CORKER CALLS FOR SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS HEARINGS ON NUCLEAR MODERNIZATION

Sen. Bob Corker, the Tennessee Republican who helped secure promises from the Obama Administration to modernize the nation’s nuclear weapons complex in arsenal in exchange for his support of the New START Treaty, is urging Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) to hold a hearing to assess whether the Administration is still living up to its commitments. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) also signed the April 17 letter, and both Senators are among a vocal group of Republicans on both sides of Capitol Hill that have been upset that the Obama Administration has scaled back its modernization plans in recent months. “Key to the support of many Senators were the statements and commitments made with regards to missile defense, nuclear modernization and conventional prompt global strike,” Corker and Isakson wrote. “In the intervening months since this body provided its advice and consent, the administration has not requested the funding required to meet our nuclear modernization needs, the administration appears prepared to negotiate away pieces of our missile defense plans and there is no clearer path on progress in achieving the other conditions and declarations outlined in the Resolution of Ratification.”