Smarter Approaches to Nuclear Expenditures Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3653 To reduce spending on nuclear weapons and related defense spending and to prohibit the procurement and deployment of low-yield nuclear war- heads, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 1, 2021 Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. NOR- TON, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Ms. LEE of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Armed Services A BILL To reduce spending on nuclear weapons and related defense spending and to prohibit the procurement and deploy- ment of low-yield nuclear warheads, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smarter Approaches 4 to Nuclear Expenditures Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3653.IH H3653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3653 IH (1) The United States continues to maintain an 1 excessively large and costly arsenal of nuclear deliv- 2 ery systems and warheads that are a holdover from 3 the Cold War. 4 (2) The current nuclear arsenal of the United 5 States includes approximately 3,800 total nuclear 6 warheads in its military stockpile, of which approxi- 7 mately 1,800 are deployed with five delivery compo- 8 nents: land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, 9 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, long-range 10 strategic bomber aircraft armed with nuclear gravity 11 bombs, long-range strategic bomber aircraft armed 12 with nuclear-armed air-launched cruise missiles, and 13 short-range fighter aircraft that can deliver nuclear 14 gravity bombs. The strategic bomber fleet of the 15 United States comprises 87 B–52 and 20 B–2 air- 16 craft, over 60 of which contribute to the nuclear 17 mission. The United States also maintains 400 18 intercontinental ballistic missiles and 14 Ohio-class 19 submarines, up to 12 of which are deployed. Each 20 of those submarines is armed with approximately 90 21 nuclear warheads. 22 (3) Between fiscal years 2019 and 2028, the 23 United States will spend $494,000,000,000 to main- 24 tain and recapitalize its nuclear force, according to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3653.IH H3653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3653 IH a January 2019 estimate from the Congressional 1 Budget Office, an increase of $94,000,000,000 from 2 the Congressional Budget Office’s 2017 estimate, 3 with additional cost driven in part by the new nu- 4 clear weapons called for in former President Donald 5 Trump’s 2018 Nuclear Posture Review. 6 (4) Adjusted for inflation, the Congressional 7 Budget Office estimates that the United States will 8 spend $1,700,000,000,000 through fiscal year 2046 9 on new nuclear weapons and modernization and in- 10 frastructure programs. 11 (5) Inaccurate budget forecasting is likely to 12 continue to plague the Department of Defense and 13 the Department of Energy, as evidenced by the fis- 14 cal year 2021 budget request of the President for 15 the National Nuclear Security Administration 16 ‘‘Weapon Activities’’ account, which far exceeded 17 what the National Nuclear Security Administration 18 had projected in its fiscal year 2020 request and 19 what it had projected in previous years. 20 (6) The projected growth in nuclear weapons 21 spending is coming due as the Department of De- 22 fense is seeking to replace large portions of its con- 23 ventional forces to better compete with the Russian 24 Federation and the People’s Republic of China and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3653.IH H3653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3653 IH as internal and external fiscal pressures are likely to 1 limit the growth of, and perhaps reduce, military 2 spending. As then-Air Force Chief of Staff General 3 Dave Goldfein said in 2020, ‘‘I think a debate is 4 that this will be the first time that the nation has 5 tried to simultaneously modernize the nuclear enter- 6 prise while it’s trying to modernize an aging conven- 7 tional enterprise. The current budget does not allow 8 you to do both.’’. 9 (7) In 2017, the Government Accountability Of- 10 fice concluded that National Nuclear Security Ad- 11 ministration’s budget forecasts for out-year spending 12 downplayed the fact that the agency lacked the re- 13 sources to complete multiple, simultaneous billion 14 dollar modernization projects and recommended that 15 the National Nuclear Security Administration con- 16 sider ‘‘deferring the start of or cancelling specific 17 modernization programs’’. 18 (8) According to the Government Accountability 19 Office, the National Nuclear Security Administration 20 has still not factored affordability concerns into its 21 planning as was recommended by the Government 22 Accountability Office in 2017, with the warning that 23 ‘‘it is essential for NNSA to present information to 24 Congress and other key decision maker indicating 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3653.IH H3653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3653 IH whether the agency has prioritized certain mod- 1 ernization programs or considered trade-offs (such 2 as deferring or cancelling specific modernization pro- 3 grams)’’. 4 (9) A December 2020 Congressional Budget 5 Office analysis showed that the projected costs of 6 nuclear forces over the next decade can be reduced 7 by $12,400,000,000 to $13,600,000,000 by trim- 8 ming back current plans, while still maintaining a 9 triad of delivery systems. Even larger savings would 10 accrue over the subsequent decade. 11 (10) The Department of Defense’s June 2013 12 nuclear policy guidance entitled ‘‘Report on Nuclear 13 Employment Strategy of the United States’’ found 14 that force levels under the April 2010 Treaty on 15 Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation 16 of Strategic Offensive Arms between the United 17 States and the Russian Federation (commonly 18 known as the ‘‘New START Treaty’’) ‘‘are more 19 than adequate for what the United States needs to 20 fulfill its national security objectives’’ and can be re- 21 duced by up to 1⁄3 below levels under the New 22 START Treaty to 1,000 to 1,100 warheads. 23 (11) Former President Trump expanded the 24 role of, and spending on, nuclear weapons in United 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3653.IH H3653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3653 IH States policy at the same time that he withdrew 1 from, unsigned, or otherwise terminated a series of 2 important arms control and nonproliferation agree- 3 ments. 4 SEC. 3. REDUCTIONS IN NUCLEAR FORCES. 5 (a) REDUCTION OF NUCLEAR-ARMED SUB- 6 MARINES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 7 none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or other- 8 wise made available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year 9 thereafter for the Department of Defense may be obli- 10 gated or expended for purchasing more than eight Colum- 11 bia-class submarines. 12 (b) REDUCTION OF GROUND-BASED MISSILES.— 13 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, beginning in 14 fiscal year 2022, the forces of the Air Force shall include 15 not more than 150 intercontinental ballistic missiles. 