Congress approves of the proposal of 

17 the President to conduct explosive nuclear test18 ing for which there is a technical need, notice 

19 of which was submitted to Congress under sec20 tion 4210(a) of the Atomic Energy Defense Act 

21 (50 U.S.C. 2530(a)) on llll.’, with the 

22 blank space being filled with the appropriate 

23 date. 

24 ‘‘(B) INTRODUCTION; REFERRAL.—A joint 

25 resolution of approval— 


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1 ‘‘(i) may be introduced in either 

2 House by any member; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) shall be referred— 

4 ‘‘(I) in the Senate, to the Com5 mittee on Armed Services of the Sen6 ate; and 

7 ‘‘(II) in the House of Represent8 atives, to the Committee on Armed 

9 Services of the House of Representa10 tives. 

11 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATION IN HOUSE OF REP12 RESENTATIVES.— 

13 ‘‘(i) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.— 

14 The Committee on Armed Services of the 

15 House of Representatives shall report a 

16 joint resolution of approval to the House 

17 not later than 60 calendar days after the 

18 date of receipt of the notification sub19 mitted under paragraph (1)(B). If the 

20 committee fails to report the joint resolu21 tion within that period, the committee shall 

22 be discharged from further consideration 

23 of the joint resolution and the joint resolu24 tion shall be referred to the appropriate 

25 calendar. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDER2 ATION.—After the Committee on Armed 

3 Services of the House of Representatives 

4 reports the joint resolution of approval to 

5 the House or has been discharged from its 

6 consideration, it shall be in order, not later 

7 than the 120th day after Congress receives 

8 the notification submitted under paragraph 

9 (1)(B), to move to proceed to consider the 

10 joint resolution in the House. All points of 

11 order against the motion are waived. Such 

12 a motion shall not be in order after the 

13 House has disposed of a motion to proceed 

14 on the joint resolution. The previous ques15 tion shall be considered as ordered on the 

16 motion to its adoption without intervening 

17 motion. The motion shall not be debatable. 

18 A motion to reconsider the vote by which 

19 the motion is disposed of shall not be in 

20 order. 

21 ‘‘(iii) CONSIDERATION.—The joint 

22 resolution of approval shall be considered 

23 as read. All points of order against the 

24 joint resolution and against its consider25 ation are waived. The previous question 


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1 shall be considered as ordered on the joint 

2 resolution to its passage without inter3 vening motion except 24 hours of debate 

4 equally divided and controlled by the pro5 ponent and an opponent. A motion to re6 consider the vote on passage of the joint 

7 resolution shall not be in order. 

8 ‘‘(D) CONSIDERATION IN SENATE.— 

9 ‘‘(i) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.— 

10 The Committee on Armed Services of the 

11 Senate shall report a joint resolution of ap12 proval to the Senate not later than 60 cal13 endar days after the date of receipt of the 

14 notification submitted under paragraph 

15 (1)(B). If the committee fails to report the 

16 joint resolution within that period, the 

17 committee shall be discharged from further 

18 consideration of the joint resolution and 

19 the joint resolution shall be placed on the 

20 Calendar of Business. 

21 ‘‘(ii) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.— 

22 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Notwith23 standing Rule XXII of the Standing 

24 Rules of the Senate, it is in order at 

25 any time after the Committee on 


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1 Armed Services reports a joint resolu2 tion of approval or is discharged from 

3 consideration of a joint resolution of 

4 approval to move to proceed to the 

5 consideration of the joint resolution, 

6 and all points of order against the 

7 motion to proceed to the joint resolu8 tion (and against consideration of the 

9 joint resolution) are waived. The mo10 tion to proceed is not debatable. The 

11 motion is not subject to a motion to 

12 postpone. A motion to reconsider the 

13 vote by which the motion is agreed to 

14 or disagreed to shall not be in order. 

15 If a motion to proceed to the consider16 ation of the resolution is agreed to, 

17 the joint resolution shall remain the 

18 unfinished business until disposed of. 

19 ‘‘(II) CONSIDERATION.—Consid20 eration of a joint resolution of ap21 proval, and on all debatable motions 

22 in connection therewith, shall be lim23 ited to not more than 10 hours, which 

24 shall be divided equally between the 

25 majority and minority leaders or their 


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1 designees. A motion further to limit 

2 debate is in order and not debatable. 

