Political Quotes

“My amendment requires the Secretary of Defense to explore ways in which we can reduce the likelihood of an accidental nuclear launch from arsenals around the world. Since the end of the Cold War, the procedures required to launch nuclear weapons have remained virtually unchanged. Both the U.S. and Russia still maintain thousands of nuclear weapons on high alert that can be launched at a moment's notice. Though the risk of a deliberate nuclear war with Russia is now very low, the danger of an accidental launch has increased. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in January, George Shultz, William Perry, Henry Kissinger and Sam Nunn said that we must "take steps to increase the warning and decision times for the launch of all nuclear-armed ballistic missiles, thereby reducing risks of accidental or unauthorized attacks. Reliance on launch procedures that deny command authorities sufficient time to make careful and prudent decisions is unnecessary and dangerous in today's environment." This amendment to the defense authorization act calls for a study of the methods by which Chinese, Russian and American weapons can be made safer in a multilateral framework, and I urge its support.”