Doomsday Clock is Ticking

Floor Speech

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Mr. KHANNA. Mr. Speaker, the Doomsday Clock is set at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been. We should heed its warning.

We are inching dangerously close to nuclear war and must do everything we can to reduce the risk of nuclear catastrophe. Russia has threatened to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Iran is closer to developing the nuclear bomb. North Korea is increasing its nuclear arsenal. The risks of miscalculation and rapid escalation are exacerbating these threats.

The nuclear arms race needs to stop. We can and must turn back the Doomsday Clock. We need to work with Russia and China to collectively reduce our stockpiles, increase transparency, reduce the risk of miscalculation, and avoid a dangerous arms race. Nuclear negotiation has always been part of the United States' history, and we must do that again.

First, let's revive a version of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty that Richard Nixon negotiated to cap the arms race by limiting homeland missile defenses. This will reduce pressure on the United States, China, and Russia to build more nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, President George W. Bush withdrew from the treaty in 2002. We need to negotiate to reenter.

Second, we must reenter the Treaty on Open Skies that was first proposed under Dwight Eisenhower and signed by President George H.W. Bush. Open Skies authorizes treaty parties, including the United States, to conduct unarmed flights that provide opportunities to monitor others' nuclear capabilities. Donald Trump withdrew from this treaty in 2020 that Republican Presidents had negotiated. We need to get back in.

Third, we should restore the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and expand it to include China. This was Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev's achievement, yet Donald Trump withdrew from this treaty in 2019. We need to get back in.

Fourth, we need to resume implementation of the New START Treaty negotiated under President Barack Obama to limit the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads. Putin suspended New START in 2023, ripping up the last remaining nuclear treaty with the United States. He did this because of our support of Ukraine. We need to pass funding for Ukraine to defend its sovereignty, end the war justly, and renegotiate New START with Russia and China.

Lastly, we must negotiate with Russia to agree that both of our countries will adopt a no-first-use policy. We would be joining China and India, which already have this posture, unlike Russia and the United States. Adopting a no-first-use policy only if Russia agrees as well would clarify that our nuclear weapons are for deterrence and avoid unintentionally escalating a crisis.

Maintaining the nuclear triad as a deterrent should not bankrupt us. We must cut the costs of modernization that are excessive and going to defense contractor lobbyists. The Air Force's new Sentinel ICBM program is already 37 percent over budget, costing taxpayers $132 billion. That is money that could be going to feed our kids in school, to help pay for college or vocational education, or to pay for childcare.

I call on my colleagues in Washington to help avoid a global catastrophe and a nuclear arms race, to look to previous Presidents like Eisenhower, Reagan, Bush, Obama, and Clinton and negotiator- statesmen to reduce the risk of nuclear war.

We must stop this arms race. We must take our weapons off hair- trigger alert. We must spend our tax dollars here at home, where Americans most need it. We must ensure diplomacy prevails, not nuclear war.

As Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev said: ``A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.''

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