Press Releases

Today, Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Chairwoman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation, made the following remarks on the hearing titled "Update on Findings and Recommendations of the 2014 Department of Defense Nuclear Enterprise Review."

"Nuclear deterrence remains the foundation of national security for the United States and our allies. It is also fundamental to preserving international stability. Our nuclear deterrent not only keeps potential adversaries at bay, it also assures and comforts our allies.

This central, but often not immediately visible, role has prevented both nuclear war and large-scale conventional war between the world’s great powers for 70 years.

Seven months ago, in an open letter to the men and women who serve with U.S. nuclear forces, then-Secretary of Defense Hagel declared that 'our nuclear deterrent plays a critical role in assuring U.S. national security.' He also said 'no other capability we have is more important.' Indeed, the Secretary of Defense described nuclear deterrence as the Defense Department’s 'highest priority mission.'

I agree.

I am honored to represent the officers and enlisted personnel assigned to Whiteman Air Force Base. Among these are the very talented and capable members of the 509th Bomb Wing and 131st Bomb Wing who fly and maintain the B-2 Spirit bomber. Theirs is a demanding and challenging job, carried out away from the limelight but with dedication and perseverance.

These Air Force personnel form a critical part of the U.S. nuclear triad that carries out this 'highest priority mission.'

Yet, we are at a critical inflection point for our nuclear forces.

As the age of U.S. nuclear weapons increases, and as some of our bombers, submarines, and intercontinental missiles become older than the personnel who maintain and operate them, potential adversaries are fielding newer and more advanced nuclear arms. Many prospective foes are also making nuclear weapons more, not less, central to their national strategies.

Chairman Thornberry has turned his committee’s attention to these vitally important topics this week. The committee is convening a series of open hearings and classified briefings to learn more details of the challenges facing our nuclear enterprise.

Today’s oversight hearing is part of that broader effort.

Not long ago, then-Secretary of Defense Hagel called on both internal and external teams of specialists to consider the various deep-seated problems confronting our nuclear enterprise.

The report of the Nuclear Enterprise Review was sobering.

It set forth many important recommendations to fix serious shortcomings which inhibited work of those at Whiteman Air Force Base and its Air Force and Navy counterparts in the ICBM fields and across the submarine force.

This afternoon we will hear from the Defense Department’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office. The Deputy Secretary of Defense, who we heard from at a hearing earlier today, charged this office with the responsibility for assessing and measuring implementation of the recommendations contained in the Nuclear Enterprise Review.

We will also hear testimony from the senior commanders responsible for the Air Force bomber and missile units and for the Navy’s sea-based nuclear weapons carried by submarines. The subcommittee seeks to know what has been accomplished. We also seek to know which recommendations of the Nuclear Enterprise Review remain problematic.

We must solve the challenges confronting our nuclear enterprise in a long-term and sustainable fashion."