Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act of 2023

Subjects: Armed Forces and National Security


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2894 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2894

 To prohibit the use of Federal funds to launch a nuclear weapon using 
 an autonomous weapons system that is not subject to meaningful human 
                    control, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2023

    Mr. Lieu (for himself, Mr. Buck, and Mr. Beyer) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, 
and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 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 prohibit the use of Federal funds to launch a nuclear weapon using 
 an autonomous weapons system that is not subject to meaningful human 
                    control, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous 
Artificial Intelligence Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Department of Defense Directive 3000.09 defines 
        ``autonomous weapons system'' as a weapons system that, once 
        activated, can select and engage targets without further 
        intervention by an operator.
            (2) Article 3, clause 8 of the United Nations Convention on 
        Certain Conventional Weapons prohibits the indiscriminate use 
        of weapons, which is defined as ``any placement of such weapons 
        . . . which may be expected to cause incidental loss of 
        civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, 
        or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation 
        to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated''.
            (3) Section 5.10 of the Department of Defense Law of War 
        Manual states ``[c]ommanders, at all levels, have a great 
        responsibility to exercise the leadership necessary to reduce 
        the risk of harm to civilians and civilian objects''.
            (4) In a report on autonomous weapons systems published on 
        December 1, 2021, Human Rights Watch and the International 
        Human Rights Clinic of Harvard Law School argue that ``[r]obots 
        lack the compassion, empathy, mercy, and judgment necessary to 
        treat humans humanely, and they cannot understand the inherent 
        worth of human life''.
            (5) The 2022 Nuclear Posture Review states ``[i]n all 
        cases, the United States will maintain a human `in the loop' 
        for all actions critical to informing and executing decisions 
        by the President to initiate and terminate nuclear weapon 
        employment''.
            (6) The National Security Commission on Artificial 
        Intelligence, established by Congress pursuant to section 1051 
        of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 
        (Public Law 115-232), recommends that the United States 
        ``clearly and publicly affirm existing U.S. policy that only 
        human beings can authorize employment of nuclear weapons and 
        seek similar commitments from Russia and China''.
            (7) On February 16, 2023, the Department of State issued a 
        Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial 
        Intelligence and Autonomy, which includes the following 
        statement: ``States should maintain human control and 
        involvement for all actions critical to informing and executing 
        sovereign decisions concerning nuclear weapons''.
            (8) Large-scale nuclear war would lead to the deaths of 
        millions of people, firestorms, radioactive fallout 
        contamination, agricultural failure, and catastrophic climate 
        results.
            (9) To comply with international humanitarian law, human 
        control and human legal judgment are essential in the nuclear 
        command and control process.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the use of lethal, autonomous nuclear weapons systems 
        that are not subject to meaningful human control cannot 
        properly adhere to international humanitarian law; and
            (2) any decision to launch any nuclear weapon should not be 
        made by artificial intelligence.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS TO DEPLOY NUCLEAR WEAPONS 
              WITH AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS SYSTEMS NOT SUBJECT TO MEANINGFUL 
              HUMAN CONTROL.

    (a) In General.--None of the funds authorized to be appropriated or 
otherwise made available for any fiscal year may be obligated or 
expended to use an autonomous weapons system that is not subject to 
meaningful human control to--
            (1) launch a nuclear weapon; or
            (2) select or engage targets for the purposes of launching 
        a nuclear weapon.
    (b) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``autonomous weapons system'' has the meaning 
        given such term in Department of Defense Directive 3000.09, 
        titled ``Autonomy in Weapons Systems'' as in effect on the date 
        of the enactment of this Act.
            (2) The term ``meaningful human control'' means, with 
        respect to an autonomous weapons system, human control of--
                    (A) the selection and engagement of targets; and
                    (B) the time, location, and manner of use.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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