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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 100 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 100

 Expressing support for the continued value of arms control agreements 
  and negotiated constraints on Russian and Chinese strategic nuclear 
                                forces.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 2025

Mr. Foster (for himself, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Garamendi, Ms. Garcia of Texas, 
   Mr. Khanna, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Norton, Mr. 
 Quigley, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Casten, and Ms. Titus) submitted 
   the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Expressing support for the continued value of arms control agreements 
  and negotiated constraints on Russian and Chinese strategic nuclear 
                                forces.

Whereas the United States maintains bipartisan support to ensure national 
        security and the defense of United States allies and partners;
Whereas President Reagan stated that ``a nuclear war cannot be won and must 
        never be fought'' in his 1984 State of the Union Address, and affirmed 
        the conviction with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985;
Whereas, in January 2022, President Biden joined the leaders of the People's 
        Republic of China, the French Republic, the Russian Federation, and the 
        United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to reaffirm that 
        ``a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought'';
Whereas the Russian Federation illegally invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, 
        and has used veiled and blatant nuclear saber rattling in service of its 
        war of aggression against a sovereign state;
Whereas the war has led to thousands of casualties, including over 40,000 
        civilians and more than 650 children killed, along with the displacement 
        of over 10,000,000 Ukrainians;
Whereas the Russian Federation's illegal war against Ukraine represents the 
        greatest threat to European security and freedom in a generation;
Whereas, on February 27, 2022, Russian President Putin ordered his military to 
        put Russia's nuclear forces on ``special combat readiness'' in an 
        escalatory response to the United States and its Western Allies 
        unequivocal condemnation of the Russian Federation's illegal invasion of 
        Ukraine;
Whereas, on September 21, 2022, President Putin warned he was ``not bluffing'' 
        when he said Russia has ``various weapons of mass destruction'' and 
        ``will use all the means available to us'' to defend its territory 
        shortly before annexing additional Ukrainian lands through 
        ``referendums'';
Whereas, in February 2021, the United States and the Russian Federation extended 
        the treaty between the United States of America and the Russian 
        Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of 
        Strategic Offensive Arms, also known as the New START Treaty, for 5 
        years until February 5, 2026;
Whereas, on February 21, 2023, President Putin announced the Russian 
        Federation's purported suspension of the New START Treaty, the last 
        major remaining bilateral nuclear arms control agreement, in a move 
        deemed legally invalid by the United States;
Whereas the New START Treaty has had bipartisan support and limits the Russian 
        nuclear arsenal to 1,550 warheads on no more than 700 deployed delivery 
        vehicles, and to 800 deployed and nondeployed strategic launchers;
Whereas the New START Treaty has permitted robust and strict transparency and 
        verification measures and onsite inspections, which have provided 
        valuable insight into Russia's nuclear arsenal;
Whereas the United States has decades of bipartisan leadership in nuclear arms 
        control, including cooperation with the Soviet Union and the Russian 
        Federation even when relations were strained;
Whereas, in June 2023, the United States Government announced it is now ready to 
        engage in a dialogue with the Russian Federation on a post-2026 nuclear 
        arms control framework and is ``prepared to stick to the central limits 
        as long as Russia does'' while also stating a ``willingness to engage in 
        bilateral arms control discussions'' with the Russian Federation and the 
        People's Republic of China ``without preconditions'';
Whereas the Department of State said in a report to Congress released in January 
        2024 that ``The United States assesses that the Russian Federation 
        likely did not exceed the New START Treaty's deployed warhead limit in 
        2023'';
Whereas Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said September 28, 2024, at a 
        United Nations General Assembly meeting that Russia continues to comply 
        with the New START Treaty numerical limits;
Whereas the nuclear weapon states recognized by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation 
        Treaty (NPT), including the Russian Federation, the United States, as 
        well as the People's Republic of China, have an obligation to ``pursue 
        negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation 
        of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament'';
Whereas, in November 2023, senior United States and Chinese officials held ``a 
        candid and in-depth discussion on issues related to arms control and 
        nonproliferation as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of 
        communication and responsibly manage the U.S.-PRC relationship''; and
Whereas the absence of agreed limits on the United States and Russian strategic 
        nuclear arsenals after the expiration of the New START Treaty would 
        affect strategic stability and increase the risk of a costly and 
        unrestrained nuclear arms race: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns in the strongest terms the use of nuclear 
        escalatory rhetoric and veiled threats to potentially use 
        nuclear weapons in the context of the illegal invasion of a 
        free and independent Ukraine;
            (2) condemns the Russian Federation's purported suspension 
        of its participation in the New START Treaty;
            (3) calls for immediate cessation of nuclear saber rattling 
        and nuclear escalatory rhetoric from the Russian Federation, or 
        by any other nuclear-armed state;
            (4) emphasizes the continued value of arms control 
        agreements between the United States and the Russian 
        Federation, which possess the world's largest nuclear arsenals;
            (5) calls for the Russian Federation to promptly return to 
        full implementation of the New START Treaty, including onsite 
        inspections, provision of treaty-mandated notifications and 
        data, and resumption of Bilateral Consultative Commission 
        meetings;
            (6) calls on the administration to continue to actively 
        pursue a dialogue with the Russian Federation on a new nuclear 
        arms control framework and on risk reduction in order to 
        maintain strategic stability, ensure the conflict in Ukraine 
        does not escalate to nuclear use, and avoid an unrestrained 
        nuclear arms race following the expiration of the New START 
        Treaty;
            (7) calls upon the United States and the Russian Federation 
        to continue to respect the numerical constraints on the 
        strategic deployed nuclear forces established by the New START 
        Treaty until such time as a new nuclear arms control framework 
        is established; and
            (8) calls on the administration to continue to engage the 
        People's Republic of China in further bilateral talks on 
        nuclear risk reduction and arms control, and to pursue new 
        multilateral arms control efforts.
                                 <all>
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