S.Amdt. 3594

SA 3594. Mr. SANDERS (for Mr. Welch) submitted an amendment intended
to be proposed by Mr. Sanders to the bill S. 2296, to authorize
appropriations for fiscal year 2026 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 end of subtitle C of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 1230B. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS TO REDUCE NUMBER OF
MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES SERVING IN EUROPE.

(a) Limitation.-- None of the funds authorized to be
appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act or any
other Act for the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2026
may be used to reduce the total number of members of the
United States Armed Forces serving on active duty who are
deployed to Europe below the number that is 5% less than the
number of such persons who were so deployed on January 1,
2023, unless--
(1) the Secretary of Defense first submits to the
appropriate committees of Congress a report on--
(A) the effect of such a reduction on preserving deterrence
in Europe and Eurasia;
(B) the anticipated reaction of the Russian Federation and
the People's Republic of China to such reduction;
(C) the effect of such a reduction on increasing incentives
for European countries to develop independent nuclear weapons
capabilities;
(D) the effect of such a reduction on the long-term
military and economic partnership between the United States
and Europe;
(E) the effect of such a reduction on the military balance
between the United States and the People's Republic of China
and between the United States and the Russian Federation; and
(2) the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, first certifies to the
appropriate committees of Congress that--
(A) such a reduction is in the national security interests
of the United States and will not significantly undermine the
security of United States allies in the region;
(B) the Secretary has consulted, as appropriate, with
allies of the United States regarding such a reduction;
(C) Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Norway,
Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania would be
fully capable of defending themselves and deterring a
conflict in Europe following such a reduction; and
(D) such a reduction supports and is consistent with the
most current national defense strategy under section 113 of
title 10, United States Code.
(b) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--

[[Page S5342]]

(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on
Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on
Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives.
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