IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 38 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation 
of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) continues to make an invaluable contribution 
to United States and international security, and noting former Senator 
Richard G. Lugar’s indispensable contributions to international security 
and reducing nuclear weapons-related risks. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 14, 2019 
Mr. SHERMAN (for himself, Mr. BANKS, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. FORTENBERRY, 
Mr. LUJA´N, and Mr. FLEISCHMANN) submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Treaty on 
the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) con-
tinues to make an invaluable contribution to United 
States and international security, and noting former Sen-
ator Richard G. Lugar’s indispensable contributions to 
international security and reducing nuclear weapons-re-
lated risks. 
Whereas the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear 
Weapons (NPT) opened for signature 50 years ago on 
July 1, 1968; 
Whereas the United States and the former Soviet Union 
averted a catastrophic nuclear exchange during the Octo-
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•HCON 38 IH 
ber 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, which led to a series of 
bilateral and multilateral agreements to lessen the chance 
of nuclear war, including the NPT; 
Whereas President John F. Kennedy predicted in 1963 that 
as many as 25 countries would acquire nuclear weapons 
by 1970 absent a treaty to control nuclear weapons; 
Whereas the United States Senate provided its advice and 
consent to the NPT on March 13, 1969, with a vote on 
ratification of 83 to 15; 
Whereas the NPT has grown to include 191 State Parties, 
making an irreplaceable contribution to international se-
curity by preventing the spread of nuclear weapons; 
Whereas former Senator Richard G. Lugar made indispen-
sable contributions to reducing nuclear weapon risks, 
most notably through his leadership in standing up the 
Cooperative Threat Reduction Program (commonly re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Nunn-Lugar Program’’), which elimi-
nated 7,600 nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union; 
Whereas Senator Lugar successfully secured Senate Advice 
and Consent for the Treaty between the United States of 
America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the 
Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive 
Arms, signed April 8, 2010, and entered into force Feb-
ruary 5, 2011 (commonly known as the ‘‘New START 
Treaty’’); 
Whereas Article III of the NPT obliges each non-nuclear 
weapon country that is a party to the NPT to conclude 
a Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic 
Energy Agency (IAEA) to verify treaty compliance, 174 
of which are Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements 
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crafted to detect the diversion of nuclear materials from 
peaceful to non-peaceful uses; 
Whereas the 2018 Department of Defense Nuclear Posture 
Review affirms, ‘‘The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 
(NPT) is a cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation 
regime. It plays a positive role in building consensus for 
non-proliferation and enhances international efforts to 
impose costs on those that would pursue nuclear weapons 
outside the Treaty.’’; 
Whereas the success of the NPT has and will continue to de-
pend upon the full implementation by all parties of the 
Treaty’s three mutually reinforcing pillars: non-prolifera-
tion, access to peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and disar-
mament; 
Whereas over the past half century, the United States has ex-
hibited leadership in strengthening each of the NPT’s 
three pillars for the global good, including— 
(1) reducing its nuclear weapons stockpile by more 
than 85 percent from its Cold War heights of 31,225 in 
parallel with equally massive reductions of the Russian 
Federation’s stockpile through bilateral coordination; 
(2) cooperating with Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and 
Belarus through the Nunn-Lugar Act to facilitate the 
surrender of nuclear weapons on their soil after the fall 
of the Soviet Union—leading to each country’s accession 
to the NPT as non-nuclear weapons states; 
(3) providing voluntary contributions to the IAEA to 
promote 
peaceful 
nuclear 
activities 
exceeding 
$378,000,000 since 2010, including activities that help in 
the treatment of cancer and other life-saving applications; 
and 
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(4) extending deterrence to United States allies in 
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Japan, 
and the Republic of Korea—which is an unmistakable 
demonstration of the United States commitment to col-
lective security; 
Whereas heightened geopolitical tensions in recent years have 
made cooperation on non-proliferation and arms control 
issues with the Russian Federation more challenging; 
Whereas a range of actions by the Government of the Rus-
sian Federation has led to a deterioration in bilateral re-
lations with the United States, including— 
(1) Russia’s brazen interference in the 2016 United 
States presidential elections; 
(2) its violation of the Treaty between the United 
States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Re-
publics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range 
