WITH HINT OF CUTS TO COME, TURNER PRESSES OBAMA ON MODERNIZATION PLAN

Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) continued to pressure the Administration for backing off its plans to modernize the nation’s nuclear weapons complex and arsenal, releasing a June 5 letter that calls on President Obama to restore funding for the modernization plan. Turner has led the charge to restore funding for the modernization plan, and the House-passed FY2013 Defense Authorization Act authorizes $7.9 billion for the NNSA’s weapons program, which matches the Administration’s year-old modernization funding projections but was $324 million more than the Administration requested in FY2013. Citing a government-wide May 18 White House Office of Management and Budget memo that calls on agencies and programs to cut 5 percent from net discretionary funding requests in FY2013 to help meet spending caps enacted in last year’s Budget Control Act unless other guidance was received, Turner said he fears the modernization commitment is further slipping. NNSA spokesman Josh McConaha declined to comment yesterday when asked if the agency had received other instructions. “Mr. President, the American people deserve better, and the Congress deserves constructive alternatives when you and your Administration disagree with its proposals,” Turner wrote. “I ask you to start by fully funding your promises to modernize the U.S. nuclear deterrent and to stick to the schedule you promised for fielding a modernized nuclear triad and plutonium production facilities.”