On the recordSeptember 22, 2021
I thank my good friend, Mr. Garamendi, for bringing this forward. I do mean that ``thank you'' sincerely because he gives us an opportunity to highlight that this provision that he seeks to undo has strong bipartisan support. Representative Garamendi, although being my good friend, is in the minority of the minority. He gives us an opportunity to highlight that, in fact, his amendment would remove funding that is requested by President Joe Biden. It is of a program that was initiated by the Obama administration. These plans have been validated by three Presidential administrations--Democrat and Republican--six Congresses, and six Secretaries of Defense, and a bipartisan majority in Congress has voted repeatedly in support of this program. The same holds true for the warhead, which will eventually go on top of the missile. Both Democrat and Republican Presidents support this system as it will replace the oldest warhead in the U.S. arsenal. This will increase our safety and security. We have been told by Secretary Austin that to try to extend--if it could--the Minuteman III, it would take $38 billion more. We would have less capability. And earlier this year, we even had a failure of a Minuteman III ICBM test. This cannot be accomplished, and it has bipartisan support to move forward. This is about safety and security of our nuclear deterrent and our Nation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
