Rep. Tauscher to head arms control & nonproliferation at State Dept. Open to new warheads for nukes

[bigtree]

Report that Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) will be appointed to a position in the State Department, heading up arms control and nonproliferation efforts.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/rep.-tauscher-leaving-house-for-state-dept.-2009-03-18.html

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/03/17/tauscher_to_state.html

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Subcommittee Chair Ellen Tauscher
Strategic Forces Subcommittee
Hearing on United States Nuclear Weapons Policy
July 18, 2007

“The Bush Administration has offered two major proposals to address these emerging challenges:

* The Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program, designed to modernize our weapons stockpile; and
* The “Complex 2030” modernization program, designed to transform the nuclear weapons complex that supports that stockpile.

These far-reaching proposals represent NNSA’s preferred future investment and policy strategy, but they also raise fundamental questions: How many nuclear weapons does the U.S. need to meet the President’s test of “the smallest number consistent with U.S. national security interests”? What sort of weapons complex do we need to ensure the safety and reliability of these weapons? How large should our stock of reserve weapons be, and how much would development of the RRW affect the answer? Is it possible to develop RRW without sending a signal to the rest of the world that we are investing in new nuclear weapons?

"I have called for extending the Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty and for negotiating a new, legally binding agreement that achieves greater, verifiable reductions in the U.S. and Russia’s nuclear forces, measures that the Bush Administration has not endorsed.

“In this spirit, as the Nonproliferation Treaty is under assault, and as this administration rejects the CTBT and does not negotiate a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, what is the role of arms control treaties in today’s world and how can they be made to be more effective?

“This is not a rhetorical question. Iran is on course to develop a military nuclear capability. I believe that its next step will be to withdraw from the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). Instead of waiting for it to do so on its own terms I believe we need to rally all of our allies around and strengthen the NPT and make it clear that there are explicit penalties for leaving the treaty."

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/congress/2007_h/070718-tauscher.htm


As Walter Pincus reported in the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/04/AR2008120403555.html) in December, U.S. Strategic Commander Air Force Gen. Kevin P. Chilton is calling for a rush to develop and produce RRW because of alleged surety problems--a topic of serious controversy within the nuclear scientific community. Also, in the January/February edition of Foreign Affairs, Sec. of Defense Robert Gates again heralded RRW, without addressing the fact that RRW's test pedigree will be much less extensive than that of the existing stockpile.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), Chair of the House Armed Services subcommittee on Strategic Forces, appears to be in lock-step with Chilton. Because RRW has gotten a bad name, Tauscher is promoting the idea of renaming RRW to avoid all the opposition it has garnered in Congress and among the public. She has even started re-framing RRW to make it more palatable to the Congress by saying it will help with nonproliferation efforts. Hmmm. Does it slice toast too?

read: http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2008/12/message-to-the-new-doe-secretary-dont-believe-the-hype.html


Report: Reliable Replacement Warhead:
Another Unneeded Nuclear Weapon
http://www.fcnl.org/pdfs/nuclear/RRW_Fact_Sheet.pdf

[Taverner]

1. Why do we need new nukes?

I just don't get it

[bigtree]

2. the RRW is going to be presented as a compromise

. . . a step down from the development of new nukes.

But the program is a stalking horse, intended to provide the infrastructure for an expansion of the nuclear weapons program; opening the door to new testing (which will require a further abrogation or change of the treaty Bush ignored), and providing the facilities and infrastructure for the 'next generation' nukes. The claims that the present arsenal is degrading and is at risk is refuted by many outside experts. That argument, however is being used to justify fiddling with the nukes and providing the foot in the door.

Obama's Holdovers in Pentagon Leadership Still Pushing Hard for New Generation of Nuclear Weapons
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4590025

[tularetom]

3. I don't know either but it's probably a good trade off

Just to get Tauscher out of congress and put an actual Democrat in her seat.

[bigtree]

4. funny, that was my first thought (because of her RRW efforts, seriously)

. . . until I saw where she was going.

Her position on the RRW in relation to nuclear non-proliferation is a perfect fit, though, for Pres. Obama's tendency to split the difference on defense matters between standard Democratic initiatives and his unwillingness to completely reject the military initiatives of the right.

[Gormy Cuss]

5. Fat chance of that.

I can't wait to see who gets hauled out as the Democratic contender here. I doubt that it will be someone more to the left. Tauscher has a buddy who was promoted for the former Pombo seat now held by Jerry McNerney --can't remember his name but with a short move he'd be in this district. Tom Torlakson (CA senate/former assembly member) would be my guess as the most likely candidate.

The Republican will probably be Guy Houston (former assemblyman from San Ramon, conservative and slimey) or Nicholas Gerber, who ran against her last year.