Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 96 Part 1.djvu/798

 96 STAT. 756

PUBLIC LAW 97-252—SEPT. 8, 1982 STUDY OF IMPROVED CONTROL OF USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Report to congressional committees.

Report to congressional committees.

SEC. 1123. (a) The Secretary of Defense shall conduct a full and complete study and evaluation of possible initiatives for improving the containment and control of the use of nuclear weapons, particularly during crises. Such study and evaluation shall include consideration of the following: (1) Establishment of a multi-national military crisis control center for monitoring and containing the use or potential use of nuclear weapons by third parties or terrorist groups. (2) Development of a forum through which the United States and the Soviet Union could exchange information pertaining to nuclear weapons that could potentially be used by third parties or terrorist groups. (3) Development of measures for building confidence between the United States and the Soviet Union for improved crisis stability and arms control, including— (A) an improved United States/Soviet Union communications hotline for crisis control; (B) improved procedures for verification of any arms control agreements; (C) measures to reduce the vulnerability of command, control, and communications of both nations; and (D) measures to lengthen the warning time each nation would have of potential nuclear attack. (b) The Secretary of Defense shall submit a report of the study and evaluation under subsection (a) to the Committees on Armed Services and Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committees on Armed Services and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives by February 1, 1983. Such report should be available in both a classified, if necessary, and unclassified format. (c) The President shall report to the Committees on Armed Services and Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committees on Armed Services and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives by March 1, 1983, on the merits to the arms control process of the initiatives developed under the study and evaluation required by subsection (a) and on the status of any such initiative as it may relate to any arms control negotiation with the Soviet Union. NEGOTIATIONS FOR BANNING OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS

SEC. 1124. It is the sense of Congress that the President should— (1) continue to promote actively negotiations among the member countries of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Chemical Warfare of the Committee on Disarmament established by the United Nations General Assembly and meeting in Geneva, Switzerland for the purpose of drafting a treaty for the complete, effective, and verifiable prohibition of the development, production, and stockpiling of all chemical weapons and for their destruction; (2) press vigorously in every appropriate forum for a full explanation of outstanding allegations concerning Soviet and Soviet-proxy use of chemical weapons in violation of international law; and (3) communicate to the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics the earnest desire of the Government of the United States for a comprehensive, verifiable ban on chemical

