The House Armed Services Committee is incorporating into its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act a bill drafted by Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) that would suspend all National Nuclear Security Administration nonproliferation work in Russia due to tensions in Ukraine. HASC Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) unveiled the full committee version of the bill yesterday, which included nonproliferation-related provisions not included in the Strategic Forces Subcommittee portion of the bill last week. Like Turner’s bill, the legislation would prohibit the “contact, cooperation or transfer of technology” between the NNSA and Russia until Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz certifies that Russia is no longer occupying Crimea, violating the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, and is complying with the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.
The restrictions on nonproliferation work with Russia can be waived if the Energy Secretary certifies the work is in the national security interests of the United States in coordination with the Department of Defense and Department of State. “The committee notes that at the time that this report was filed, in response to ongoing Russian aggression toward Ukraine, the Secretary of Energy has suspended nuclear security cooperation,” the report accompanying the bill said. “… The committee believes that U.S.-Russia nuclear security cooperation must remain suspended so long as Russia continues its aggression toward Ukraine and continues to take actions inconsistent with its treaty obligations.”
Jobs