Political Quotes

“My amendment is a symbolic adjustment to the NNSA budget intended to raise awareness about two areas of emerging national security risk that I believe deserve more attention and investment. As the only Ph.D. physicist in Congress, I feel a special responsibility to speak out on issues of national security, especially when they concern emerging technological threats that Congress may not be sufficiently aware of. Any student of the history of warfare is well aware of the dangers of fighting the last war, and for more than 70 years, nuclear weapons have held center stage among threats to our national security and global safety because of their unique capabilities to threaten the existence of mankind. That threat remains, but I fear that the balance of our defensive investments do not adequately reflect emerging threats. We now appear to be in the process of deciding to spend over $1 trillion to upgrade our nuclear weapons despite the fact that our existing systems are far more sufficient to deter any rational actor. There is no adversary of ours who is not intimidated by our nuclear arsenal but who will suddenly fall in line if we add just one more upgrade or additional weapons manufacturing capability. Put simply, another generation of nuclear weapons will not make us significantly safer.…”