,,ii #aagth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #ihb ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,march #be1 #bjba ,mr4 ,markey 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,van ,hollen1 ,mr4 ,sanders1 and ,mr4 ,merkley7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,armed ,services ,a ,,bill ,to extend the life of the ,minuteman ,,iii and redirect savings from the development of the new ground-based strategic deterrent program toward the development of a universal coronavirus vaccine1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,investing in ,cures ,before ,missiles ,act of #bjba or the ,,icbm ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,according to the ,congressional ,budget ,office1 the projected cost to sustain and modernize the ,united ,states nuclear arsenal1 as of #bjag1 is #a4b trillion in #bjag dollars over the #bjag-bjdf period3 more than #hjj billion to operate and sustain 7that is1 incrementally upgrade7 nuclear forces and about #djj billion to modernize them4 ,with inflation1 the cost rises to #a1gjj1jjj1jjj1jjj and does not include the cost of the additional nuclear capabilities proposed in the #bjah ,nuclear ,posture ,review4 7#b7 ,the ,government ,accountability ,office found in ,july #bjbj that the ,department of ,defense and the ,national ,nuclear ,security ,administration have still not taken meaningful steps to address affordability concerns or heeded the ,government ,accountability ,office's recommendation to consider deferring the start of or cancelling specific modernization programs1 including the ,w#hg-a warhead modification program1 to address increases in the weapons activities budget requests of the ,national ,nuclear ,security ,administration4 7#c7 ,the ground-based strategic deterrent program is expected to cost between #ic1ajj1jjj1jjj and #ie1hjj1jjj1jjj1 which does not include the cost of the ,w#hg-a warhead modification program or the cost to produce new plutonium pits for the warhead4 ,the total estimated life cycle cost of the ground-based strategic deterrent program is #bfd1jjj1jjj1jjj1 and the program is intended to replace #djj deployed ,minuteman ,,iii missiles with more than #fjj new missiles1 to allow for test flights and spares4 7#d7 ,the ,air ,force awarded a sole-source contract to ,northrop ,grumman for the engineering and manufacturing component of the ground-based strategic deterrent program in ,september #bjbj1 raising concerns that the absence of competition for the award may result in higher than projected costs to ,united ,states taxpayers4 7#e7 ,the ,national ,nuclear ,security ,administration is also in the early stages of developing a replacement intercontinental ballistic missile warhead1 the ,w#hg-a1 and expanding plutonium pit production to build new warhead cores1 costing at least #ab1jjj1jjj1jjj and #i1jjj1jjj1jjj1 respectively1 to meet the modernization needs of the ground-based strategic deterrent program4 7#f7 ,maintaining and updating the current ,minuteman ,,iii missiles is possible for multiple decades and1 according to the ,congressional ,budget ,office1 through #bjcf1 this would cost #cg1jjj1jjj1jjj less in #bjag dollars than developing and deploying the ground-based strategic deterrent program4 7#g7 ,a public opinion poll conducted from ,october #ab to #bh1 #bjbj1 by ,re,think ,media and the ,federation of ,american ,scientists found that only #bf percent of registered voters in the ,united ,states preferred replacing the ,minuteman ,,iii intercontinental ballistic missile with the ground-based strategic deterrent1 as compared to #fj percent of registered voters who opposed replacing the ,minuteman ,,iii missile4 7#h7 ,on ,april #c1 #bjai1 ,lieutenant ,general ,richard ,m4 ,clark1 then-,air ,force ,deputy ,chief of ,staff for ,strategic ,deterrence and ,nuclear ,integration1 noted in testimony before the ,committee on ,armed ,services of the ,house of ,representatives that we have one more opportunity to conduct life extension on the ,minuteman ,,iii intercontinental ballistic missile1 indicating the technical feasibility of extending the ,minuteman ,,iii missile despite his stated preference for the ground-based strategic deterrent4 7#i7 ,even in the absence of an intercontinental ballistic missile leg of the triad1 the #bjah ,nuclear ,posture ,review signaled that the ,united ,states would have an assured retaliatory capability in the form of several ballistic missile submarines1 which are1 at present1 virtually undetectable1 and there are no known1 near-term credible threats to the survivability of the ballistic missile submarine force1 a benefit that will be enhanced as the ,department