Title: A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) continues to make an invaluable contribution to United States and international security, 50 years after it opened for signature on July 1, 1968.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the United States: (1) should encourage cooperation with other nuclear possessing states to reduce the number and role of nuclear weapons in global military strategies, and (2) must maintain support for the International Atomic Energy Agency.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 562 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 562

     Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Treaty on the Non-
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) continues to make an invaluable 
  contribution to United States and international security, 50 years 
             after it opened for signature on July 1, 1968.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 28, 2018

Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Warren, 
    Mr. Durbin, Ms. Smith, Mr. Markey, and Mr. Brown) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
     Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Treaty on the Non-
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) continues to make an invaluable 
  contribution to United States and international security, 50 years 
             after it opened for signature on July 1, 1968.

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 former Soviet Union averted a catastrophic nuclear 
        exchange during the October 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 United States national and international security by 
        preventing the spread of nuclear weapons;
Whereas Article III of the NPT obligates each non-nuclear weapon state 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 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 
        nonproliferation 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 depend upon the full 
        implementation by all State Parties of the Treaty's three mutually 
        reinforcing pillars: nonproliferation, access to peaceful uses of 
        nuclear energy, and disarmament;
Whereas over the past half century, the United States has exhibited leadership 
        in strengthening each of the NPT's three pillars for the global good, 
        including--

    (1) reducing its nuclear weapons stockpile of more than 85 percent from 
its Cold War heights of 31,225 in parallel with equally massive reductions 
of Russia's stockpile through bilateral coordination;

    (2) cooperating with Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Belarus--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 Peaceful Uses 
Initiative exceeded more than $320,000,000 since 2010 to help in the 
treatment of cancer and in other life-saving applications; and

    (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 collective 
security;

Whereas heightened geopolitical tensions in recent years have made cooperation 
        on nonproliferation and arms control issues with the Russian Federation 
        more challenging;
Whereas a range of actions by the Government of the Russian Federation has led 
        to a deterioration in bilateral relations with the United States, 
        including Russia's brazen interference in the 2016 United States 
        presidential elections, its violation 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 
        (commonly known as the ``INF Treaty''), signed at Washington, DC, 
        December 8, 1987, and entered into force June 1, 1988, its illegal 
        annexation of Crimea, its invasion of Eastern Ukraine, and its 
        destabilizing actions in Syria; and
Whereas within a difficult environment, preserving agreements that continue to 
        contribute to United States and global security, particularly 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 February 5, 2011 
        (commonly known as the ``New START Treaty''), is all the more essential, 
        and that to that end, the Department of State confirmed in February 2018 
        that Russia had met New START's Central Treaty Limits and stated that 
        ``implementation of the New START Treaty enhances the safety and 
        security of the United States'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) any United States negotiated agreement with the 
        Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on 
        denuclearization must require it to return to the NPT as a 
        Party in good standing;
            (2) the United States must maintain support for the IAEA 
        through its assessed and voluntary contributions and promote 
        the universal adoption of the IAEA Additional Protocol;
            (3) the United States and its allies should pursue 
        diplomatic efforts to ensure that the Islamic Republic of Iran 
        remains in compliance with the NPT, as the 2016 and 2017 
        Reports on Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, 
        Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments 
        both affirmed;
            (4) the United States should enter into negotiations on the 
        extension of the New START Treaty until 2026, which would make 
        any current or future Russian strategic systems of a range 
        greater than 5,500 kilometers accountable under the Treaty;
            (5) the United States should work to resolve Russia's 
        violation of the INF Treaty;
            (6) all countries who have yet to ratify the Comprehensive 
        Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, done at New York September 10, 1996, 
        including the United States, should venture to create the 
        conditions that allow for entry-into-force of the Treaty, and 
        should observe a moratorium on nuclear testing until that time; 
        and
            (7) the United States Government should continue to 
        encourage opportunities for cooperation with other nuclear 
        possessing states to reduce the salience, number, and role of 
        nuclear weapons in global military strategies.
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