10 U.S.C. § 496 — Consideration of expansion of nuclear forces of other countries

(a) Report and Certification. At least 60 days before recommending any reduction in United States nuclear forces—

(1) the President must send the appropriate congressional committees a report for each nuclear-armed country. The report must give the intelligence community’s high-, medium-, and low-confidence assessments about—

(A) the number of each type of nuclear weapon that country possesses;

(B) that country’s modernization plans for those weapons;

(C) that country’s capacity to produce nuclear warheads and strategic delivery systems;

(D) that country’s nuclear doctrine; and

(E) how the recommended reductions would affect United States deterrence and extended-deterrence capabilities; and

(2) the Commander of the United States Strategic Command must certify to those committees whether the reductions would—

(A) impair the United States’ ability to address an unplanned strategic or geopolitical event or a technical challenge; or

(B) weaken the deterrence or assurance the United States provides to its friends and allies.

(b) Form. The reports required by subsection (a)(1) must be unclassified, but may include a classified annex.

(c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined. “Appropriate congressional committees” means—

(1) the congressional defense committees^*; and

(2) the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The section does not define the quoted term “intelligence community”; it instead refers to the definition in section 3(4) of the National Security Act of 1947.