"Nuclear Sanity Act"

[Sygian]

H.R. 6535: Nuclear Sanity Act

Sponsor: Rep. Alan Grayson [D-FL9]. This bill was referred to the House Committee on Armed Services and House Committee on Foreign Affairs which will consider it before sending it to the House floor for consideration. Rep. Alan Grayson [D-FL9] is a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Basically this bill requires the President to obtain written approval from the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State prior to the use of nuclear weapons by the United States, and for other purposes.

Spoiler

Section 1.Short title

This Act may be cited as the Nuclear Sanity Act.

Sec. 2.Nuclear weapon use approval process
(a)In general
Except in a case of a physical attack on the territory of the United States by the military force of a foreign government, or in a case in which it is impossible for the President to establish communications with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State for a 24-hour period, the President shall obtain the approval of the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State prior to the use of nuclear weapons by the United States.

(b)Form of approval
The approval under this section shall be in writing unless the approving official deems approval in writing impracticable, in which case it may be oral. Written approval under this section may be transmitted to the President by electronic means.

(c)Violations
(1)The United States military shall disregard all orders from the President in violation of this section.
(2)Any violation or attempted violation of this section shall be deemed a high crime or misdemeanor under the United States Constitution.
(d)Definition
In this section, the term territory of the United States means the States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the territories of the United States, whether or not incorporated or organized.

This isn't the first time that someone has introduced something like this to congress. S. 3400 restricted the firing of a nuclear weapon until Congress has officially declared war (they haven't declared war since WWII). I fully agree with the bill, especially now in 2017 we will have a man that can't even control himself on Twitter with his hands on the nuclear launch codes. As long as we "trickle down" (lol) that hard power into the hands of our congress, we don't have to worry about it because I trust our Republican-majority Congress more than I trust our Republican President-Elect. What are your thoughts?

[Fedele]

I disapprove. The intent is good. The possible drawbacks are that a president might not be able to make a timely response in a doomsday scenario. For this reason, I believe there need to be post-launch ramifications such as congressional investigation with risk of impeachment or something in that vein but not something that prevents or delays launch in a desperate situation.

[Sygian]

Section 2(a) covers that thoroughly allowing him to fire a nuclear weapon without the approval if an attack on US soil has occurred, or if anything (doomsday for example) happens and it is impossible for the President to contact both people to obtain an approval.