S.Amdt. 336

SA 336. Mr. MERKLEY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2020 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place in title XII, insert the
following:

SEC. __. UNITED STATES POLICY WITH RESPECT TO THE NEW START
TREATY.

(a) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United
States to extend the New START Treaty an additional five
years until February 2026, as is permitted under Article XIV
of the Treaty, unless--
(1) the President determines that the Russian Federation is
in material breach of its obligations under the Treaty; or
(2) the United States and the Russian Federation enter into
a new bilateral agreement that places equal or greater
verifiable constraints on the Russian Federation's nuclear
forces.
(b) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, with the
concurrence of the Director of National Intelligence and the
Secretary of State, shall submit to the appropriate
committees of Congress a report on the implementation of the
policy stated in subsection (a).
(2) Elements.--The report required under paragraph (1)
shall include the following elements:
(A) A description of anticipated changes to the Russian
Federation's nuclear force structure in the event the New
START Treaty expires in 2021 and how and at what cost the
United States would plan to make corresponding changes to its
own nuclear force posture.
(B) A description of how and at what cost the United States
plans to replace the New START Treaty's onsite inspections
and other verification measures, which provide insight into
the size, movement, and disposition of Russian strategic
forces.
(C) An assessment of when new Russian nuclear weapons
systems that the United States has notified the Russian
Federation may be accountable under the Treaty are
anticipated to enter deployment prior to 2026 and in what
number.
(D) An analysis of how the Treaty's expiration in 2021 is
likely to impact the willingness of the People's Republic of
China to engage in strategic arms control talks as well as
what changes it may make to the current posture and size of
Chinese nuclear forces.
(E) An analysis of how a decision to delay the decision to
extend the Treaty until 2020 will impact planning by the
Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for United States
onsite inspections of the Russian Federation in calendar year
2021.
(F) A description of the views of United States allies in
Europe and the Indo-Pacific toward extension of the Treaty,
in particular its value in preserving NATO support for the
Alliance's nuclear extended deterrence mission.
(3) Form.--The report required under paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form but may contain a classified
annex.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the congressional defense committees;
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Select
Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and
(C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of
Representatives.
(2) New start treaty.--The term ``New START Treaty'' means
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.
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