of ,defense moves to replace the ,ohio class ballistic submarine fleet with the new ,columbia class ballistic missile fleet4 7#aj7 ,while intercontinental ballistic missiles had historically been the most responsive leg of the ,united ,states nuclear triad1 advances in ballistic missile submarine communications to allow for the dissemination of emergency action messages in wartime have negated that advantage4 7#aa7 ,intercontinental ballistic missiles cannot be recalled1 leaving decision makers with mere minutes to decide whether to launch the missiles before they are destroyed1 known as a posture of launch on warning or launch under attack in the face of a perceived nuclear attack1 greatly increasing the risk of a national leader initiating a nuclear war by mistake4 7#ab7 ,in #aihc1 ,stanislav ,petrov1 a former lieutenant colonel of the ,soviet ,air ,defense ,forces correctly identified a false warning in an early warning system that showed several ,united ,states incoming nuclear missiles1 preventing ,soviet leaders from launching a retaliatory response1 earning ,colonel ,petrov the nickname the man who saved the world4 7#ac7 ,former ,secretary of ,defense ,william ,perry1 who once briefed ,president ,bill ,clinton on a suspected ,russian first nuclear strike1 wrote that the ground-based leg of the nuclear triad is destabilizing because it invites an attack and intercontinental ballistic missiles are some of the most dangerous weapons in the world and could even trigger an accidental nuclear war4 7#ad7 ,general ,james ,cartwright1 former vice chair of the ,joint ,chiefs of ,staff and former ,commander of the ,united ,states ,strategic ,command1 wrote1 with ,secretary ,perry1 ,the greatest danger is not a ,russian bolt but a ,,us blunder--that we might accidentally stumble into nuclear war4 ,as we make decisions about which weapons to buy1 we should use this simple rule3 ,if a nuclear weapon increases the risk of accidental war and is not needed to deter an intentional attack1 we should not build it4 ''' ,certain nuclear weapons1 such as ''' the intercontinental ballistic missile1 carry higher risks of accidental war that1 fortunately1 we no longer need to bear4 ,we are safer without these expensive weapons1 and it would be foolish to replace them44 7#ae7 ,general ,george ,lee ,butler1 the former ,commander-in-,chief of the ,strategic ,air ,command and subsequently ,commander-in-,chief of the ,united ,states ,strategic ,command1 said1 ,i would have removed land-based missiles from our arsenal a long time ago4 ,i'd be happy to put that mission on the submarines4 ,so1 with a significant fraction of bombers having a nuclear weapons capability that can be restored to alert very quickly1 and with even a small component of ,trident submarines--with all those missiles and all those warheads on patrol--it's hard to imagine we couldn't get by44 7#af7 ,while a sudden bolt from the blue first strike from a near-peer nuclear adversary is a highly unlikely scenario1 extending the ,minuteman ,,iii would maintain the purported role of the intercontinental ballistic missile leg of the triad to absorb such an attack4 #c4 ,statement of policy on extension of lifespan of ,minuteman ,,iii and developing a vaccine of mass prevention ,it is the policy of the ,united ,states that-- 7#a7 the operational life of the ,minuteman ,,iii missiles can be safely extended until at least #bjej2 and 7#b7 investments in developing a universal coronavirus vaccine and efforts to save lives from other types of infectious diseases are a better use of ,united ,states taxpayer resources than building a new and unnecessary intercontinental ballistic missile4 #d4 ,availability of funds for vaccines instead of missiles 7a7 ,transfer from ,department of ,defense ,of the unobligated balances of appropriations made available for the ,department of ,defense for the research1 development1 test1 and evaluation of the ground-based strategic deterrent program1 the ,secretary of ,defense shall transfer #a1jjj1jjj1jjj to the ,national ,institute of ,allergy and ,infectious ,diseases to conduct or support comprehensive research for the development of a universal coronavirus vaccine4 7b7 ,transfer from ,national ,nuclear ,security ,administration ,the ,secretary of ,energy shall transfer all unobligated balances of appropriations made available for the ,national ,nuclear ,security ,administration for the ,w#hg-a warhead modification program to the ,centers for ,disease ,control and ,prevention to research and combat emerging and zoonotic infectious diseases4 #e4 ,prohibition on use of funds for ground-based strategic deterrent program and ,w#hg-a warhead