Wayne Allard: “The question the Senator asked is, Do we need to delay actions? The answer is, No, we don't want to unnecessarily delay…”

“The question the Senator asked is, Do we need to delay actions? The answer is, No, we don't want to unnecessarily delay action. But I think we need to have a responsible decisionmaking process set up. These are very complex issues. There are a lot of issues involved. Hearing the Senator's comments sounds to me as if he would agree with what the committee has tried to do. They said: Look, these are complicated issues. We need to have a careful review. In fact, the Strategic Subcommittee, which I chair, has set up a process where we have two studies to review our nuclear posture of where we are and move into negotiations. For the committee to be informed means we have to hear from the professionals who deal with these issues. They need to bring the information to the committee. We represent the people of the United States in the Congress and the Armed Services Committee tries to represent those interests. We have to set up a process to do exactly what the Senator from Nebraska is talking about. A lot has changed since the last posture review in 1994, and what was relevant in 1994 is not necessarily relevant today. We have new leadership, by the way, since that review. In Russia, we have new leadership. We have new leadership around the world. We have leadership that has changed even in this country. We need to reevaluate in the context of this new political environment.”