Peter Visclosky: “The amendment is directed at the administration's plan to consider further reductions below the levels established in…”

“The amendment is directed at the administration's plan to consider further reductions below the levels established in the New START Treaty. As the gentleman indicated, it would prohibit funds from being used to conduct a study of the environmental impact on intercontinental ballistic missiles and their facilities. The President in his June 2013 guidance on nuclear employment affirms that the United States will maintain a credible deterrent, capable of convincing any potential adversary that our abilities and the adverse consequences of attacking the United States or an ally far outweigh any potential benefit they may seek through such an attack. I believe that the United States' national security resources ought to also be considering other possibilities as to our national security beyond the remote possibility of a direct nuclear exchange. Events of the past several years demonstrate that the U.S. faces a very complex set of national security threats: The possibility of attacks such as those preceding 9/11, including the USS Cole bombing and the U.S. Embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya; Regional instability and strategic challenges arising from the Arab Spring in Egypt, Syria, Libya, and elsewhere; The continuing challenge of Iran, including its support of terrorist organizations with regional and global aims; Refocusing U.S.…”