Sec. 3502. Cooperation on a strategic nuclear dialogue
434 words·~2 min read·
/bill/117/s/1260/es/section-3502A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
It is the policy of the United States— to pursue, in coordination with United States allies, arms control negotiations and sustained and regular engagement with the PRC— to enhance understanding of each other’s respective nuclear policies, doctrine, and capabilities; to improve transparency; and to help manage the risks of miscalculation and misperception; to formulate a strategy to engage the Government of the People’s Republic of China on relevant bilateral issues that lays the groundwork for bringing the People’s Republic of China into an arms control framework, including— fostering bilateral dialogue on arms control leading to the convening of bilateral strategic security talks; negotiating norms for outer space; developing pre-launch notification regimes aimed at reducing nuclear miscalculation; and expanding lines of communication between both governments for the purposes of reducing the risks of conventional war and increasing transparency; to pursue relevant capabilities in coordination with our allies and partners to ensure the security of United States and allied interests in the face of the PRC’s military modernization and expansion, including— ground-launched cruise and ballistic missiles; integrated air and missile defense; hypersonic missiles; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; space-based capabilities; cyber capabilities; and command, control, and communications; to maintain sufficient force structure, posture, and capabilities to provide extended nuclear deterrence to United States allies and partners; to maintain appropriate missile defense capabilities to protect against threats to the United States homeland and our forces across the theater from rogue intercontinental ballistic missiles from the Indo-Pacific region; and to ensure that the United States declaratory policy reflects the requirements of extended deterrence, to both assure allies and to preserve its non-proliferation benefits.
It is the sense of Congress that— in the midst of growing competition between the United States and the PRC, it is in the interest of both nations to cooperate in reducing risks of conventional and nuclear escalation; a physical, cyber, electronic, or any other PLA attack on United States early warning satellites, other portions of the nuclear command and control enterprise, or critical infrastructure poses a high risk to inadvertent but rapid escalation; the United States and its allies should promote international norms on military operations in space, the employment of cyber capabilities, and the military use of artificial intelligence, as an element of risk reduction regarding nuclear command and control; and United States allies and partners should share the burden of promoting and protecting such norms by voting against the PRC’s proposals regarding the weaponization of space, highlighting unsafe behavior by the PRC that violates international norms, such as in rendezvous and proximity operations, and promoting responsible behavior in space and all other domains.