|
Billions Could be Saved From Nuclear Weapons Reductions
Washington,
D.C. - President George W. Bush tomorrow is expected to announce
a sizable reduction of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. A
reduction to 2,500 nuclear warheads would save taxpayers billions
without affecting
national security, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense,
a national
budget watchdog organization.
"The
U.S. nuclear stockpile is an expensive relic of a dead war,"
said Alise
Frye, Director of the National Security Project at Taxpayers
for Common
Sense. "Reducing the fiscal burden of the stockpile is
good for our national
security and will free up resources for other defense priorities."
Taxpayers
have been maintaining unnecessary numbers of nuclear weapons
at a
high cost of about $27 billion a year. The cost figure doesn't
reflect the
indirect costs related to the upkeep, stability, security
and the potential
use of the nation's nuclear weapon arsenal.
Current
proposals to reduce the nuclear weapons arsenal could save
between
$920 million to $8.3 billion in budgetary authority in the
next 10 years,
according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Even with
this cost savings, some members of Congress may not be supportive
of the nuclear arsenal reductions without major concessions
that could cost
taxpayers more than the potential savings. On the table could
be billions
of dollars in research and development efforts for new nuclear
weapons and
building more facilities to increase nuclear weapon production
capabilities.
"The
Pentagon has stated it can defend the U.S. with 2,500 nuclear
warheads,
not the nearly 10,000 it has now. A smaller arsenal will save
taxpayer
money and will better reflect the defense needs of the twenty-first
century," concluded Frye.
|
