Daines Amendments To Protect ICBM Mission Approved By House

Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Representative Steve Daines' efforts to protect the nation's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) force and the mission at Montana's Malmstrom Air Force Base were successfully adopted by the House of Representatives today.

This morning, the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included two key Daines amendments to ensure the readiness of the nation's ICBM force and reaffirm the importance of the nation's nuclear triad and the "peace through strength" strategy.

Daines' first amendment would strike a short-sighted sunset provision and require all ICBM silos remain in at least a warm status past 2021. This amendment ensures that the United States has maximum flexibility to respond to nuclear threats and makes it more difficult for adversaries to target our nuclear assets.

The second amendment reaffirms the importance of the nuclear triad in maintaining a strong national defense and commits to providing the airmen and sailors who operate the nuclear deterrent mission with the training, resources, and national support they need and deserve."

The text of Daines' amendment is available here.

"I'm proud the House passed two amendments I wrote to ensure Montana continues to play an important role in safeguarding our nation. Our ICBMs make the world safer and are an integral part of the nuclear triad that advances the cause of peace and promotes our national security interests around the world,"Daines said. "No one can predict the future, and I believe it was very important to protect our "peace through strength' nuclear deterrent strategy and express support for the men and women at Malmstrom and elsewhere who operate this critical mission. In addition, shuttering some of our silos at an arbitrary future date would be unwise and premature, so I'm pleased the House supported my effort to defeat that ill-advised plan."

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Malmstrom Air Force Base is home to 150 of our nation's land-based ICBMs intercontinental ballistic missiles, which make up a component of the national nuclear triad, alongside submarines and bombers.

The amendments offered by Daines ensure the infrastructure for these crucial defense missiles are not subjected to hurried cutbacks that lack foresight and damage America's readiness to respond to future threats.

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