Kyl: White House Right On Nuclear Modernization, But Misses Bigger Picture

By Mario Trujillo

Although an outspoken critic of the new START Treaty, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) nevertheless gave the President credit Tuesday for upholding nuclear modernization funding in the proposed 2012 budget.

“After some amount of urging and telephone calls and the like, the administration seemed to be supportive,” Kyl said during a speech at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington on Tuesday.

Kyl said maintaining U.S. nuclear stockpiles is a priority that should be off the table in the current budget debates. 
As part of the START Treaty approved last December, the administration vowed to dedicate $85 billion over the next decade to modernization of aging nuclear weapons, which is reflected in the administration’s budget proposal. The 2012 House budget released last week also assumes modernization funding.

But Kyl said future funding could be in jeopardy, now on two fronts — from a reluctant administration and a House of Representatives headstrong on cutting spending.

“I hope my House colleagues and a couple in the Senate who are very highly motivated to reduce spending appreciate the need to prioritize, to distinguish, between programs,” Kyle said. “Some programs need to be cut, some need to be eliminated, some need to stay the same, and some need to be plussed up. And that is just the reality of life as we go on.”

The current 2011 spending resolution, set to be voted on this week, also maintained modernization funding. The National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the stockpile, would receive a 7 percent increase in funding for 2011, according to the House Appropriations Committee. Kyl said he had not seen the final resolution so could not comment.

Aside from modernization funding, Kyl criticized the administration’s overall nuclear doctrine, saying it stemmed from a “loopy” goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. He cited flaws in U.S. policy on missile defense and the administration’s stated goal of passing a nuclear test ban treaty.  A test ban leaves the U.S. vulnerable and is not proven to change behavior in other countries, Kyl said.