and Shorter-Range Missiles (commonly known as the 
‘‘INF Treaty’’), signed at Washington, DC, December 8, 
1987, and entered into force June 1, 1988; 
(3) its use of a chemical nerve agent in an assas-
sination attempt against Sergei Skripal and his daughter 
Yulia in the United Kingdom in March 2018; 
(4) its illegal annexation of Crimea; 
(5) its invasion of Eastern Ukraine; and 
(6) its destabilizing actions in Syria; 
Whereas within a difficult environment, preserving agree-
ments that continue to contribute to United States and 
global security, particularly the New START Treaty, is 
important, and the Department of State confirmed in 
February 2018 that Russia had met New START’s Cen-
tral Treaty Limits and stated that ‘‘implementation of 
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the New START Treaty enhances the safety and security 
of the United States’’; 
Whereas United States efforts to reduce dangers associated 
with the nuclear arsenals of both the Russian Federation 
and the People’s Republic of China, through an ambi-
tious arms control agreement, would advance United 
States and global security, adding to the benefits to sta-
bility and transparency provided by existing agreements; 
Whereas Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a March 2018 
speech, unveiled details of new kinds of strategic nuclear 
weapons under development that may be accountable 
under the provisions of the New START Treaty, includ-
ing hypersonic nuclear weapons, nuclear-powered cruise 
missiles, and multi-megaton nuclear torpedoes shot from 
drone submarines; 
Whereas the Russian Federation erroneously claimed that the 
United States may have not reached New START Treaty 
Central Limits by February 5, 2018, as is mandated by 
the Treaty; 
Whereas the Bilateral Consultative Commission is the appro-
priate forum for the Parties to engage constructively on 
any New START Treaty implementation issues that 
arise; and 
Whereas the collapse of the INF Treaty and expiration of the 
New START Treaty would lead to the absence of any 
binding, bilateral treaty or agreement governing United 
States and Russian nuclear forces for the first time since 
1972: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 
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(1) the United States should continue to en-
courage all parties to the Treaty on the Non-Pro-
liferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to comply fully 
with the Treaty; 
(2) the United States should maintain support 
for the International Atomic Energy Agency through 
its assessed and voluntary contributions and pro-
mote the universal adoption of the IAEA Additional 
Protocol; 
(3) the United States should— 
(A) consider extending the Treaty between 
the United States of America and the Russian 
Federation on Measures for the Further Reduc-
tion and Limitation of Strategic Offensive 
Arms, signed at Prague April 8, 2010, and en-
tered into force February 5, 2011 (‘‘New 
START Treaty’’), within the context of wider 
enhancement of strategic stability between the 
United States and the Russian Federation, pro-
vided that the treaty continues to advance 
United States national security; 
(B) assess whether Russia’s recently-an-
nounced nuclear capabilities should be account-
able under the New START Treaty and raise 
the issue directly with Russia; 
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(C) conclude an interagency process to 
consider an extension of the New START Trea-
ty and to engage with Russia on the full range 
of strategic stability issues and other arms con-
trol and non-proliferation issues; 
(D) begin negotiations with Russia on an 
agreement to address the massive disparity be-
tween the non-strategic nuclear weapons stock-
piles of Russia and the United States and to se-
cure and reduce non-strategic nuclear weapons 
in a verifiable manner; and 
(E) consider the consequences of the New 
START Treaty’s expiration in 2021 in relation 
to the insights it provides into the location, 
movement, and disposition of current and fu-
ture Russian strategic systems; 
(4) the United States strongly condemns Rus-
sia’s violations of the Treaty Between the United 
States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist 
Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate- 
Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, signed at Wash-
ington December 8, 1987, and entered into force 
June 1, 1988, and urges it to come back into full 
compliance prior to August 2, 2019; 
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(5) in responding to Russia’s deployment of 
INF-range systems, the United States should advo-
cate for those defense and deterrence steps which 
preserve the cohesion of the North Atlantic Treaty 
Organization and are aimed at averting an arms 
race on the European continent; 
(6) pursuit of a verifiable and comprehensive 
arms control agreement with Russia and the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China, which may capture strategic 
and non-strategic nuclear weapons capabilities, 
would enhance United States and global security by 
building upon other treaties, agreements, and trans-
parency measures to reduce nuclear risk; and 
(7) the United States should continue to en-
courage opportunities for cooperation with other nu-
clear weapons-possessing countries to reduce the sa-
lience, number, and role of nuclear weapons in their 
national military strategies. 
Æ 
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