[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 84 (Thursday, May 18, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF THE SMARTER APPROACHES TO NUCLEAR EXPENDITURES (SANE) 
                                  ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 18, 2023

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, today I introduced the Smarter 
Approaches to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act.
  The United States will spend $494 billion on our nuclear arsenal 
through Fiscal Year 2028, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
  Even the Pentagon acknowledges that this level of spending--more than 
XXXX--is not necessary to secure the United States. The Defense 
Department's 2013 Report on Nuclear Employment Strategy of the United 
States declared we can ensure the security of the U.S. and our allies 
and maintain a strong and credible strategic deterrent, while pursuing 
up to a one-third reduction in deployed nuclear weapons from the level 
established in the New START Treaty. Other experts, including a 
commission chaired by former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff, General James Cartwright, said the U.S. could go even lower 
without jeopardizing security.
  The SANE Act aims to inject fiscal responsibility and strategic 
reality into the United States' nuclear weapons planning by reducing 
the purchase of replacement nuclear submarines, cutting the existing 
ICBM fleet, cancelling the development of new ICBMs, removing the 
nuclear mission from the F-35, eliminating the life extension program 
for the tactical B61 gravity bomb and cancelling the development of a 
new air-launched cruise missile, and terminating construction of new 
facilities for nuclear weapons processing and storage.
  By strategically sizing our nuclear weapons programs, the SANE Act 
will save at least $73 billion over 5 years and stay within the New 
START Treaty warhead levels.
  America must reconcile the facts: our Defense budget is already 
squeezed, a nuclear deterrent is irrelevant to current international 
security challenges, yet a nuclear deterrent is still a national 
security imperative. The SANE Act would secure our nuclear deterrent 
without undercutting critical investments in readiness and other 
essential programs.

                          ____________________