William Pryor: “I rise to briefly discuss a small, and virtually unnoticed amendment to the DOD authorization bill that just passed the…”

“I rise to briefly discuss a small, and virtually unnoticed amendment to the DOD authorization bill that just passed the U.S. Senate. It was an amendment offered by Senator Nunn, Senator Bingaman, and myself to restore some common sense to the Missile Defense Act of 1995. As my colleagues know, the Missile Defense Act of 1995 contains, among other things, an aggressive program to develop and deploy theater missile defenses in the form of sophisticated missile interceptors. Our amendment to the DOD bill will help ensure that these interceptors are tested properly so we know how the taxpayer's money is being spent on these programs. If we want to protect ourselves from the threat of missile attacks, we should make sure these interceptor programs are capable of destroying incoming missiles. I was disappointed that this bill originally deleted a provision passed by Congress 2 years ago that would help us monitor these programs through a series of live-fire tests. I believe it would be dangerous for the Senate to show a lack of interest in monitoring the progress of our theater missile defense interceptors.”