Senator calls on President-elect to commit to reducing bloated U.S. nuclear weapons spending and avoid new nuclear arms race with Russia

Washington (December 22, 2016) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today called on President-elect Donald Trump to reduce America’s nuclear arsenal and reform U.S. nuclear posture after Mr. Trump tweeted, “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its sense regarding nukes”.

In his letter, Senator Markey pointed to the nearly $1 trillion dollars the United States will spend over the next three decades to modernize its nuclear forces that could instead be used for other domestic and defense priorities, such as the infrastructure plan that the President-elect has proposed. Senator Markey also points to remarks made by General James Mattis, Mr. Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, who said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in January 2015: “Is it time to reduce the triad to a diad, removing the land?based missiles? This would reduce the false alarm danger.”

Finally, Senator Markey pointed to escalating tensions with Russia and the need to engage in negotiations with the country to make bilateral cuts in defensive and offensive nuclear arms.

“I urge you to recommit to meaningful nuclear arms control with Russia as part of a broader effort to reduce military tensions with Moscow,” writes the Senator in his letter to President-elect Trump. “Escalating the nuclear arms race by building more nuclear weapons would undermine that objective, and it could violate the New START Treaty, which the United States and Russia signed in 2010.”

“The existential risk of nuclear war has motivated previous presidents from both parties to engage in arms control negotiations as part of their national security strategy,”concludes Senator Markey. “Following your inauguration, you will have a similar opportunity, and Americans concerned about the risk of nuclear devastation expect you to seize it.”

A copy of Senator Markey’s letter can be found HERE.

Last week, Senators Markey and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sent a letter to Mr. Donald Trump calling on him to strengthen our system of alliances, including NATO and the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty, and long-standing nuclear nonproliferation policies.

###