16 (c) REDUCTION OF DEPLOYED STRATEGIC WAR- 17 HEADS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, be- 18 ginning in fiscal year 2022, the forces of the United States 19 Military shall include not more than 1,000 deployed stra- 20 tegic warheads, as that term is defined in the New START 21 Treaty. 22 (d) LIMITATION ON NEW LONG-RANGE PENE- 23 TRATING BOMBER AIRCRAFT.—Notwithstanding any 24 other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3653.IH H3653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3653 IH be appropriated or otherwise made available for any of fis- 1 cal years 2022 through 2028 for the Department of De- 2 fense may be obligated or expended for purchasing more 3 than 80 B–21 long-range penetrating bomber aircraft. 4 (e) PROHIBITION ON F–35 NUCLEAR MISSION.— 5 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the 6 funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made 7 available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year thereafter 8 for the Department of Defense or the Department of En- 9 ergy may be used to make the F–35 Joint Strike Fighter 10 aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons. 11 (f) PROHIBITION ON NEW AIR-LAUNCHED CRUISE 12 MISSILE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 13 none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or other- 14 wise made available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year 15 thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Depart- 16 ment of Energy may be obligated or expended for the re- 17 search, development, test, and evaluation or procurement 18 of the long-range stand-off weapon or any other new air- 19 launched cruise missile or for the W80 warhead life exten- 20 sion program. 21 (g) PROHIBITION ON NEW INTERCONTINENTAL BAL- 22 LISTIC MISSILE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 23 law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or 24 otherwise made available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3653.IH H3653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3653 IH year thereafter for the Department of Defense may be ob- 1 ligated or expended for the research, development, test, 2 and evaluation or procurement of the ground-based stra- 3 tegic deterrent or any new intercontinental ballistic mis- 4 sile. 5 (h) TERMINATION OF URANIUM PROCESSING FACIL- 6 ITY.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none 7 of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise 8 made available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year 9 thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Depart- 10 ment of Energy may be obligated or expended for the Ura- 11 nium Processing Facility located at the Y–12 National Se- 12 curity Complex, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 13 (i) PROHIBITION ON PROCUREMENT AND DEPLOY- 14 MENT OF NEW LOW-YIELD WARHEAD.—Notwithstanding 15 any other provision of law, none of the funds authorized 16 to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal 17 year 2022 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department 18 of Defense or the Department of Energy may be obligated 19 or expended to deploy the W76–2 low-yield nuclear war- 20 head or any other low-yield or nonstrategic nuclear war- 21 head. 22 (j) PROHIBITION ON NEW SUBMARINE-LAUNCHED 23 CRUISE MISSILE.—Notwithstanding any other provision 24 of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3653.IH H3653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3653 IH or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2022 or any 1 fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense or 2 the Department of Energy may be obligated or expended 3 for the research, development, test, and evaluation or pro- 4 curement of a new submarine-launched cruise missile ca- 5 pable of carrying a low-yield or nonstrategic nuclear war- 6 head. 7 (k) LIMITATION ON PLUTONIUM PIT PRODUCTION.— 8 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the 9 funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made 10 available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year thereafter 11 for the Department of Defense or the Department of En- 12 ergy may be obligated or expended for achieving produc- 13 tion of more than 30 plutonium pits per year at Los Ala- 14 mos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico. 15 (l) LIMITATION ON W87–1 WARHEAD PROCURE- 16 MENT AND DEPLOYMENT.—Notwithstanding any other 17 provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appro- 18 priated or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2022 19 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department of De- 20 fense or the Department of Energy may be obligated or 21 expended for the procurement or deployment of the W87– 22 1 warhead for use on any missile that can feasibly employ 23 a W87 warhead. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3653.IH H3653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3653 IH (m) LIMITATION ON SUSTAINMENT OF B83–1 1 BOMB.—Notwithstanding other provision of law, none of 2 the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made 3 available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year thereafter 4 for the Department of Defense or the Department of En- 5 ergy may be obligated or expended for the sustainment 6 of the B83–1 bomb beyond the time at which confidence 7 in the B61–12 stockpile is gained. 8 (n) PROHIBITION ON SPACE-BASED MISSILE DE- 9 FENSE.—Notwithstanding other provision of law, none of 10 the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made 11 available for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year thereafter 12 for the Department of Defense or the Department of En- 13 ergy may be obligated or expended for the research, devel- 14 opment, test, and evaluation or procurement of a space- 15 based missile defense system. 16 (o) PROHIBITION ON THE W–93 WARHEAD.—Not- 17 withstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds 18 authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available 19 for fiscal year 2022 or any fiscal year thereafter for the 20 Department of Defense or the Department of Energy may 21 be obligated or expended for the procurement and deploy- 22 ment of a W–93 warhead on a submarine launched bal- 23 listic missile. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3653.IH H3653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3653 IH SEC. 4. REPORTS REQUIRED. 1 (a) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 3 Defense and the Secretary of Energy shall jointly submit 4 to the appropriate committees of Congress a report out- 5 lining the plan of each Secretary to carry out section 3. 6 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than March 1, 7 2022, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Defense 8 and the Secretary of Energy shall jointly submit to the 9 appropriate committees of Congress a report outlining the 10 plan of each Secretary to carry out section 3, including 11 any updates to previously submitted reports. 12 (c) [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]