The budgetary pressure facing the nation shouldn’t alter the Obama Administration’s $88 billion plan to modernize the nation’s nuclear arsenal and weapons complex, one of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s biggest backers told NW&M Monitor late last week. In a wide-ranging interview that will be publishhed in its entirety Friday, Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), the chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, addressed the wavering consensus surrounding the need to upgrade the nation’s nuclear deterrent, suggesting that money should not dictate that commitment. Notably, the House and Senate put the finishing touches on an omnibus appropriations act over the weekend that provides $7.23 billion for the NNSA’s weapons program, $356 million less than the Administration’s request. “I don’t think financial circumstances change the national security threat or need,” Turner said. “It’s the environment that we’re in and the issue is the state of our infrastructure and our capabilities. It’s a bill that comes due whether or not it’s easy to pay or difficult to pay.”
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