SEN. KYL PLACES SOME BLAME FOR MODERNIZATION FUNDING WOES ON CONGRESS

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) has been a frequent critic of the Administration and its decision to scale back its nuclear modernization plans in the face of budgetary pressure, but in a speech yesterday, Kyl placed part of the blame on a different party: Congress. Speaking at the Capitol Hill Club, Kyl suggested that the actions by appropriators last year to cut funding for the NNSA’s weapons program and decisions to not fence off defense funding in the Budget Control Act of 2011 gave the Administration an out it was too eager to take. “It’s too easy for them to say we didn’t do it, you did,” Kyl said. “The problem is they seem all too ready to jump on that excuse.” Nonetheless, Kyl suggested the Administration should have fought harder for the modernization funding in the face of Congressional opposition. “Why instead of meekly just saying, ‘I guess Congress didn’t want us to do it,’ why didn’t they stand up and fight against it?” Kyl said. “I had these conversations with the Vice President and other Administration officials and I said you all know we’re going into a very tough budget environment. ‘Well, we can’t control the House of Representatives,’ they said. I said, ‘I know that, I can’t either. But you can sure as heck fight for what you think you’re committed to here instead of just meekly giving in’ but they’re all too ready to do that.”