Pete Sessions: “when the Senate was considering S. 1042, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2006, earlier this year…”

“when the Senate was considering S. 1042, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2006, earlier this year, there was rather extensive debate over a $4 million funding item called the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, RNEP. This item was a feasibility study to be conducted by the Department of Energy to determine whether an existing nuclear weapon could be modified so that it could destroy hardened and deeply buried targets. Since the time of our earlier debate on this matter, our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee have completed work on the conference report for Energy and Water appropriations. The conferees have reached agreement on appropriations for the Department of Energy and have agreed to eliminate funding for continued research on the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator at the request of the National Nuclear Security Administration. In light of this outcome and the elimination of funding, an amendment to S. 1042 has been cleared on both sides which will remove the authorization for the Department of Energy to continue the feasibility study. I note for my colleagues, however, that the Senate Armed Services Committee received a letter from Gen. James Cartwright, the Commander of U.S. Strategic Command, dated November 1,2005, which emphasizes the need for continued work on earth penetrating weapons which can be either nuclear or conventional.…”