Defend America Act of 1996 - Expresses U.S. policy to deploy by the end of 2003 a National Missile Defense (NMD) system that: (1) is capable of providing a highly effective defense of U.S. territory against limited, unauthorized, or accidental ballistic missile attack; (2) will be augmented over time to provide a layered defense against larger and more sophisticated ballistic missile threats; and (3) does not feature an offensive-only form of deterrence.
Directs the Secretary of Defense to develop for deployment an affordable and operationally effective NMD system which shall achieve an initial operational capability by the end of 2003. Outlines system elements, including the use of missile interceptors on the ground, at sea, and in space. Directs the Secretary to take specified actions to implement the NMD system development upon enactment of this Act, including the conduct of an integrated systems test by the end of 1998.
Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress the Secretary's plans for the development and deployment of the NMD system.
Urges the President to pursue high-level discussions with the Russian Federation to achieve an agreement to amend the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty to allow deployment of the NMD system. Requires the President to present any such agreement to the Senate for its advice and consent. Requires the President and the Congress, if such an agreement is not achieved within one year after enactment of this Act, to consider exercising the option of withdrawing the United States from the ABM Treaty.
[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3144 Introduced in House (IH)]
104th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3144
To establish a United States policy for the deployment of a national
missile defense system, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 21, 1996
Mr. Livingston (for himself, Mr. Gingrich, Mr. Armey, Mr. Spence, Mr.
Gilman, Mr. Kasich, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Young of Florida, Mr. Hunter, and Mr.
Hoke) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on National Security, and in addition to the Committee on
International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a United States policy for the deployment of a national
missile defense system, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Defend America Act of 1996''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Although the United States possesses the technological
means to develop and deploy defensive systems that would be
highly effective in countering limited ballistic missile
threats to its territory, the United States has not deployed
such systems and currently has no policy to do so.
(2) The threat that is posed to the national security of
the United States by the proliferation of ballistic missiles is
significant and growing, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
(3) The trend in ballistic missile proliferation is toward
longer range and increasingly sophisticated missiles.
(4) Several countries that are hostile to the United States
(including North Korea, Iran, Libya, and Iraq) have
demonstrated an interest in acquiring ballistic missiles
capable of reaching the United States.
(5) The Intelligence Community of the United States has
confirmed that North Korea is developing an intercontinental
ballistic missile that will be capable of reaching Alaska or
beyond once deployed.
(6) There are ways for determined countries to acquire
missiles capable of threatening the United States with little
warning by means other than indigenous development.
(7) Because of the dire consequences to the United States
of not being prepared to defend itself against a rogue missile
attack and the long-lead time associated with preparing an
effective defense, it is prudent to commence a national missile
defense deployment effort before new ballistic missile threats
to the United States are unambiguously confirmed.
(8) The timely deployment by the United States of an
effective national missile defense system will reduce the
incentives for countries to develop or otherwise acquire
intercontinental ballistic missiles, thereby inhibiting as well
as countering the proliferation of missiles and weapons of mass
destruction.
(9) Deployment by the United States of a national missile
defense system will reduce concerns about the threat of an
accidental or unauthorized ballistic missile attack on the
United States.
(10) The offense-only approach to strategic deterrence
presently followed by the United States and Russia is
fundamentally adversarial and is not a suitable basis for
stability in a world in which the United States and the states
of the former Soviet Union are seeking to normalize relations
and eliminate Cold War attitudes and arrangements.
(11) Pursuing a transition to a form of strategic
deterrence based increasingly on defensive capabilities and
strategies is in the interest of all countries seeking to
preserve and enhance strategic stability.
(12) The deployment of a national missile defense system
capable of defending the United States against limited
ballistic missile attacks would (A) strengthen deterrence at
the levels of forces agreed to by the United States and Russia
under the START I Treaty, and (B) further strengthen deterrence
if reductions below START I levels are implemented in the
future.
(13) Article XIII of the ABM Treaty envisions ``possible
changes in the strategic situation which have a bearing on the
provisions of this treaty''.
(14) Articles XIII and XIV of the treaty establish means
for the parties to amend the treaty, and the parties have in
the past used those means to amend the treaty.
(15) Article XV of the treaty establishes the means for a
party to withdraw from the treaty, upon six months notice ``if
it decides that extraordinary events related to the subject
matter of this treaty have jeopardized its supreme interests''.
(16) Previous discussions between the United States and
Russia, based on Russian President Yeltsin's proposal for a
Global Protection System, envisioned an agreement to amend the
ABM Treaty to allow (among other measures) deployment of as
many as four ground-based interceptor sites in addition to the
one site permitted under the ABM Treaty and unrestricted
exploitation of sensors based within the atmosphere and in
space.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE POLICY.
(a) It is the policy of the United States to deploy by the end of
2003 a National Missile Defense system that--
(1) is capable of providing a highly-effective defense of
the territory of the United States against limited,
unauthorized, or accidental ballistic missile attacks; and
(2) will be augmented over time to provide a layered
defense against larger and more sophisticated ballistic missile
threats as they emerge.
