National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

Mr. Chair, I agree with my colleagues and share the chairman's concerns about the safety risks with this amendment.

I recognize that some of my colleagues believe we don't need the B83 and want to retire it, but regardless of how they feel about it, I hope my colleagues can appreciate that completely cutting off funds for a nuclear system all at once is dangerous.

These weapons were built many decades ago, and their components are aging. That is why we are modernizing our deterrent. Yet, we need to do ongoing safety and surveillance monitoring to ensure they remain safe and secure, and that requires ongoing funding.

Defunding a nuclear weapon may sound like a good talking point, but it is a reckless policy. Even the Biden administration understands that. They are not proposing to cut off funding, but that is exactly what this amendment would do.

Mr. Chair, I urge all my colleagues to vote against this amendment.

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Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chair, I also rise in strong opposition to this amendment. The chairman is right. Now is not the time to open the door to cutting the ICBM fleet.

China's ICBM forces are rapidly expanding, and Russia's nuclear forces, the largest in the world, continue to grow, as well. In the face of these growing threats, we need to strengthen our deterrent, not weaken it.

Our ICBM forces continue to play a vital role in deterrence as the most responsive leg of our nuclear triad.

Unlike submarines and bombers, land-based ICBMs are always ready to execute Presidential orders and provide the day-to-day, 24/7 deterrent that our Nation relies on. They have prevented nuclear attack for 60 years.

If you ever want to see nuclear proliferation in this world, start cutting our nuclear forces. All the countries that rely on us will attempt to secure their own nuclear capability. They will have no other choice. That would destabilize the world.

I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.

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