Fischer Probes NNSA, Defense Department on Nuclear Modernization

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, questioned leaders of the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Defense on nuclear modernization plans in the president's fiscal year 2027 budget request.

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Watch the full hearing here

Fischer's remarks as prepared:

Welcome to our distinguished witnesses this afternoon. Thank you for appearing before us today and for your testimony.

For the first time in our history, the United States faces the challenge of simultaneously deterring two nuclear peer adversaries.

Russia and China continue to modernize and diversify their nuclear forces - with China modernizing at a breath-taking pace that has consistently exceeded our estimates.

For years, this committee has heard from the Departments of Energy and Defense that our own nuclear modernization efforts are the number one priority.

However, that rhetoric has too often failed to be backed up by action. This was the primary reason that this subcommittee pressed for the creation of a new Assistant Secretary of Defense for nuclear matters who would be responsible for both nuclear policy and nuclear programs - and I'm pleased to have Dr. Kadlec with us today to discuss this new role.

Thankfully, the Departments of Energy and Defense are starting to turn the corner and are making substantive progress with nuclear modernization.

Today, we welcome two panels of witnesses.

On our first panel we have Mr. David Beck from the National Nuclear Security Administration; Mr. Timothy Walsh from the Department of Energy; and Admiral William Houston from the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.

I am pleased to see that the President's FY27 Budget request includes a significant increase in funding for NNSA - in particular the Weapons Activities account.

These additional resources will be critical to supporting weapons modernization programs, planning for future systems, and recapitalizing our nuclear enterprise.

On our second panel, we have General Dale White, the Air Force Direct Reporting Program Manager for Critical Major Weapons Systems; General Stephen Davis from Air Force Global Strike Command; Vice Admiral Johnny Wolfe from Navy Strategic Systems Programs; and - as I mentioned earlier - the Honorable Robert Kadlec, Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Deterrence, Chemical, and Biological Defense Policy and Programs.

I look forward to hearing the testimony from our witnesses today and appreciate your efforts to move nuclear modernization forward.

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