Title: Smarter Approaches to Nuclear Expenditures Act
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Smarter Approaches to Nuclear Expenditures Act
This bill prohibits or reduces spending for several nuclear weapons programs within the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2727 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2727

To reduce spending on nuclear weapons and related defense spending and 
    to prohibit the procurement and deployment of low-yield nuclear 
                   warheads, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 29, 2019

Mr. Markey (for himself and Mr. Sanders) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To reduce spending on nuclear weapons and related defense spending and 
    to prohibit the procurement and deployment of low-yield nuclear 
                   warheads, 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 ``Smarter Approaches to Nuclear 
Expenditures Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the Soviet Union no 
        longer exists, and the Cold War is over. The nature of threats 
        to the national security and military interests of the United 
        States has changed. However, the United States continues to 
        maintain an excessively large and costly arsenal of nuclear 
        delivery systems and warheads that are a holdover from the Cold 
        War.
            (2) The current nuclear arsenal of the United States 
        includes approximately 3,800 total nuclear warheads in its 
        military stockpile, of which approximately 1,750 are deployed 
        with five delivery components: land-based intercontinental 
        ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, 
        long-range strategic bomber aircraft armed with nuclear gravity 
        bombs, long-range strategic bomber aircraft armed with nuclear-
        armed air-launched cruise missiles, and short-range fighter 
        aircraft that can deliver nuclear gravity bombs. The strategic 
        bomber fleet of the United States comprises 87 B-52 and 20 B-2 
        aircraft, over 60 of which contribute to the nuclear mission. 
        The United States also maintains 400 intercontinental ballistic 
        missiles and 14 Ohio-class submarines, up to 12 of which are 
        deployed. Each of those submarines is armed with approximately 
        90 nuclear warheads.
            (3) The maintenance of this force comes at significant 
        cost. Between fiscal years 2019 and 2028, the United States 
        will spend $494,000,000,000 to maintain and recapitalize its 
        nuclear force, according to a January 2019 estimate from the 
        Congressional Budget Office. This is $94,000,000,000 higher 
        than the Congressional Budget Office's 2017 estimate, with 
        additional cost driven in part by the new nuclear weapons 
        called for in the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review. Over the next 30 
        years, the price tag is likely to exceed $1,500,000,000,000 and 
        could even approach $2,000,000,000,000.
            (4) Numerous United States Government officials have warned 
        of the affordability problem posed by the current nuclear 
        weapons sustainment plans, cautioning that these plans cannot 
        be executed in the absence of significant long-term increases 
        to defense spending or cuts to other military priorities. For 
        example, Brian McKeon, former Principal Deputy Under Secretary 
        of Defense stated in October 2015 that: ``We're looking at that 
        big bow wave [in nuclear weapons spending] and wondering how 
        the heck we're going to pay for it, and probably thanking our 
        lucky stars we won't be here to answer the question.'' 
        Projected spending on the nuclear weapons budget has grown even 
        larger since 2015.
            (5) The projected growth in nuclear weapons spending is 
        coming due as the Department of Defense is seeking to replace 
        large portions of its conventional forces to better compete 
        with the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China 
        and as internal and external fiscal pressures are likely to 
        limit the growth of, and perhaps reduce, military spending. 
        ``We're going to have enormous pressure on reducing the debt 
        which means that defense spending--I'd like to tell you it's 
        going to keep going up--[but] I'm not terribly optimistic.'', 
        Alan Shaffer, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition 
        and Sustainment, said in February 2019.
            (6) A substantial decrease in spending on the nuclear 
        arsenal of the United States is prudent for both the budget and 
        for national security. The Department of Defense's June 2013 
        nuclear policy guidance entitled ``Report on Nuclear Employment 
        Strategy of the United States'' found that force levels under 
        the April 2010 Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and 
        Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms between the United 
        States and the Russian Federation (commonly known as the ``New 
        START Treaty'') ``are more than adequate for what the United 
        States needs to fulfill its national security objectives'' and 
        can be reduced by up to \1/3\ below levels under the New START 
        Treaty to 1,000 to 1,100 warheads.
            (7) A December 2018 Congressional Budget Office analysis 
        showed that the projected costs of nuclear forces over the next 
        decade can be reduced by $8,000,000,000 to $9,000,000,000 by 
        trimming back current plans, while still maintaining a triad of 
        delivery systems. Even larger savings would accrue over the 
        subsequent decade.
            (8) Even without additional reductions below the New START 
        Treaty limit of 1,550 deployed strategic warheads, the United 
        States can save tens of billions of dollars by deploying those 
        warheads more efficiently on delivery systems and by deferring 
        production of new delivery systems until they are needed.
            (9) President Donald Trump is proposing to expand the role 
        of, and spending on, nuclear weapons in United States policy at 
        the same time that the President has undermined critical arms 
        control and nonproliferation agreements. The President has 
        provided no clear indication that the President intends to 
        extend the New START Treaty. The potential expiration of that 
        treaty will remove all limits on the size of the United States 
        and Russian nuclear arsenals, heightening further the risk of 
        unconstrained nuclear weapons competition and even greater 
        spending on nuclear weapons.

SEC. 3. REDUCTIONS IN NUCLEAR FORCES.

