Advocates Likely to Try for New Nuclear Weapons Funds—Again

Last November, in a move that surprised many people, Congress zeroed out funding for new nuclear weapons, including new small nuclear weapons and the so-called bunker buster. The Department of Energy funds nuclear weapons research and development; so in the House, new nuclear weapons work must be approved by the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee of the powerful Appropriations Committee. But the sub­committee chair Rep. David Hobson, a Republican from Ohio, opposed the programs and blocked the funding.

In an editorial in The Washington Times (4 January 2005), Frank Gaffney, a strong advocate of the new weapons, painted Rep. Hobson as a reckless loner opposing the will of the president and the majority in Congress. In fact, support for new nuclear weapons even among Republicans has been weakening for years, despite intense lobbying by the administration. (Public Interest Report, Summer 2004, Vol. 57 No. 3, page 3.) Previous votes of the entire House and Senate approved funding for these weapons, but the majorities have been smaller with each vote. Committee chairmen have great influ­ence, and they often can steer policy. But if they stray too far, their decisions can be overruled. It is noteworthy that this time, after Rep. Hobson took an independent stand, Congress as a whole had opportunities to reverse his decision and did not. So, though a majority in Congress still seem to support new nuclear weapons when given a chance to vote on them, that support is weakening.

The administration and congressional advo­cates of new nuclear weapons are expected to try to reinstate funding for FY 2006. They could take one of two approaches to get around Rep. Hobson. The requests could be slipped into a supplemental funding bill to continue the war in Iraq. Or they could be in the FY 2006 Defense Department budget request.

The president is expected to submit to Congress a huge supplemental spending request for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Funding for some of the new nuclear weapons could be in this bill. Jurisdictionally, it would not pass through the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, which Rep. Hobson chairs but be marked up only by the full Appropriations Committee. As of this writing, the new appropriations chair candi­dates include Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), and Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.). On the Senate side, the incoming Chair of the Appropriations Committee is Thad Cochran (R-Mo.). All of these voted for new nuclear weapons.

The chairman of each appropriations com­mittee may keep the markup secret until the last minute before it goes to the floor, so time for amendments will be short. Lobby efforts are best directed toward keeping an amend­ment from being inserted in the first place.

Conceivably some new nuclear weapons programs could be requested in the Defense Department budget. This could move jurisdic­tion to the defense appropriations subcommittee, chaired by Bill Young (R-Fla.), who supports these weapons.

The FAS believes it is vital to block attempts to restore funding for nuclear weapons that we do not need and that fuel proliferation pressures around the world. Letters to mem­bers of the appropriations committees make a difference when they come from constituents. Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee are listed at http://appropriations.senate.gov/. Click on Committee Assignments. The members of the House Appropriations Committee are at http://appropriations. house.gov/. Click on Full Committee and then Membership List. The most effective way to “write” to your members is to email or send a fax. You can fax members through the excellent Web site of the Friends’ Committee on National Legislation, http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/.