A group of 18 U.S. senators recently urged the Senate Armed Services Committee to include three nuclear weapons provisions in the final National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2020.
The provisions were included in the House-passed version of the bill.
The first provision would ban the deployment of the W76-2 low-yield nuclear warhead for the Trident D5 submarine-launched ballistic missile. The warhead is dangerous, costly, unnecessary and redundant, the senators said, and would risk disclosing the location of nuclear-armed submarines to U.S. enemies.
The second provision would extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) from February 2021 to February 2026.
“Not only does New START provide much needed nuclear stability, it also affords the United States with invaluable insight into Russia’s nuclear arsenal,” the senators said. “Extending the Treaty for another five years would provide a foundation for the Trump Administration to achieve its goal of negotiating more comprehensive follow on arms control agreements.”
The third provision would deny funding for certain types of intermediate-range nuclear missiles following the collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty to prevent an arms race in Europe or Asia.
The senators sent a letter to Chairman James M. Inhofe (R-OK) and ranking member Jack Reed (D-RI).