ICYMI: Fischer Highlights Nuclear Deterrence, Missile Defense at Reagan National Defense Forum

Over the weekend, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, participated in the 12th annual Reagan National Defense Forum (RNDF), one of the nation's premier gatherings of national security leaders.

As Chair of the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, Fischer served as a featured speaker on the panel "Defending the Homeland: Establishing Superiority in Space and Missile Defense." Fischer detailed her work to strengthen our missile defense capabilities and support Golden Dome for America.

Fischer also joined Fox News Sundaywith Shannon Bream for a bipartisan conversation with U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA). During the interview, she underscored the unified support in Congress for increasing sanctions on Russia as the administration continues its efforts to negotiate a fair and lasting peace agreement for Ukraine.

On Investing in America's Golden Dome:
Fischer:"It's kept our country safe. You know, just bluntly, it's like our nuclear triad. It's kept our country safe. You know, how do you measure the safety of this nation, and what kind of price tag do you put on it?

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"And the problem, I think, before was there wasn't a sense of urgency about that. I compliment President Trump for coming up with the name for what we did on Armed Services Committee. And he's called it Golden Dome, and we're moving ahead. And we have bright, qualified people that are working on this to be able to have a system in place to identify, to discriminate incoming [threats] for the United States of America. That's a deterrent in itself to our adversaries. It protects the American people, and I think, equally important, it gives the President of the United States time to be able to make decisions in how to respond if you have a missile defense system that works in that way."
On Keeping Americans Informed About the Threats We Face:

Fischer:"That has been my mission for many, many years as a member of the Armed Services Committee-to try and un-classify a lot of the information that we receive as senators, so that we are then able to talk to the people of this country about the threats that we face. So we can talk about that we have two peer competitors.

"You know, we have two peer adversaries, with Russia and China, who have a nuclear triad and all the platforms as well. The Russians have completed modernization, and the Chinese are advancing at a breathtaking speed. So we can explain in detail what's happening there, because I believe the American people, when they fully understand the threats that we face, there's going to be even greater support for what we need as a country for our national security, and so we don't see escalation."
On What's Needed to Safeguard the Homeland:

Fischer:"What we have available to protect this homeland currently is good. It's going to take time to be able to protect, I think, to protect our country, just when you look at the size and how are we going to be able to do it. But once again, I have confidence in this guy next to me here. And I know that we have the capability, we have the people who are working on it, and we have to work on it. You know, what do you want to do? Do you want to just say, gosh, we can't get the whole country protected in a year, so we, you know, we just can't do it? Well, instead, we're saying no, we're going to get the whole country protected in a few years, and we're going to provide the resources that we are going to be able to do this."

On Setting Priorities to Maintain America's Golden Dome:

Fischer:"I believe you have to set priorities. You know, we don't have the funding to move forward on every project that's out there, and that's why you've seen every Secretary of Defense, every president, has always said that our nuclear deterrent, our triad, it underpins everything else we do, and that is the number one priority for the security of this country. Then you have to look at what's next. Is it Golden Dome so that we have the missile defense? Is it a lot of the new technology that's coming out and make more investments there? And I think it just boils down to setting priorities with knowing what our adversaries have, or having a good guess at what our adversaries have, in order to combat what they may be using, and, while at the same time, being able to develop a number of offensive weapons that we may have to employ in the future."

On Why America's Golden Dome is Essential:

Fischer: "My why would be to meet the threats that this country faces and be able to provide for the defense of the homeland. And as General Guetlein just said as well, this transfers to providing for a safer world, to be able to serve our allies, our partners, the world as a whole. And it is a deterrent. It is a deterrent. People, our adversaries, need to think twice before ever taking any action against this country."