,,ii  #aahth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #acid  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,may #a1       
#bjbc,mr4 ,markey 7for himself1 ,ms4    
,warren1 ,mr4 ,merkley1 and ,mr4        
,sanders7 introduced the following bill2
 which was read twice and referred to   
the ,committee on ,armed ,services  ,a  
,,bill  ,to prohibit the use of ,federal
 funds to launch a nuclear weapon using 
an autonomous weapons system that is not
 subject to meaningful human control1   
and for other purposes4  #a4 ,short     
title ,this ,act may be cited as the    
,block ,nuclear ,launch by ,autonomous  
,artificial ,intelligence ,act of #bjbc4
  #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the     
following3 7#a7 ,department of ,defense 
,directive #cjjj4ji 7relating to        
,autonomy in ,weapons ,systems71 dated  
,november #ba1 #bjab1 defines autonomous
 weapons system as a weapons system     
that1 once activated1 can select and    
engage targets without further          
intervention by an operator4  7#b7      

,article #c1 clause #h of the           
,convention on ,prohibitions or         
,restrictions on the ,use of ,certain   
,conventional ,weapons ,which may be    
,deemed to be ,excessively ,injurious or
 to ,have ,indiscriminate ,effects1     
signed at ,geneva ,october #aj1 #aihj   
7commonly known as the ,convention on   
,certain ,conventional ,weapons7        
prohibits the indiscriminate use of     
weapons1 which is defined in the        
,convention on ,certain ,conventional   
,weapons as any placement of such       
weapons'''which may be expected to cause
 incidental loss of civilian life1      
injury to civilians1 damage to civilian 
objects1 or a combination thereof1 which
 would be excessive in relation to the  
concrete and direct military advantage  
anticipated4  7#c7 ,section #e4aj of the
 ,department of ,defense ,law of ,war   
,manual states that commanders1 at all  
levels1 have a great responsibility to  
exercise the leadership necessary to    
reduce the risk of harm to civilians and

 civilian objects4  7#d7 ,in a report on
 autonomous weapons systems published on
 ,december #a1 #bjba1 ,human ,rights    
,watch and the ,international ,human    
,rights ,clinic of ,harvard ,law ,school
 argue that robots lack the compassion1 
empathy1 mercy1 and judgment necessary  
to treat humans humanely1 and they      
cannot understand the inherent worth of 
human life4  7#e7 ,the #bjbb ,nuclear   
,posture ,review states in all cases1   
the ,united ,states will maintain a     
human in the loop for all actions       
critical to informing and executing     
decisions by the ,president to initiate 
and terminate nuclear weapon employment4
  7#f7 ,the ,national ,security         
,commission on ,artificial ,intelligence
 recommends that the ,united ,states    
clearly and publicly affirm existing    
,u4,s4 policy that only human beings can
 authorize employment of nuclear weapons
 and seek similar commitments from      
,russia and ,china4  7#g7 ,on ,february 
#af1 #bjbc1 the ,secretary of ,state    

issued a ,political ,declaration on     
,responsible ,military ,use of          
,artificial ,intelligence and ,autonomy1
 which states that ,states should       
maintain human control and involvement  
for all actions critical to informing   
and executing sovereign decisions       
concerning nuclear weapons4  7#h7       
,large-scale nuclear war would lead to  
the deaths of millions of people1       
firestorms1 radioactive fallout         
contamination1 agricultural failure1 and
 catastrophic climate results4  7#i7    
,compliance with international          
humanitarian law1 human control and     
human legal judgment is essential in the
 nuclear command and control process4   
#c4 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense
 of ,congress that-- 7#a7 the use of    
lethal1 autonomous nuclear weapons      
systems that are not subject to         
meaningful human control cannot properly
 adhere to international humanitarian   
law2 and  7#b7 any decision to launch a 
nuclear weapon should not be made by    

artificial intelligence4  #d4           
,prohibition on use of ,federal funds to
 deploy nuclear weapons with autonomous 
weapons systems not subject to          
meaningful human control  7a7 ,in       
general ,none of the funds authorized to
 be appropriated or otherwise made      
available for any fiscal year may be    
obligated or expended to use an         
autonomous weapons system that is not   
subject to meaningful human control--   
7#a7 to launch a nuclear weapon2 or     
7#b7 to select or engage targets for the
 purposes of launching a nuclear weapon4
  7b7 ,definitions ,in this section3    
7#a7 ,autonomous weapons system ,the    
term autonomous weapons system has the  
meaning given such term in ,department  
of ,defense ,directive #cjjj4ji         
7relating to ,autonomy in ,weapons      
,systems71 as in effect on the date of  
the enactment of this ,act4  7#b7       
,meaningful human control ,the term     
meaningful human control means1 with    
respect to an autonomous weapons system1

 human control of-- 7,a7 the selection  
and engagement of targets2 and  7,b7 the
 time1 location1 and manner of use4