HOUSE E&W APPROPS CHAIRMAN DEFENDS CUTS TO NNSA WEAPONS PROGRAM

The House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee yesterday cleared the Fiscal Year 2014 Energy and Water Appropriations Act, which cuts nearly $200 million from the Obama Administration’s FY 2014 request for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program. But Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), the chairman of the subcommittee, said he believes the bill provides adequate support for continuing efforts to modernize the NNSA’s weapons program and nuclear arsenal. Frelinghuysen said during the brief markup yesterday that national defense activities are the committee’s top priority, even as it dealt with a $30.4 billion allocation that was $2.9 billion below FY 2013 and $4 billion less than the President’s budget request. “The Secretary of Energy has to certify that we have reliable nuclear weapons and I think we’ve always [provided support for] that,” Frelinghuysen told reporters after the markup. “It’s been bipartisan—maybe not every member is knowledgeable about it—so we build our bill around that. We may not meet everyone’s expectations on that but I think they have whatever they need.”