3 An amendment to, a motion to post4 pone, or a motion to proceed to the 

5 consideration of other business, or a 

6 motion to recommit the joint resolu7 tion is not in order. 

8 ‘‘(III) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—The 

9 vote on passage shall occur imme10 diately following the conclusion of the 

11 debate on a joint resolution of ap12 proval, and a single quorum call at 

13 the conclusion of the debate if re14 quested in accordance with the rules 

15 of the Senate. Passage of the joint 

16 resolution shall require the affirmative 

17 vote of two-thirds of Senators, duly 

18 chosen and sworn. 

19 ‘‘(IV) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR

20 ON PROCEDURE.—Appeals from the 

21 decisions of the Chair relating to the 

22 application of the rules of the Senate, 

23 as the case may be, to the procedure 

24 relating to a joint resolution of apVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4099.IS S4099

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1 proval shall be decided without de2 bate. 

3 ‘‘(E) RULES RELATING TO SENATE AND

4 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.— 

5 ‘‘(i) COORDINATION WITH ACTION BY

6 OTHER HOUSE.—If, before the passage by 

7 one House of a joint resolution of that 

8 House, that House receives from the other 

9 House a joint resolution of approval that is 

10 identical to the joint resolution of the 

11 House receiving the resolution, then the 

12 following procedures shall apply: 

13 ‘‘(I) The joint resolution of the 

14 other House shall not be referred to a 

15 committee. 

16 ‘‘(II) With respect to a joint res17 olution of the House receiving the res18 olution— 

19 ‘‘(aa) the procedure in that 

20 House shall be the same as if no 

21 joint resolution had been received 

22 from the other House; but 

23 ‘‘(bb) the vote on passage 

24 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(AA) require the af2 firmative vote of two-thirds 

3 of Senators, duly chosen and 

4 sworn, for passage; and 

5 ‘‘(BB) be on the joint 

6 resolution of the other 

7 House. 

8 ‘‘(ii) TREATMENT OF JOINT RESOLU9 TION OF OTHER HOUSE.—If one House 

10 fails to introduce or consider a joint resolu11 tion under this section, the joint resolution 

12 of the other House shall be entitled to ex13 pedited floor procedures under this para14 graph. 

15 ‘‘(iii) TREATMENT OF COMPANION

16 MEASURES.—If, following passage of the 

17 joint resolution in the Senate, the Senate 

18 then receives an identical resolution from 

19 the House of Representatives, the resolu20 tion of the House shall not be debatable. 

21 ‘‘(iv) CONSIDERATION OF VETO MES22 SAGES.—If the President vetoes a joint 

23 resolution of approval, debate on a veto 

24 message in the Senate shall be 1 hour 


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1 equally divided between the majority and 

2 minority leaders or their designees. 

3 ‘‘(F) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTA4 TIVES AND SENATE.—This paragraph enacted 

5 by the Senate and the House of Representa6 tives— 

7 ‘‘(i) as an exercise of the rulemaking 

8 power of the Senate and House, respec9 tively, and as such it is deemed a part of 

10 the rules of each House, respectively, but 

11 applicable only with respect to the proce12 dure to be followed in that House in the 

13 case of a joint resolution of approval, and 

14 it supersedes other rules only to the extent 

15 that it is inconsistent with such rules; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) with full recognition of the con17 stitutional right of either House to change 

18 the rules (so far as relating to the proce19 dure of that House) at any time, in the 

20 same manner, and to the same extent as in 

21 the case of any other rule of that House. 

22 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

23 ‘‘(A) EXPLOSIVE NUCLEAR TESTING.—The 

24 term ‘explosive nuclear testing’— 


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1 ‘‘(i) means testing involving the explo2 sive compression or assembly of fissile ma3 terial to exceed critical mass with the at4 tendant release of any nuclear energy from 

5 fission processes; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) does not include subcritical ex7 periments carried out as part of the stock8 pile stewardship program under section 

9 4201, laser fusion experiments, or other in10 ertial confinement fusion experiments how11 ever driven. 

12 ‘‘(B) TECHNICAL NEED.—The term ‘tech13 nical need’, with respect to explosive nuclear 

14 testing, means that all officials specified in sec15 tion 4205(b) determine that an explosive nu16 clear test is necessary to resolve an issue with 

17 respect to the safety, reliability, performance, or 

18 military effectiveness of a nuclear weapon 

19 type.’’. 

Æ 


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