National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, I claim time in opposition to this amendment.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I strongly oppose this amendment. This amendment is not about stewardship of taxpayers' dollars, good government, or setting priorities. Instead, this amendment is part of a broader, antinuclear agenda that we see year in and year out.

Let's be clear about what this amendment does. It cuts $145 million in desperately needed funding for recapitalizing nuclear weapons production buildings dating back to the 1940s and the 1950s.

Here is a quote from General Klotz, President Obama's NNSA Administrator, before my subcommittee a few years ago:

Our infrastructure is extensive, complex, and, in many critical areas, several decades old. More than half of the NNSA's approximately 6,000 real property assets are over 40 years old, and nearly 30 percent date back to the Manhattan Project era.

Many of the enterprise's critical utility, safety, and support systems are failing at an increasing and unpredictable rate, which poses both programmatic and safety risk.

That was in 2016. Folks, let me assure you, this problem has not gotten any better since then. I know that it has only gotten worse because I have visited all NNSA sites and have seen these deplorable conditions firsthand.

We are asking the Nation's highly skilled scientists, engineers, and technicians to design and build our nuclear weapons in buildings that are literally falling down around them. We have had large chunks of concrete fall from ceilings into operating workspaces. We have even had tape and plastic sheathing around 40-year-old pots carrying radioactive liquids. I have personally seen tarps hung over sensitive diagnostic equipment to prevent leaking roofs from destroying equipment worth tens of millions of dollars.

NNSA has a $3.7 billion backlog in deferred maintenance and repair needs. The funding that this amendment would strip away is sorely needed to help dig out of this hole. It is unfortunate that the gentleman does not at least recognize that this amendment would do harm to the safety of our workers.

I urge my colleagues to recognize this amendment for what it is and reject this broader agenda to undercut the U.S. nuclear deterrent.

Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. DesJarlais), my friend and colleague and a member of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Thornberry), the full committee chairman, for any comments he may have.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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