releases: https://www.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news?ID=759EF20C-6D4F-4CD1-9928-F47DE364A5E2
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news?ID=759EF20C-6D4F-4CD1-9928-F47DE364A5E2 | VIDEO: Fischer Outlines Need to Modernize America’s Nuclear Deterrent | 2023-07-13 | 2023 | 2023-07 | Republican | Senate | NE | Deb Fischer | F000463 | www.fischer.senate.gov | fischer | https://www.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases | scraper | WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the top Republican on the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, spoke on the Senate floor this week to discuss the urgent need to update America’s aging nuclear deterrent. Senator Fischer successfully secured a series of provisions in the Senate’s FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that strengthen our nuclear deterrent and ensure the U.S. can properly address the challenges adversaries like China and Russia pose. Click the image above to watch video of Sen. Fischer’s remarks Click here to download audio Click here to download video Following is a transcript of Senator Fischer’s remarks as prepared for delivery: Last week, we celebrated the birth of our nation. The first Americans took long, dangerous journeys across the Atlantic Ocean in search of better lives — far away from a regime that stripped away their God-given rights and freedoms all too often. Our founders fought a revolution against absolute power. They chafed against the control of the British Empire. Americans united against encroachments on liberty and emerged victorious, just as we’ve done many times since then — from Great Britain to the Soviet Union. M. President, as we look back on our history, we should consider our future as well. The United States faces a threat environment growing more dangerous by the day. Authoritarian adversaries including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are accelerating their efforts to chip away at global stability and undermine America’s national security. A couple weeks ago, a radio host asked me an important question: what’s the point of modernizing our nuclear deterrent? Don’t we already have the capabilities we need to defend ourselves? And if we build up a stronger arsenal of nuclear weapons, doesn’t that just increase the risk of nuclear war? My answer was related to the history I’ve just discussed. From the Revolutionary War to the World Wars to the Cold War, Americans have prioritized a strong national defense and the tools we need to achieve that when faced with existential threats. The character of war changed after the advent of nuclear weapons, and during the Cold War, the United States recognized that we needed to have a strong nuclear deterrent to preserve the hard-fought peace we had won. We worked overtime to ensure that our Commander-in-Chief had every option to deter, and if necessary, fight back against threats. And we were successful. We deterred the Soviet Union from using its nuclear weapons destructively — because its leaders knew we could hit back harder with the push of a button. It’s comparable to a game of chess: you’re never going to make a move that leaves your king threatened on all sides. If the Soviet Union had deployed a nuclear weapon, it would’ve quickly been surrounded on all sides by a retaliatory strike Moscow knew it might not survive. A diverse and effective nuclear deterrent gives our country the ability to say “checkmate” — not today — and makes other nations think hard about what moves they want to make. In other words, it deters authoritarian regimes from attacking the United States and our allies. During the Cold War, we prioritized the production of nuclear weapons and delivery systems because we recognized their essential role in deterring nuclear conflict. We must return to that mindset if we want to get ahead of today’s looming national security challenges. Our adversaries understand this. Earlier this year, U.S. Strategic Command —STRATCOM — publicly confirmed that China possesses more intercontinental ballistic missile launchers than we do here in the United States. China’s on track to triple its nuclear arsenal by 2035 — that’s just a decade away. Stated plainly: one of the most ominous authoritarian regimes in modern history is building a nuclear force that is fundamentally altering global deterrence dynamics. And they’re doing it at a pace faster than anyone imagined. As our adversaries race to expand their nuclear arsenals, what are we doing here in America? Well, since the fall of the Berlin Wall, our nation has sidelined our nuclear enterprise. We’ve underinvested in the modernization of our nuclear triad. That word “triad” refers to the three military fronts of land, sea, and air. The land-based ‘leg’ of the triad is comprised of our intercontinental ballistic missile fleet; the sea-based ‘leg’ of the triad refers to our ballistic missile submarines; and the air-based ‘leg’ of the triad refers to our bomber fleet and certain fighter aircraft. A full triad expands the number of options our Commander-in-Chief has at his disposal. Each leg of the triad presents unique advantages. Military planners need diverse capabilities to ensure that our nation can act decisively in any scenario. If we can strike from anywhere at any time, our adversaries will hesitate before taking aggressive action. The problem is that we’ve been too slow to replace and upgrade these systems. As former STRATCOM Commander Admiral Richard testified before the Armed Services Committee last year, we have, “submarines built in the '80s and '90s, an air-launched cruise missile built in the '80s, intercontinental ballistic missiles built in the '70s, a bomber built in the '60s — part of our nuclear command and control that predates the internet, and a nuclear weapons complex that dates back to the Manhattan Project.” Our nuclear deterrent only serves to deter our adversaries if it safe, reliable, and effective. To ensure it remains so in the future, it must be modernized. Underinvesting is a huge mistake. We need to tip the scales back in our favor by bringing our systems rapidly into the 21st century. The good news, M. President, is that there’s bipartisan support for modernization. I’m the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Service Committee’s Subcommittee on Strategic Forces. Our subcommittee oversees STRATCOM, which is headquartered in my home state of Nebraska. STRATCOM does indispensable work at the helm of our nation’s strategic nuclear deterrent. Over the last ten years, I’ve worked with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get key modernization provisions supporting nuclear modernization into the annual National Defense Authorization Act. We’ve continued this vital support in the Fiscal Year 2024 NDAA, which the Senate will consider this month. This year, I also fought to keep the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile program, or SLCM, fully funded by the NDAA. The Strategic Forces Subcommittee held multiple hearings and briefings, classified and open, with senior military and civilian leaders, as well as outside experts. We concluded — on a bipartisan basis — that the Biden administration’s attempts to cancel this program would make our nuclear deterrent less effective in the 2030s and beyond. We included a provision in the bill to create a program of record for SLCM. This will prevent the premature cancellation of the program without future Congressional consent. I also fought to secure provisions that would support the Sentinel program — which will replace our aging ICBMs across the country. This is the most significant and complex weapon system in recent U.S. history and will cover an aggregated land area almost as large as the state of South Carolina. Both chambers of Congress are considering their versions of the NDAA this month. I’m proud of the work my colleagues and I have accomplished with this legislative package. And I urge my fellow lawmakers, as well as the President, to support the vital measures we’ve included in the bill. I will continue to support modernization efforts, and I am confident we will produce a strong final NDAA to send to the President’s desk. But our work in the Senate isn’t done when the NDAA passes. We’ll still have to back our defense priorities up with real dollars through the appropriations process. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I am committed to working with my colleagues so we can allocate all the funds necessary to maintain our national defense. The world has changed since the fall of the Berlin Wall — and we are now, for the first time in history, facing two peer adversaries with significant nuclear arsenals. Now is not the time to shortchange our national security; it’s time to work together to strengthen it. This means that President Biden needs to cooperate with Congress to get our NDAA passed. America was born by uniting in defiance of outside threats, and we’ve done it many times since then. I’m hopeful that we will live up to our history as new challenges loom. As a member of Congress, I will continue working with colleagues from across the aisle to strengthen our national security. For the sake of our safety, our legacy, and our freedom, I urge my fellow members — and the President himself — to do the same. Thank you. I yield the floor. | 1 | 2026-03-30T01:40:41Z | 2026-04-06T18:25:20Z |