(b) It is the policy of the United States to seek a cooperative
transition to a regime that does not feature an offense-only form of
deterrence as the basis for strategic stability.
SEC. 4. NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE.
(a) Requirement for Development of System.--To implement the policy
established in section 3(a), the Secretary of Defense shall develop for
deployment an affordable and operationally effective National Missile
Defense (NMD) system which shall achieve an initial operational
capability (IOC) by the end of 2003.
(b) Elements of the NMD System.--The system to be developed for
deployment shall include the following elements:
(1) An interceptor system that optimizes defensive coverage
of the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii against
limited, accidental, or unauthorized ballistic missile attacks
and includes one or a combination of the following:
(A) Ground-based interceptors.
(B) Sea-based interceptors.
(C) Space-based kinetic energy interceptors.
(D) Space-based directed energy systems.
(2) Fixed ground-based radars.
(3) Space-based sensors, including the Space and Missile
Tracking System.
(4) Battle management, command, control, and communications
(BM/C<SUP>3).
SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM.
The Secretary of Defense shall--
(1) upon the enactment of this Act, promptly initiate
required preparatory and planning actions that are necessary so
as to be capable of meeting the initial operational capability
(IOC) date specified in section 4(a);
(2) plan to conduct by the end of 1998 an integrated
systems test which uses elements (including BM/C<SUP>3
elements) that are representative of, and traceable to, the
national missile defense system architecture specified in
section 4(b);
(3) prescribe and use streamlined acquisition policies and
procedures to reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of
developing the system specified in section 4(a); and
(4) develop an affordable national missile defense follow-
on program that--
(A) leverages off of the national missile defense
system specified in section 4(a), and
(B) augments that system, as the threat changes, to
provide for a layered defense.
SEC. 6. REPORT ON PLAN FOR NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
AND DEPLOYMENT.
Not later than March 15, 1997, the Secretary of Defense shall
submit to Congress a report on the Secretary's plan for development and
deployment of a national missile defense system pursuant to this Act.
The report shall include the following matters:
(1) The Secretary's plan for carrying out this Act,
including--
(A) a detailed description of the system
architecture selected for development under section
4(b); and
(B) a discussion of the justification for the
selection of that particular architecture.
(2) The Secretary's estimate of the amount of
appropriations required for research, development, test,
evaluation, and for procurement, for each of fiscal years 1997
through 2003 in order to achieve the initial operational
capability date specified in section 4(a).
(3) A cost and operational effectiveness analysis of
follow-on options to improve the effectiveness of such system.
(4) A determination of the point at which any activity that
is required to be carried out under this Act would conflict
with the terms of the ABM Treaty, together with a description
of any such activity, the legal basis for the Secretary's
determination, and an estimate of the time at which such point
would be reached in order to meet the initial operational
capability date specified in section 4(a).
SEC. 7. POLICY REGARDING THE ABM TREATY.
(a) ABM Treaty Negotiations.--In light of the findings in section 2
and the policy established in section 3, Congress urges the President
to pursue high-level discussions with the Russian Federation to achieve
an agreement to amend the ABM Treaty to allow deployment of the
national missile defense system being developed for deployment under
section 4.
(b) Requirement for Senate Advice and Consent.--If an agreement
described in subsection (a) is achieved in discussions described in
that subsection, the President shall present that agreement to the
Senate for its advice and consent. No funds appropriated or otherwise
available for any fiscal year may be obligated or expended to implement
such an amendment to the ABM Treaty unless the amendment is made in the
same manner as the manner by which a treaty is made.
(c) Action Upon Failure To Achieve Negotiated Changes Within One
Year.--If an agreement described in subsection (a) is not achieved in
discussions described in that subsection within one year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the President and Congress, in
consultation with each other, shall consider exercising the option of
withdrawing the United States from the ABM Treaty in accordance with
the provisions of Article XV of that treaty.
SEC. 8. ABM TREATY DEFINED.
For purposes of this Act, the term ``ABM Treaty'' means the Treaty
Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems, and
signed at Moscow on May 26, 1972, and includes the Protocols to that
Treaty, signed at Moscow on July 3, 1974.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on National Security, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on National Security, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on National Security, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E423)
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 31 - 22.
Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 438 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 3144 with 2 hours of general debate. Previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervening motions except motion to recommit with or without instructions. The amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution, if offered by Mr. Spratt or his designee, shall be in order without intervention of any point of order and shall be debatable for one hour, equally divided and controlled. Measure will be considered read. Bill is closed to amendments.
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Reported by the Committee on National Security. H. Rept. 104-583, Part I.
Reported by the Committee on National Security. H. Rept. 104-583, Part I.
House Committee on International Relations Granted an extension for further consideration ending not later than May 16, 1996.
Committee on International Relations discharged.
Committee on International Relations discharged.
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 287.