89–010 

Calendar No. 218 

111TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 111–100 

START I TREATY INSPECTIONS AND MONITORING 

PROTOCOL CONTINUATION ACT OF 2009 

NOVEMBER 20, 2009.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. KERRY, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 2727] 

The Committee on Foreign Relations, having had under consideration the bill S. 2727 to provide for continued application of arrangements under the Protocol on Inspections and Continuous 

Monitoring Activities Relating to the Treaty Between the United 

States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on 

the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms in the 

period following the Protocol’s termination on December 5, 2009, 

reports favorably thereon and recommends that the bill do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

I. Purpose ........................................................................................................... 1 

II. Committee Action .......................................................................................... 2 

III. Discussion ....................................................................................................... 2 

IV. Cost Estimate ................................................................................................. 3 

V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact .................................................................. 3 

VI. Changes in Existing Law .............................................................................. 3 

I. PURPOSE

The purpose of the START I Treaty Inspections and Monitoring 

Protocol Continuation Act of 2009 is to authorize the President to 

accord to eligible officials of the Russian Federation the privileges 

and immunities provided for in Article II, paragraph 7, of the Protocol on Inspections and Continuous Monitoring Activities Relating 

to the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union 

of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Reduction and Limitation of 

Strategic Offensive Arms, signed at Moscow July 31, 1991, in the 

period following the treaty’s termination on December 5, 2009, in 


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1For comparison, although START was signed on July 31, 1991, the President did not submit 

the treaty to the Senate until November of that year. 

order to facilitate the continued application in the United States of 

the arrangements provided for in the protocol. 

II. COMMITTEE ACTION

Senator Lugar introduced S. 2727 on November 4, 2009. By voice 

vote on November 17, 2009, the committee ordered that S. 2727 be 

reported favorably. 

III. DISCUSSION

The Treaty between the United States of America and the Union 

of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Reduction and Limitation of 

Strategic Offensive Arms (START, or START I), signed at Moscow 

on July 31, 1991, will expire on December 5, 2009. U.S. and Russian negotiators have been working to finalize a successor agreement to START, with the intention of completing negotiations by 

December 5. It is unlikely, however, that a new treaty would be 

transmitted to the Senate, receive Senate approval, and enter into 

force until well into 2010.1 Accordingly, the period between the December 5, 2009, termination date for START and the date of entry 

into force of a new treaty could represent a significant break in the 

long-established verification and confidence-building procedures 

under START. 

The United States has been negotiating a ‘‘bridging arrangement’’ with the Russian Federation for the interim period between 

START’s expiration and the time a new treaty can be brought into 

force. S. 2727 is not intended to conflict with any such bridging arrangement; rather, it merely provides a specific authority to the 

President to confer privileges and immunities in those cases in 

which he concludes that they are needed. 

START created a system of data exchanges and more than 80 

types of notifications covering movement, changes in status, conversion, elimination, testing and technical characteristics of new 

and existing strategic offensive arms. These data are confirmed 

through inspections under START’s Protocol on Inspections and 

Continuous Monitoring Activities, which allows for 12 different 

types of inspection to be carried out under START. The United 

States has carried out more than 600 inspections in Russia, 

Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine since START entered into force. 

Four hundred similar inspections have been carried out in the 

United States under the treaty by Russian inspection teams. 

Article II, paragraph 7, of the protocol specifies some eight privileges and immunities that shall be enjoyed by inspectors under the 

treaty (relating to persons, premises, aircraft and crew, correspondence, immunity from duties, and similar matters). To ensure that 

those inspections occurring in the United States that had been covered by the protocol’s grant of privileges and immunities could continue after termination of START and before a new treaty enters 

into force, section 2 of S. 2727 would authorize the President to 

grant the privileges and immunities specified in the protocol to 

Russian officials conducting inspections in the United States in a 

manner consistent with the provisions of the protocol. Section 3 of 

S. 2727 specifies that an official of the Russian Federation would 


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be eligible for privileges and immunities only if the United States 

has invited the inspector to perform within U.S. territory an inspection or monitoring activity consistent with the protocol. The 

privileges and immunities would be granted only to allow for the 

exercise of official functions in relation to inspection and monitoring and would not be for the personal benefit of the recipient 

Russian official. There is no requirement under this bill that the 

President exercise this authority. 

Pursuant to sections 3 and 4 of the bill, the interim authority 

that S. 2727 provides would be available only between December 

5, 2009 and either June 5, 2010, or the date of the entry into force 

of a successor agreement to START, whichever occurs earlier. 

IV. COST ESTIMATE

In accordance with rule XXVI, paragraph 11(a) of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the committee notes that this estimate of the 

costs of this legislation prepared by the Congressional Budget Office was not available at the time this report was filed. 

V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 11(b) of the Standing Rules of 

the Senate, the committee has determined that there is no regulatory impact as a result of this legislation. 

VI. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the committee notes that no changes to existing law are made by this bill. 

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