Republicans in both houses of Congress on Thursday introduced legislation intended to press Russia to return to compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, following reports that the nation has deployed a new cruise missile in contravention of the accord.
The Intermediate-Range Forces Treaty Preservation Act, from Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), “would allow the United States to take steps to bring Russia back into compliance with the INF Treaty and begin developing similar missile systems,” according to a Cotton press release. Representatives Ted Poe (R-Texas) and Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) also introduced a House version of the bill.
The legislation is a response to reports this week that Russia has deployed a ground-launched cruise missile, in violation of the INF Treaty, which prohibits U.S. and Russian land-based missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. The United States has maintained for several years that Russia was violating the treaty, first by testing the cruise missile and now by fielding the weapon.
The new bill outlines steps such as “funding counter-force, active-defense, and countervailing-strike activities”; establishing a program of record for a “dual-capable road-mobile ground launched missile system with INF ranges”; pursuing additional missile defense assets; facilitating the transfer of INF range systems to allies; limiting funding for extension of the New START treaty; and conducting a policy review to determine whether the Russian RS-26 intercontinental ballistic missile is countable under New START.
“Pleading with the Russian regime to uphold its treaty obligations won’t bring it into compliance, but strengthening our nuclear forces in Europe very well might,” Cotton said in a statement. Poe added that the bill “prepares the United States to develop intermediate range missiles should Russia not come back into compliance with the treaty.”
Cotton last week also introduced legislation that would cut U.S. funding to the international body that oversees the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). A House version of the bill was filed by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.).
The bills would provide an exception for money for the International Monitoring System managed by the Preparatory Commission to the CTBT Organization. The IMS consists of hundreds of monitoring stations and 16 laboratories worldwide to detect underground, underwater, or atmospheric nuclear tests, part of the CTBTO’s global verification regime that is now over 85 percent complete. The United States contributes roughly $32 million per year to the CTBTO, about one-quarter of its total budget, and hosts the greatest number of IMS facilities.
Cotton’s office did not respond to requests for comment regarding the reasoning for the bills. The breakdown between the U.S. government’s overall CTBTO contributions and IMS-specific funding was not immediately clear, but Wilson spokeswoman Leacy Burke noted by email that the bill would return to the policy enacted under the George W. Bush administration to fund only the IMS.
According to this policy, no U.S. funding would be put toward Preparatory Commission activities outside of those related to the development and implementation of IMS facilities.
The United States is one of eight holdout nations that must ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty for it to enter into force and establish a legal prohibition against a key step in nuclear-weapon development. Despite a renewed effort to promote U.S. ratification during former President Barack Obama’s two terms, the matter was not submitted for Senate consideration.
The text of the House version states only that “Congress declares that United Nations Security Council Resolution 2310 (September 23, 2016) does not obligate the United States nor does it impose an obligation on the United States to refrain from actions that would run counter to the object and purpose of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.”
The Security Council resolution on nuclear testing proved controversial in the waning days of the Obama administration, with Republicans worried it would impose legally binding measures on the United States. The resolution instead only urged that the treaty be brought into force as soon as possible and that nations sustain the nearly global (minus North Korea) moratorium on nuclear testing.
Cotton and Wilson also submitted legislation to strip U.S. funding for the CTBTO in the run-up to the Security Council vote. Those bills were referred to committee but advanced no further.
The Senate rejected CTBT ratification in 1999, arguing in part that existing technology at the time would not ensure treaty verifiability. Even so, the U.S. has maintained an informal moratorium on nuclear testing since the early 1990s.
CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo said in December he remains optimistic about his organization’s push for treaty ratification under the new Donald Trump administration. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has indicated it would seek to reduce or cut its contributions to certain international organizations.
