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| Wilson Releases Report on U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy |
February 13, 2003 |
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Report Urges Congress to Update Current Policy
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Heather Wilson, Chair of the House Policy Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, joined with Congressman Chris Cox, Chair of the House Policy Committee to release a report on U.S. nuclear weapons policy.  The report reviews past and current nuclear weapons policy and makes recommendations to Congress for strengthening the nuclear weapons program.
"We are living in a different world with new and emerging threats. The nuclear threat is numerically smaller, but more diverse and less inherently stable," said Wilson. "Our nuclear weapons program must adapt to a new world."
"Today, we are faced with a far more diverse array of nuclear threats than in the past," Chairman Cox said. "To maintain a strategy of deterrence in this new environment, the United States will have to hold hard and buried targets at risk. At the same time, protecting American territory, through ballistic missile defenses, is now an essential element in deterring nuclear aggression."
The report contends that the U.S. has not adequately sustained parts of the nuclear weapons complex and that Congress must fund service life extension for an existing stockpile, reduce the time it takes for test readiness, and invest in research and development. Programs to prevent proliferation of nuclear materials must also be focused and streamlined.
Heather Wilson is the first woman veteran in Congress. As an Air Force officer, she worked with NATO on defense planning and arms control. After leaving the Air Force in 1989, she became Director for European Defense Policy and Arms Control on the National Security Council staff at the White House for President George H.W. Bush.
The report recommends the following:
Continue to support the development, testing and eventual deployment of ballistic missile defense systems as an element of deterrence.
Accelerate the development of tools to detect, disrupt or defeat weapons of mass destruction before they can be used, including real time monitoring and detection capabilities for chemical, biological, and radiological materials.
Retain the strategic triad of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs, Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs), and bombers with a reduced level of deployed strategic warheads.
Fund the service life extension program for the nuclear stockpile and require a streamlined test readiness program to achieve an underground diagnostic test within 18 months.
Support the modernization of the National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) complex of laboratories and manufacturing facilities, and revitalize the nuclear weapons advanced development program.
Focus non-proliferation efforts on soviet legacy systems, supplier controls, and disruption of supplier networks.
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