modification program ,none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal year #bjbb may be obligated or expended for the ground-based strategic deterrent program or the ,w#hg-a warhead modification program4 #f4 ,independent study on extension of ,minuteman ,,iii intercontinental ballistic missiles 7a7 ,independent study ,not later than #cj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,defense shall seek to enter into a contract with the ,national ,academy of ,sciences to conduct a study on extending the life of ,minuteman ,,iii intercontinental ballistic missiles to #bjej4 7b7 ,matters included ,the study under subsection 7a7 shall include the following3 7#a7 ,a comparison of the costs through #bjej of-- 7,a7 extending the life of ,minuteman ,,iii intercontinental ballistic missiles2 and 7,b7 deploying the ground-based strategic deterrent program4 7#b7 ,an analysis of opportunities to incorporate technologies into the ,minuteman ,,iii intercontinental ballistic missile program as part of a service life extension program that could also be incorporated in the future ground-based strategic deterrent program1 including1 at a minimum1 opportunities to increase the resilience against adversary missile defenses4 7#c7 ,an analysis of the benefits and risks of incorporating sensors and nondestructive testing methods and technologies to reduce destructive testing requirements and increase the service life and number of ,minuteman ,,iii missiles through #bjej4 7#d7 ,an analysis and validation of the methods used to estimate the operational service life of ,minuteman ,,ii and ,minuteman ,,iii motors1 taking into account the test and launch experience of motors retired after the operational service life of such motors in the rocket systems launch program4 7#e7 ,an analysis of the risks and benefits of alternative methods of estimating the operational service life of ,minuteman ,,iii motors1 such as those methods based on fundamental physical and chemical processes and nondestructive measurements of individual motor properties4 7#f7 ,an analysis of risks1 benefits1 and costs of configuring a ,trident ,,ii ,d#e submarine launched ballistic missile for deployment in a ,minuteman ,,iii silo4 7#g7 ,an analysis of the impacts of the estimated service life of the ,minuteman ,,iii force associated with decreasing the deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles delivery vehicle force from #djj to #cjj4 7#h7 ,an assessment on the degree to which the ,columbia class ballistic missile submarines will possess features that will enhance the current invulnerability of ballistic missile submarines of the ,united ,states to future antisubmarine warfare threats4 7#i7 ,an analysis of the degree to which an extension of the ,minuteman ,,iii would impact the decision of ,russian ,federation to target intercontinental ballistic missiles of the ,united ,states in a crisis1 as compared to proceeding with the ground-based strategic deterrent4 7#aj7 ,a best case estimate of what percentage of the strategic forces of the ,united ,states would survive a counterforce strike from the ,russian ,federation1 broken down by intercontinental ballistic missiles1 ballistic missile submarines1 and heavy bomber aircraft4 7#aa7 ,the benefits1 risks1 and costs of relying on the ,w-#gh warhead for either the ,minuteman ,,iii or a new ground-based strategic deterrent missile as compared to proceeding with the ,w-#hg life extension4 7#ab7 ,the benefits1 risks1 and costs of adding additional launchers or uploading submarine-launched ballistic missiles with additional warheads to compensate for a reduced deployment of intercontinental ballistic missiles of the ,united ,states4 7c7 ,submission to ,department of ,defense ,not later than #ahj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,national ,academy of ,sciences shall submit to the ,secretary a report containing the study conducted under subsection 7a74 7d7 ,submission to congress ,not later than #baj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees the report required by subsection 7c71 without change4 7e7 ,form ,the report required by subsection 7c7 shall be submitted in unclassified form1 but may include a classified annex4 #g4 ,appropriate congressional committees defined ,in this ,act1 the term appropriate congressional committees means-- 7#a7 the ,committee on ,armed ,services1 the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations1 and the ,committee on ,appropriations of the ,senate2 and 7#b7 the ,committee on ,armed ,services1 the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs1 and the ,committee on ,appropriations of the ,house of ,representatives4