Sec. 1233. Comprehensive response to the Russian Federation’s material breach of the INF Treaty

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Congress finds the following: James Mattis, Secretary of Defense, testified before the House Armed Services Committee on March 22, 2018, that we have very modest expectations that they [Russia] would return to [INF] compliance. As a result, in the Nuclear Posture Review, we are looking for a way, at the lowest possible cost, to checkmate them and make it in their best interest to return to compliance. . The Honorable Daniel Coats, Director of National Intelligence, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 6, 2018, that the Russian Federation is violating the INF Treaty because Moscow probably believes that the new GLCM provides sufficient advantages that make it worth the risk of violating the INF Treaty. .

General Hyten, Commander of the United States Strategic Command, also testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 20, 2018, about potential strategic advantages for China stemming from their lack of participation in the INF Treaty by saying that they do not have any limitations in the INF [Treaty], and they have built significant numbers of intermediate-range ballistic missiles that if they were in the INF [Treaty], they would be contrary to the treaty . General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before the House Armed Services Committee on April 12, 2018, that we’re not only looking for operational concepts and ways to deal with the Russian violation, but we’re also at least posturing ourselves to develop weapons should they be required .

Secretary of Defense Mattis also stated in that same hearing our effort will be matched at State Department by movement on arms control and nonproliferation. There are two thrusts to our nuclear strategy…and that’s why those funds have been requested. . It is the policy of the United States as follows: The actions undertaken by the Russian Federation in violation of the INF Treaty, including the flight-test, production, and possession of prohibited systems, have defeated the object and purpose of the INF Treaty, and thus constitute a material breach of the INF Treaty.

In light of the Russian Federation’s material breach of the INF Treaty, the United States is legally entitled to suspend the operation of the INF Treaty in whole or in part for so long as the Russian Federation continues to be in material breach of the INF Treaty. For so long as the Russian Federation remains in noncompliance with the INF Treaty, the United States should take actions to encourage the Russian Federation to return to compliance with the INF Treaty, including by— providing additional funds for the capabilities identified in section 1243(d) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 ( Public Law 114–92 ; 129 Stat. 1062) and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty Preservation Act of 2017 ( Public Law 115–91 ; 131 Stat. 1671); and seeking additional missile defense assets in the European theater needed to fill military capability gaps to protect United States and NATO forces from ground-launched missile systems of the Russian Federation that are in noncompliance with the INF Treaty.

An amount equal to not less than 25 percent of the amount authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2019 to provide support services to the Executive Office of the President, other than support services that are required for senior leader communications services, shall be withheld from obligation or expenditure until the date on which the President has submitted to the appropriate congressional committees the certification described in paragraph (2).

The certification described in this paragraph is a certification of the President that— each requirement of section 1290 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 ( Public Law 114–328 ; 130 Stat. 2555; 22 U.S.C. 2593e ) has been fully implemented and is continuing to be fully implemented; the President has notified the appropriate congressional committees under such section 1290 of the imposition of measures described in subsection

(c)of such section with respect to each person identified in a report under subsection

(a)of such section, including a detailed description of the imposition of all such measures; and the President has submitted the report required by section 1244(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 ( Public Law 115–91 ; 131 Stat. 1674) (relating to report on plan to impose additional sanctions with respect to the Russian Federation). In this section: The term appropriate congressional committees means— the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives. The term INF Treaty means the Treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, signed at Washington December 8, 1987, and entered into force June 1, 1988. 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 at Prague April 8, 2010, and entered into force February 5, 2011. The term Open Skies Treaty means the Treaty on Open Skies, done at Helsinki March 24, 1992, and entered into force January 1, 2002.

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