Smith Statement on the First Official Report Confirming the $1.2 Trillion Cost of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Upgrades

Statement

Today, House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) made the following statement about the release of a new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimating that planned nuclear weapons efforts will cost about $1.2 trillion over 30 years.

The CBO undertook this independent analysis after House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Smith and House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Pete Visclosky (D-MD) sent a letter in March requesting that the CBO perform an estimate:

"The American people need to be informed about the true cost of upgrading and increasing capacity for the nuclear weapons enterprise that the administration has planned. Armed Services Committee Democrats have consistently fought to require a realistic estimate of these long-term costs from the Defense Department during the NDAA process, only to see those efforts blocked. For this reason, I am very pleased that the CBO agreed to provide the first official independent assessment of these expenses.

"This is a thorough, credible analysis indicating that the long-term cost of upgrading and expanding the nuclear weapons enterprise capacity will cost some $1.2 trillion over 30 years. Congress still doesn't seem to have any answers as to how we will pay for this effort, or what the trade-offs with other national security efforts will be if we maintain an arsenal of over 4,000 nuclear weapons and expand our capacity to produce more. I hope the ongoing Nuclear Posture Review takes a hard look at what our requirements are to maintain a strong but affordable deterrent, without breaking the bank or exacerbating a new nuclear arms race."

Numerous national security officials have pointed out the need for an accurate long-term cost assessment of U.S. nuclear modernization plans:

"Starting in 2021, between 2021 and 2035, it's about $18 billion a year to reconstitute and recapitalize our strategic nuclear deterrent … If that comes out of our conventional forces that will be very, very, very problematic for us. … So, rather than talk about the bow wave, there is future fiscal risk that the country, Congress and future administrations and this administration must come to grips with … Because as soon as we have a better understanding of that, we'll know for sure that our defense strategy is on the right track."

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