March 17, 2014

HOUSE PANEL WITHHOLDS FY14 FUNDING FOR NEW START IMPLEMENTATION

By ExchangeMonitor

In a move sure to set off a fierce fight at today’s House Armed Services Committee markup of the Fiscal Year 2014 Defense Authorization Act, Republicans are withholding more than $70 million in Fiscal Year 2014 funds targeted for implementing the New START Treaty. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chairman of the panel’s Strategic Forces Subcommittee, had previously threatened to withhold the funds because the Pentagon has not submitted a report outlining the nuclear force structure under the treaty that was mandated in the FY 2012 Defense Authorization Act, and the markup released earlier this week by committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) follows through on the promise, eliminating authorized funding for a variety of Air Force and Navy operations and maintenance and procurement accounts.

Specifically, it cuts $18.3 million in funding for ICBM reductions and an environmental impact study on possibly cutting an ICBM wing, $400,000 for eliminating heavy bombers, $700,000 for de-MIRVing ICBMs, and $9.6 million for Naval combat communications work related to implementation of the treaty. The bill also would cut $1.2 million from Air Force plans to purchase spare parts needed for ICBM reductions and for the conversion of B-52 heavy bombers as well as $40.3 million for Navy Trident II modifications and for strategic missile systems equipment. The bill does not limit funds for verification and inspection activities under the treaty.

During testimony earlier this year before the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, Pentagon officials said various alternatives for getting under the treaty’s 1,550-warhead and 700/800 delivery vehicle ceilings were still being analyzed. The funding in FY 2014 would allow the implementation of reductions under the treaty to start in 2015, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs Madelyn Creedon said. “If we don’t have the planning efforts that set us up for the situation of being in compliance with the treaty, that would be frankly a very bad thing,” Creedon said. Democrats on the committee are certain to oppose the provisions, and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the panel’s ranking member, said in a statement, “Delaying or preventing implementation of the US-Russia New START Treaty undermines strategic stability and progress toward reducing the dangers posed by nuclear weapons.”

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