by Laicie Heeley and Kingston Reif The conference report on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 provides $530 billion for the Pentagon’s base budget, as well as $116 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and $17 billion for nuclear weapons-related spending at the Department of Energy. The total bill, at $662 […]
Letter to the President on Nuclear Material Security and Non-Proliferation Funding
The President of the United States The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear Mr. President: We strongly urge you to make every effort to ensure that threat reduction and nonproliferation programs are funded at the Senate Appropriations Committee-approved level in the Fiscal Year 2012 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. Based on […]
Review of the Senate Appropriations Committee Version of the FY 2012 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill
by Kingston Reif Summary: Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and the rest of the members of the subcommittee deserve great credit for prioritizing essential nuclear and radiological material security and nonproliferation programs. While the House cut the budget for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI), the key program in the […]
Quote of the Day: By "Bizarre" You Mean "Insane" Edition
Such calculations may seem bizarre, but our best protection against a nuclear war is to convince potential aggressors that no matter what they throw at us in a surprise attack, we can respond by causing unacceptable damage in their country. Loren Thomp…
Another short term CR hurts effort to secure/eliminate bomb grade material
Last week the Senate rejected both the long-term House-passed Continuing Resolution (CR) (HR 1) and the Senate Appropriations Committee version. This week Congress will again consider a short-term CR extending spending to April 8. The text of the proposed three-week measure can be found here.
The newest proposed short-term CR continues the status quo on funding for NNSA’s Defense Nuclear Non-Proliferation account, the Defense Department’s Cooperative Threat Reduction program, and a host of important nonproliferation programs at the State Department. These programs continue to be funded at the FY2010 level, as has been the case since the start of the fiscal year on October 1, 2010.
Looking for some numbers to focus on? How about these:
- $2.1 billion – spending level for “Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation” since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2011 that began on October 1, 2010. This is $551 million less than the Administration’s request for Fiscal Year 2011. The Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation account has been funded at or very near the FY2010 appropriated level since October 1, 2010.
- $7.0 billion. – spending level for “National Nuclear Security Administration – Weapons Activities” (Nuclear complex modernization). This is $624 million above the Fiscal Year 2010 level. Unlike the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation account, the Weapons Activities account has been funded at the FY2011 requested level since October 1, 2010.
Meanwhile, we’ve created a website with information about the current fight about the budget and proposed cuts to nuclear security spending over at the mothership. My favorite resource? A handy chart on the impact of the various short and long term CRs on NNSA’s nonpro and weapons activities accounts. Check it out.