    (a) Reduction of Nuclear-Armed Submarines.--Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated 
or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2020 or any fiscal year 
thereafter for the Department of Defense may be obligated or expended 
for purchasing more than eight Columbia-class submarines.
    (b) Reduction of Ground-Based Missiles.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, beginning in fiscal year 2020, the forces of the Air 
Force shall include not more than 150 intercontinental ballistic 
missiles.
    (c) Reduction of Deployed Strategic Warheads.--Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, beginning in fiscal year 2020, the forces of 
the United States Military shall include not more than 1,000 deployed 
strategic warheads, as that term is defined in the New START Treaty.
    (d) Limitation on New Long-Range Penetrating Bomber Aircraft.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds 
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for any of 
fiscal years 2020 through 2028 for the Department of Defense may be 
obligated or expended for purchasing more than 80 B-21 long-range 
penetrating bomber aircraft.
    (e) Prohibition on F-35 Nuclear Mission.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or 
otherwise made available for fiscal year 2020 or any fiscal year 
thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department of Energy 
may be used to make the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft capable of 
carrying nuclear weapons.
    (f) Prohibition on New Air-Launched Cruise Missile.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds 
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal 
year 2020 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense 
or the Department of Energy may be obligated or expended for the 
research, development, test, and evaluation or procurement of the long-
range stand-off weapon or any other new air-launched cruise missile or 
for the W80 warhead life extension program.
    (g) Prohibition on New Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds 
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal 
year 2020 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense 
may be obligated or expended for the research, development, test, and 
evaluation or procurement of the ground-based strategic deterrent or 
any new intercontinental ballistic missile.
    (h) Termination of Uranium Processing Facility.--Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be 
appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2020 or any 
fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department 
of Energy may be obligated or expended for the Uranium Processing 
Facility located at the Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge, 
Tennessee.
    (i) Prohibition on Procurement and Deployment of New Low-Yield 
Warhead.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds 
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal 
year 2020 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense 
or the Department of Energy may be obligated or expended to procure or 
deploy the W76-2 low-yield nuclear warhead or any other low-yield or 
nonstrategic nuclear warhead.
    (j) Prohibition on New Submarine-Launched Cruise Missile.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds 
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal 
year 2020 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense 
or the Department of Energy may be obligated or expended for the 
research, development, test, and evaluation or procurement of a new 
submarine-launched cruise missile capable of carrying a low-yield or 
nonstrategic nuclear warhead.
    (k) Limitation on Plutonium Pit Production.--Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated 
or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2020 or any fiscal year 
thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department of Energy 
may be obligated or expended for achieving production of more than 30 
plutonium pits per year at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, 
New Mexico.
    (l) Limitation on W87-1 Warhead Procurement and Deployment.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds 
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal 
year 2020 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense 
or the Department of Energy may be obligated or expended for the 
procurement or deployment of the W87-1 warhead for use on any missile 
that can feasibly employ a W87 warhead.
    (m) Limitation on Sustainment of B83-1 Bomb.--Notwithstanding other 
provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or 
otherwise made available for fiscal year 2020 or any fiscal year 
thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department of Energy 
may be obligated or expended for the sustainment of the B83-1 bomb 
beyond the time at which confidence in the B61-12 stockpile is gained.
    (n) Prohibition on Space-Based Missile Defense.--Notwithstanding 
other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated 
or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2020 or any fiscal year 
thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department of Energy 
may be obligated or expended for the research, development, test, and 
evaluation or procurement of a space-based missile defense system.

SEC. 4. REPORTS REQUIRED.

    (a) Initial Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 
Energy shall jointly submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 
report outlining the plan of each Secretary to carry out section 3.
    (b) Annual Report.--Not later than March 1, 2021, and annually 
thereafter, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy shall 
jointly submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 
outlining the plan of each Secretary to carry out section 3, including 
any updates to previously submitted reports.
    (c) Annual Nuclear Weapons Accounting.--Not later than September 
30, 2020, and annually thereafter, the President shall transmit to the 
appropriate committees of Congress a report containing a comprehensive 
accounting by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget of 
the amounts obligated and expended by the Federal Government for each 
nuclear weapon and related nuclear program during--
            (1) the fiscal year covered by the report; and
            (2) the life cycle of such weapon or program.
    (d) Cost Estimate Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the 
Secretary of Energy shall jointly submit to the appropriate committees 
of Congress a report outlining the estimated cost savings that result 
from carrying out section 3.
    (e) Report on Funding National Defense Strategy.--Not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Defense shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 
explaining how the Secretary proposes to fund the 2018 National Defense 
Strategy under different levels of projected defense spending, 
including scenarios in which--
            (1) anticipated cost savings from reform do not 
        materialize; or
            (2) defense spending decreases to the levels specified by 
        the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-25; 125 Stat. 
        240).
    (f) Modification of Period To Be Covered by Estimates of Costs 
Relating to Nuclear Weapons.--Section 1043 of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Law 112-81; 125 Stat. 
1576), as most recently amended by section 1670 of the John S. McCain 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public Law 
115-232; 132 Stat. 2157), is further amended in subsections (a)(2)(F) 
and (b)(1)(A) by striking ``10-year period'' each place it appears and 
inserting ``25-year period''.
    (g) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on 
        Foreign Relations, the Committee on Appropriations, and the 
        Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate; and
            (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on 
        Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee 
        on Energy and Commerce, and the Committee on Natural Resources 
        of the House of Representatives.
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