Legacy in Congress: Legislative Achievements


President Reagan and Sec. Gen. Gorbachev sign the INF Treaty in 1987.

Along with its sister organization, the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, the Council has been at the forefront of U.S. arms control and national security policy for nearly half a century.

Some notable accomplishments to which the Council and the Members we've helped elect have contributed include:

  • Ratifying the Chemical Weapons Convention and Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, Conventional Forces in Europe, and Strategic Arms Reduction (START) treaty
  • Establishing a U.S. nuclear testing moratorium in 1992
  • Limiting the deployment of the MX missile and B-2 bomber
  • Blocking deployment of National Missile Defense by the Clinton administration
  • Eliminating funding for the nuclear "Bunker Buster" and "Reliable Replacement Warhead"
  • Ratifying the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START)
  • Ensuring funding for key nuclear non-proliferation programs to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists
  • Pressuring the Administration to accelerate the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan
Some victories thus far in 2013:
  • Both Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittees approved the decision by the Administration to delay by 5 years funding for the new Los Alamos, N.M., nuclear weapons laboratory’s plutonium pit production facility.
  • The House approved $466 million for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, an increase of $17 million from the Administration request; the Senate committee approved $539 million, up $73 million.
  • The Senate Energy and Water Subcommittee approved $368 million for International Nuclear Materials Protection and Cooperation, an increase of $57 million
  • The House voted 328-89 to approve the Fortenberry (R-NE) amendment to transfer $17 million from Mixed Oxide Fuel to the Global Threat Reduction Initiative non-proliferation program
  • The House voted 247-167 to approve the Mulvaney (R-SC)-Frank (D-MA) amendment to cut the overall level of funding in the Defense Authorization Bill by $1.1 billion, back to last year’s level.
  • Both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees called for detailed studies of how much the U.S. spends on nuclear weapons and their supporting their infrastructure in order to gain a better understanding of the true costs of our nuclear weapons.

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