National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, this amendment would remove a section in the bill relating to the B83 nuclear gravity bomb and prohibit any funding for B83 sustainment.

The B83 is the last megaton-class nuclear weapon in our arsenal. It exists to destroy deeply buried targets. China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran are putting some of the things they value most underground, covered in steel and concrete. The B83 is currently our only way of getting to those targets.

When the Biden administration proposed to begin retiring the B83 last year, we asked: How are you going to replace them?

They didn't have an answer. So, Democrats and Republicans agreed on a provision in the FY 2023 NDAA that allowed the Department to retire up to 25 percent of those bombs but prohibited any further retirements until the Department completed the study on how to replace that capability.

As of this date, the Biden Pentagon is still studying the problem, and we are not any closer to the B83 replacement.

The language included in our bill repeats the bipartisan compromise struck in last year's NDAA--nothing more and nothing less.

I also note this amendment would prohibit all sustaining funding to the B83. Not even the Biden administration thinks this is a good idea. Stockpile sustainment includes the safety and surveillance activities necessary to keep nuclear weapons safe and secure.

There is no exception in this amendment to allow for those activities to continue. Completely cutting off funds is irresponsible.

Mr. Chair, I urge Members to oppose this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn), my friend and colleague from the Armed Services Committee and the chair of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Strong), who is an outstanding freshman member of the Armed Services Committee.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, I believe this amendment is bad policy. Not even the Biden administration is proposing to zero out this funding. It would also be dangerous from a safety point of view.

Mr. Chair, I urge all Members to oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. This amendment would strike a provision in the bill that prohibits the Nation's ICBM fleet from falling below its current size of 400.

In 2014, the Obama administration decided to reduce the ICBM fleet to 400 missiles to comply with the New START Treaty. Ever since 2016, the Congress has included provisions in the defense authorization bill to effectively prohibit any further reduction.

The reason is simple. Nuclear threats are growing. In fact, just this year, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command notified Congress that China now possesses more ICBM launchers than the United States.

Now is not the time to be considering cuts to our ICBM fleet, which remains central to our deterrent.

I want to quote former Vice Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Hyten, whom many of us know and respect. When asked specifically about reducing the ICBM force, he replied: ``I don't understand how, with the threats that we face today, which are growing, not shrinking, we would make a decision today as a nation to lessen our overall strategic deterrent. That makes no sense to me, and my best military advice is that we do not do that.''

Mr. Chair, I urge all Members to oppose the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn).

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bacon), an outstanding member of the Armed Services Committee.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, this amendment will strike commonsense provisions that have been consistent policies since 2016.

Mr. Chair, I urge Members to oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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