National Nuclear Security Administration Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014
Floor Speech
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Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Frelinghuysen for his dedication and commitment to the important issue of our strategic assets.
When we look at the NNSA, they have had for a number of years difficulty in getting support from this administration for the important efforts of modernizing our nuclear weapons infrastructure and ensuring the strategic assets that are so essential to our Nation's security.
This issue also is one that represents, I think, a great analogy to the difficulty that we are having in resolving this conflict. We have the President of the United States, who openly states that he will have negotiations with Russia on our strategic assets, on our nuclear weapons. He will even have secret negotiations--as we saw in his open mic incident--with his secret deal with the Russians concerning our missile defense systems; yet, the President openly says he will not negotiate with the legislature. He will negotiate with Syria, he will negotiate with Iran, but he won't negotiate with the legislature.
Also, this issue illustrates some of the difficulties that we have in this House itself. We are putting on House bills that should have 100 percent unanimous support. Yet when these bills come to the House, these bills predominantly have been divided on a partisan basis because people want to say, Well, it doesn't fund everything.
Everyone knows when you have a disagreement, you start first upon the things you agree. The bills that have been coming forth on this House floor should be the things that we agree on, but partisan politics continues to divide us where, instead of the House coming together on all of these bills and saying, yes, these are the things that we agree on, and we will put aside the things we disagree on for later, we have difficulty in getting even the important things done, and this is an important one.
I want to thank Chairman Frelinghuysen for his commitment to ensure the safety of our nuclear deterrent, the workers, and the important work that is being done at the NNSA.
This is a discussion, though, that needs to go beyond just this stopgap bill and even the issue of a CR. This administration has continually cut the resources for our nuclear deterrent in ways which jeopardize the future of our strategic assets. We need to make certain that this conversation continues.
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