II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4604 

To require the imposition of sanctions with respect to certain persons in 

the defense sectors of nuclear weapons states that are not fulfilling 

their obligations under article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 

Mr. CRUZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the imposition of sanctions with respect to certain 

persons in the defense sectors of nuclear weapons states 

that are not fulfilling their obligations under article VI 

of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strongly and Unam5 biguously Sanctioning Proliferators Exploiting Nuclear 

6 Diplomacy Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘SUSPEND Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) The governments of nuclear weapons states 

4 have committed, in accordance with article VI of the 

5 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weap6 ons, done at Washington, London, and Moscow July 

7 1, 1968 (21 UST 483) (commonly referred to as the 

8 ‘‘Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty’’), to ‘‘pursue ne9 gotiations in good faith on effective measures relat10 ing to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early 

11 date and to nuclear disarmament’’. 

12 (2) In 2018 the Nuclear Posture Review con13 firmed that— 

14 (A) ‘‘[t]he United States remains com15 mitted to its efforts in support of the ultimate 

16 global elimination of nuclear, biological, and 

17 chemical weapons’’; 

18 (B) ‘‘[w]hile the United States has contin19 ued to reduce the number and salience of nu20 clear weapons, others, including Russia and 

21 China, have moved in the opposite direction’’; 

22 and 

23 (C) the United States has ‘‘long sought a 

24 dialogue with China to enhance our under25 standing of our respective nuclear policies, doc26 trine, and capabilities; to improve transparency; 


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1 and to help manage the risks of miscalculation 

2 and misperception’’. 

3 (3) On May 29, 2019, the Director of the De4 fense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Robert P. Ash5 ley, Jr., stated— 

6 (A) ‘‘Russia is upgrading the capacity of 

7 its nuclear forces. We assess its overall nuclear 

8 stockpile is likely to grow significantly over the 

9 next decade.’’; and 

10 (B) ‘‘Over the next decade, China is likely 

11 to at least double the size of its nuclear stock12 pile in the course of implementing the most 

13 rapid expansion and diversification of its nu14 clear arsenal in China’s history.’’. 

15 (4) In 2019, the United States-China Economic 

16 and Security Review Commission reported to Con17 gress that— 

18 (A) the People’s Republic of China’s ‘‘en19 hanced program of military-civil fusion seeks to 

20 mobilize civilian technological advances in sup21 port of China’s military modernization’’; and 

22 (B) ‘‘As part of military-civil fusion, Chi23 nese firms obtain dual-use technologies through 

24 overseas acquisitions supported by government 

25 funding. For instance, since its creation in 


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1 2008, state-owned defense conglomerate Avia2 tion Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has 

3 spent at least $3.3 billion acquiring at least 20 

4 aerospace, automotive, and engineering firms, 

5 mainly in the United States and Europe.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 

9 respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 

10 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 

11 have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the 

12 result. 

13 (2) NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY.— 

14 The term ‘‘Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty’’ 

15 means the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nu16 clear Weapons, done at Washington, London, and 

17 Moscow July 1, 1968 (21 UST 483). 

18 (3) NUCLEAR WEAPONS STATE.—The term 

19 ‘‘nuclear weapons state’’ means a country that is a 

20 nuclear-weapons state party to the Nuclear Non21 Proliferation Treaty. 

22 (4) SDN LIST.—The term ‘‘SDN list’’ means 

23 the list of specially designated nationals and blocked 

24 persons maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets 

25 Control of the Department of the Treasury. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON OBSERVANCE OF ARTICLE VI OF NU2 CLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY BY NU3 CLEAR WEAPONS STATES. 

4 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

6 of State shall submit to Congress a report describing the 

7 implementation and observance of article VI of the Nu8 clear Non-Proliferation Treaty by nuclear weapons states 

9 that includes the determination of the Secretary, with re10 spect to each such state, of whether that state has, during 

11 the year preceding submission of the report, ‘‘pursue[d] 

12 negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating 

13 to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and 

14 to nuclear disarmament’’ in accordance with such article 

15 VI. 

16 SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO CER17 TAIN PERSONS IN DEFENSE SECTOR OF NU18 CLEAR WEAPONS STATES NOT FULFILLING 

19 OBLIGATIONS UNDER ARTICLE VI OF THE 

20 NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall include on the 

22 SDN list any person that, on or after the date of the en23 actment of this Act— 

24 (1) is an entity in the defense industry of a 

25 country described in subsection (b); 


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1 (2) is an individual who is corporate officer or 

2 principal shareholder of an entity described in para3 graph (1); 

4 (3) knowingly provides significant financial, ma5 terial, technological, or other support to a person de6 scribed in paragraph (1) or (2); or 

7 (4) knowingly provides goods or services in sup8 port of any activity or transaction on behalf of or for 

9 the benefit of such a person. 

10 (b) COUNTRY DESCRIBED.—A country described in 

11 this subsection is a nuclear weapons state that is not a 

12 member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 

13 (c) EXCEPTION.—The President may not include an 

14 entity in the defense industry of a country described in 

15 subsection (b), an individual who is corporate officer or 

16 principal shareholder of such an entity, or a person that 

17 provides support or goods or services to such an entity 

18 or individual as described in paragraph (3) or (4) of sub19 section (a), on the SDN list pursuant to subsection (a) 

20 if, in the most recent report required by section 4, the 

21 President determines that the country has ‘‘pursue[d] ne22 gotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to 

23 cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and 

24 to nuclear disarmament’’ pursuant to the obligations of 


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1 the country under article VI of the Nuclear Non-Prolifera2 tion Treaty during the period covered by the report. 

Æ 


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