U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) on April 18 proposed bipartisan legislation that would overhaul U.S. nuclear preparedness and enact key updates to America’s strategic posture.
“We need to take action today to meet the threats of tomorrow,” Sen. Fischer said. “Our current strategy is based on flawed, outdated assumptions from 2010 that will not be enough to effectively deter our peer nuclear adversaries like China and Russia in the future.”
Sen. Fischer sponsored the Restoring American Deterrence Act of 2024, S. 4177, with original cosponsors U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Angus King (I-ME) to implement the recommendations of the October 2023 final report, “America’s Strategic Posture: The Final Report of the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States.”
The report includes a review of the current and projected threat environment; an assessment of America’s current nuclear weapons policies; and key recommendations to update the nation’s strategic posture and nuclear weapons strategy, and concludes that the U.S. is on the cusp of having two nuclear peer adversaries for the first time in history: China and Russia, both of which seek to change the international status quo by force, if necessary, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Fischer’s staff.
S. 4177 includes multiple provisions based on the commission’s recommendations, including a Statement of Policy saying that it is the policy of the United States to deter strategic attacks and to ensure that the U.S. Secretaries of Defense and Energy are equipped with the resources needed to maintain an effective strategic deterrent, the summary says.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Defense would be required to develop a strategy to match any projected threats, including an assessment of the amount and type of nuclear weapons necessary to implement the strategy, and would require modernization of the Integrated Tactical Warning and Attack Assessment system.
Among numerous other provisions, S. 4177 would require the U.S. Defense Secretary, in coordination with other cabinet members, to develop a strategy to promote the development of a skilled manufacturing and vocational trade workforce to expand the national technology and industrial base and nuclear security enterprise, states the summary and the U.S. Secretary of the Air Force would have to develop a plan for procuring and deploying an additional 50 Sentinel ICBMs above the current plan.
“The bipartisan Restoring American Deterrence Act is the landmark solution we need,” said Sen. Fischer. “Our legislation lays a solid foundation for the Departments of Defense and Energy to maintain a safe, reliable, and credible deterrent for decades to come.”