[Senate Report 111-100]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 218
111th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 111-100
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START I TREATY INSPECTIONS AND MONITORING PROTOCOL CONTINUATION ACT OF
2009
_______
November 20, 2009.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Kerry, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,
submitted the following
REPORT
[To accompany S. 2727]
The Committee on Foreign Relations, having had under
consideration the bill S. 2727 to provide for continued
application of arrangements under the Protocol on Inspections
and Continuous Monitoring Activities Relating to the Treaty
Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics on the Reduction and Limitation of
Strategic Offensive Arms in the period following the Protocol's
termination on December 5, 2009, reports favorably thereon and
recommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose..........................................................1
II. Committee Action.................................................2
III. Discussion.......................................................2
IV. Cost Estimate....................................................3
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................3
VI. Changes in Existing Law..........................................3
I. Purpose
The purpose of the START I Treaty Inspections and
Monitoring Protocol Continuation Act of 2009 is to authorize
the President to accord to eligible officials of the Russian
Federation the privileges and immunities provided for in
Article II, paragraph 7, of the Protocol on Inspections and
Continuous Monitoring Activities Relating to the Treaty Between
the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic
Offensive Arms, signed at Moscow July 31, 1991, in the period
following the treaty's termination on December 5, 2009, in
order to facilitate the continued application in the United
States of the arrangements provided for in the protocol.
II. Committee Action
Senator Lugar introduced S. 2727 on November 4, 2009. By
voice vote on November 17, 2009, the committee ordered that S.
2727 be reported favorably.
III. Discussion
The Treaty between the United States of America and the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Reduction and
Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START, or START I),
signed at Moscow on July 31, 1991, will expire on December 5,
2009. U.S. and Russian negotiators have been working to
finalize a successor agreement to START, with the intention of
completing negotiations by December 5. It is unlikely, however,
that a new treaty would be transmitted to the Senate, receive
Senate approval, and enter into force until well into 2010.\1\
Accordingly, the period between the December 5, 2009,
termination date for START and the date of entry into force of
a new treaty could represent a significant break in the long-
established verification and confidence-building procedures
under START.
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\1\For comparison, although START was signed on July 31, 1991, the
President did not submit the treaty to the Senate until November of
that year.
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The United States has been negotiating a ``bridging
arrangement'' with the Russian Federation for the interim
period between START's expiration and the time a new treaty can
be brought into force. S. 2727 is not intended to conflict with
any such bridging arrangement; rather, it merely provides a
specific authority to the President to confer privileges and
immunities in those cases in which he concludes that they are
needed.
START created a system of data exchanges and more than 80
types of notifications covering movement, changes in status,
conversion, elimination, testing and technical characteristics
of new and existing strategic offensive arms. These data are
confirmed through inspections under START's Protocol on
Inspections and Continuous Monitoring Activities, which allows
for 12 different types of inspection to be carried out under
START. The United States has carried out more than 600
inspections in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine since
START entered into force. Four hundred similar inspections have
been carried out in the United States under the treaty by
Russian inspection teams.
Article II, paragraph 7, of the protocol specifies some
eight privileges and immunities that shall be enjoyed by
inspectors under the treaty (relating to persons, premises,
aircraft and crew, correspondence, immunity from duties, and
similar matters). To ensure that those inspections occurring in
the United States that had been covered by the protocol's grant
of privileges and immunities could continue after termination
of START and before a new treaty enters into force, section 2
of S. 2727 would authorize the President to grant the
privileges and immunities specified in the protocol to Russian
officials conducting inspections in the United States in a
manner consistent with the provisions of the protocol. Section
3 of S. 2727 specifies that an official of the Russian
Federation would be eligible for privileges and immunities only
if the United States has invited the inspector to perform
within U.S. territory an inspection or monitoring activity
consistent with the protocol. The privileges and immunities
would be granted only to allow for the exercise of official
functions in relation to inspection and monitoring and would
not be for the personal benefit of the recipient Russian
official. There is no requirement under this bill that the
President exercise this authority.
Pursuant to sections 3 and 4 of the bill, the interim
authority that S. 2727 provides would be available only between
December 5, 2009 and either June 5, 2010, or the date of the
entry into force of a successor agreement to START, whichever
occurs earlier.
IV. Cost Estimate
In accordance with rule XXVI, paragraph 11(a) of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the committee notes that this
estimate of the costs of this legislation prepared by the
Congressional Budget Office was not available at the time this
report was filed.
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 11(b) of the Standing
Rules of the Senate, the committee has determined that there is
no regulatory impact as a result of this legislation.
VI. Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the committee notes that no
changes to existing law are made by this bill.