Lawmakers cite legislation’s limitations on President’s ability to make nuclear weapons reductions
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and 32 other Democratic members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to President Barack Obama, supporting his intention to veto the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) if it includes current provisions that limit the President’s ability to make nuclear weapons reductions. The NDAA has passed the House, but the Senate has not yet considered the legislation. Congress considers the NDAA annually, which authorizes funding for the priorities and policies required to safeguard Americans at home and around the world, including spending on nuclear weapons programs.
Rep. Markey, senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, led the letter with his colleagues after inclusion of several provisions in the NDAA that would set severe limitations on the Administration's ability to implement the New START Treaty, as well as prohibit the administration from making further reductions to U.S. nuclear forces. The administration has already released a statement of policy recommending a veto of the current bill.
“We are among the 104 Democrats and 16 Republicans who voted against this bill in the House of Representatives, and we are gravely concerned that the policies in the bill fail to address our 21st century security needs,” write the lawmakers in the letter to President Obama. “At a time when the U.S. has formally agreed to reduce its nuclear arsenal under the New START Treaty, and there is a growing consensus among defense experts and retired military officers that a far smaller nuclear force is required for an effective nuclear defense and deterrent, we must reduce our nuclear weapons arsenal.”
A copy of the letter to President Obama can be found HERE.
In February, Rep. Markey introduced the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act that would cut $100 billion over the next ten from specific nuclear weapons and related programs, including cuts to the current fleet of nuclear submarines, ending the nuclear missions of air bombers, and canceling new, and wasteful nuclear weapons facilities, among others.
Signatories on the letter include Reps. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), Barbara J. Lee (D-Calif.), George Miller (D-Calif.), Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Pete Stark (D-Calif.), John W. Olver (D-Mass.), Michael M. Honda (D-Calif.), Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio), James P. McGovern (D-Mass.), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Bob Filner (D-Calif.), Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), Maurice D. Hinchey (D-N.Y.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.), Jan D. Schakowsky (D-Ill.), John Lewis (D-Ga.), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Michael E. Capuano (D-Mass.), Alcee L. Hastings (D-Fla.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Sam Farr (D-Calif.), Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Lynn C. Woolsey (D-Calif,), Jerrold Nadler D-N.Y.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), and Jared Polis (D-Colo.).
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