Alan Simpson: “Before I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn), let me say the impression here is that we are increasing…”

“Before I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn), let me say the impression here is that we are increasing the number of nuclear weapons. We are not. We are doing refurbishment of the current weapons. And 50 of them would not be high-level; they would be low-level, low- yield nuclear weapons. It doesn't increase the numbers. All of this is compliant with all of our nuclear treaties--compliant with all of our nuclear treaties. When I first heard about this, I actually had the same concerns I am hearing from the other side of the aisle: How does this increase our safety? Doesn't it make it more likely it would be used if it was a low-yield rather than high-yield? Then I went to some briefings and talked to some people, people who wrote the NPR and a few things like that, and what I found out was that Russia already has hundreds and hundreds--as the chairman of the committee said, has hundreds and hundreds of low-yield nuclear warheads. Why are they doing that? Would why they possibly do that? Because they think it will give them a strategic advantage in a traditional war. If our only response to their use of a low-yield nuclear weapon is Armageddon, then their bet is that we are not going to go to that level. For deterrence to work, it has to be credible. They have to understand that if they even use a low-yield nuclear weapon we will respond and that we have the capability to do it in proportion without destroying the world.…”