A resolution expressing support for the continued value of arms control agreements and condemning the Russian Federation's purported suspension of its participation in the New START Treaty.

Bill: 118-sres-593
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA]
Introduced: 2024-03-19
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2024-03-19
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Summaries:

tv_txt: III 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 593 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 19, 2024 Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Merkley , Ms. Warren , Mr. Van Hollen , Mr. Wyden , Mr. Whitehouse , and Mr. Sanders ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations RESOLUTION Expressing support for the continued value of arms control agreements and condemning the Russian Federation’s purported suspension of its participation in the New START Treaty.

Whereas the United States maintains bipartisan support to ensure national security and the defense of United States allies and partners; Whereas President Ronald Reagan stated ‘‘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 Joseph R. 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 United States, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland signed the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, committing ‘‘to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine’’ and ‘‘to refrain from the threat or use of force’’ against the country; Whereas the United States has a history of leadership in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, including its work with Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation to ensure Ukraine did not retain any nuclear weapons left on its territory when it became independent; Whereas the Russian Federation further 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 10,000 civilians and more than 560 children killed, along with the displacement of over 6,400,000 Ukrainians and an enduring global food crisis; 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, President of Russia Vladimir 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 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, signed on April 8, 2010, and entered into force on February 5, 2011 (commonly referred to 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 New START 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 non-deployed strategic launchers; Whereas New START has permitted robust and strict transparency and verification measures and on-site 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 nuclear weapon states recognized by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, done at Washington, London, and Moscow July 1, 1968 (commonly referred to as the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty or NPT ), including the Russian Federation, the United States, and 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 a new framework for nuclear arms control after the expiration of New START would affect strategic stability and increase the risk of an unrestrained nuclear arms race with the Russian Federation: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1) condemns in the strongest terms the Russian Federation’s nuclear escalatory rhetoric and veiled threats on the potential use of nuclear weapons to further its invasion and aggression against 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; (4) emphasizes the continued value of arms control agreements between the United States and the Russian Federation; (5) calls for the Russian Federation to promptly return to full implementation of the New START Treaty, including on-site inspections, provision of treaty-mandated notifications and data, and resumption of Bilateral Consultative Commission meetings; (6) calls on the President 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 involving the 5 permanent members of the United Nations Security Council; and (7) calls on the President to continue to pursue nuclear arms control and risk reduction dialogue with the Russian Federation to maintain strategic stability, ensure the conflict in Ukraine does not escalate to nuclear use, and avoid an unrestrained nuclear arms race.