William M. ``Mac'' Thornberry: “this amendment tries to eliminate a research program designed to explore whether or not we can threaten deeply buried…”

“this amendment tries to eliminate a research program designed to explore whether or not we can threaten deeply buried targets with an existing nuclear warhead. As the chairman of the subcommittee just said, to build an actual weapon requires Congress's approval. That is not what this amendment is about. This amendment is about whether we want to know what our options may be. And to stick our head in the sand and pretend that we are somehow safer if we do not know or to pretend we are somehow safer if we limit our options seems to me not only foolish but actually dangerous. I agree with the gentleman from Washington, it is about deterrence. But we do not deter anybody if they know we are not going to use a weapon. They have to have a realistic expectation that we might in order to discourage them to do something. Clearly, there is a trend toward burying things. It may be a leadership bunker. It may be a weapon-production facility. It may be weapons themselves. And today we are very limited in our ability to threaten things which are buried. The more limited we are, and especially the more we limit ourselves, the more it encourages potential adversaries to go underground. We have heard all these conclusions giving reasons why we should not use such a weapon. The problem is these are conclusions not based on scientific study and scientific fact, and they come with a political agenda.”