PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 26, 2016
Open Skies Treaty Compliance Assurance Act
This bill prohibits funds from being obligated or expended to aid the certification or approval of any new sensor, including to carry out an initial or exhibition observation flight of an observation aircraft, for use by the Russian Federation on observation flights under the Treaty on Open Skies unless the President certifies to Congress that:
the new sensor's capabilities do not exceed capabilities imposed by the treaty and safeguards are in place to prevent the sensor or any information obtained from being used in any way not permitted by the treaty;
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
mitigation measures are in place regarding collection by such sensor of high-value U.S. assets and critical infrastructure;
each covered state party has been briefed on intelligence concerns regarding upgraded sensors used under the treaty, Russian Federation war fighting doctrine, and related intelligence collection; and
the Russian Federation is in compliance with all of its treaty obligations, including the obligation to permit properly notified covered state party observation flights over all of Moscow, Chechnya, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Kaliningrad.
Certification is required for each sensor and platform for which the Russian Federation has requested approval under the treaty.
The President may waive the requirement of Russian compliance with treaty obligations by certifying that sensor certification or approval is in U.S. national security interests. Such certification must include the date such compliance is expected and a description of U.S. efforts to achieve it.
"Covered state party" means a foreign country that is a state party to the treaty and a U.S. ally.
People & committees
Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR] · R–AR
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 12, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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