Nuclear weapons

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va., June 9, 2008 – If it were not for the serious decline in the Air Force’s nuclear mission focus and performance, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today, he would not have felt the need to replace the Air Force leadership.

Gates asked for and received the resignations of Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley on June 6 in the wake of an investigation that found problems with the focus, performance and effective leadership of the service’s nuclear weapons program.

Speaking to airmen and Air Force civilians of Air Combat Command, Gates called the nuclear mission the Air Force’s most sensitive one.    » read more »

6/9/2008 - Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates arrives June 9 to Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. Secretary Gates is visiting Peterson AFB to deliver a speech reinforcing his message that the Air Force must apply more rigor to its responsibilities with nuclear weapons on the heels of the resignation of the Air Force’s top two leaders.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrives at the Peterson air base flight line June 9: U.S. Air Force photo/Duncan Wood

Gen. C. Robert "Bob" Kehler, the commander of Air Force Space Command; Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., the commander of NORAD – U.S. Northern Command; and Col. Jay Raymond, the 21st Space Wing commander; greeted Secretary Gates upon his arrival.

May 27, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-DE) issued the following statement today following Senator McCain’s speech on nuclear security:

Nuclear cruise missile    » read more »

5/27/2008 -- "Senator McCain today gave a speech about his "dream" to "reduce the nuclear threat" to the United States and the world. But Senator McCain’s goals will remain an illusion as long as he continues to embrace and magnify the failed policies of the Bush administration.

Mushroom cloud    » read more »

May 27, 2008 -- John McCain believes that we can build a safer world, one with fewer nuclear weapons and in which proliferation, instability, and nuclear terrorism are far less likely. To achieve this, John McCain outlined a series of initiatives that will enhance nuclear security and prevent proliferation.    » read more »

20 May 2008 -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates faced tough questions from lawmakers Tuesday about the Bush administration's refusal to hold talks with Iran unless Tehran first halts its uranium enrichment program. Gates told a Senate panel that it is an open question whether such talks would succeed while President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is in power.

At a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on next year's Pentagon budget request, two lawmakers suggested the time has come for the United States to open wide-ranging talks with Iran - without preconditions.    » read more »

May 6, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – The French-based AREVA company has notified Idaho’s Senator Larry Craig, Governor Butch Otter, Senator Mike Crapo and Congressman Mike Simpson that it has selected Bonneville County, Idaho, as the site of its $2 billion first U.S. uranium enrichment plant.    » read more »

For 7 years, hundreds of sick workers have waited for a decision on their claims by the Government

April 30, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Barack Obama today sent the following letters to the Department of Labor (DOL), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the Presidential Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (ABRWH), calling on them to release the costs of administering the Energy Employees Occupational Illness and Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA).

Nuclear detonation: Photo courtesy Defense Nuclear Agency    » read more »

Chicago, IL -- April 25, 2008 -- "I am deeply disturbed by the evidence of North Korea's assistance to an illicit nuclear program in Syria. This represents a dangerous and completely unacceptable development.

Unfortunately, it comes after nearly eight years of a failed policy that has been long on tough talk and short on results, as North Korea has withdrawn from the Nuclear Nonproliferation treaty, quadrupled its stockpile of plutonium, resumed testing of long range missiles, detonated a nuclear weapon, and exported nuclear technology to Syria.    » read more »

Washington, D.C. -- April 1, 2021 -- Marking what may be the final passage in a series of groundbreaking weapons bills, Congress yesterday signed into law the Homeowners Fission Liberty Bill (H.R. 9985: To totally actualize the second amendment rights of all Americans), permitting the legal possession and use of tactical nuclear weapons for hunting and personal protection.

The Homeowners Fission Liberty Bill for the first time allows private citizens to safely, securely vaporize intruders, squirrels or fish

While tactical nukes have been previously permitted under certain special conditions, the Homeowners Fission Liberty Bill for the first time extends that right to all American citizens.    » read more »

Lead World to Eventual Ban

WASHINGTON (February 13, 2008) — To prevent more nations—and eventually terrorists—from acquiring nuclear weapons, the United States should drastically reduce the role that nuclear weapons play in its security policies, according to a report released today. The report, "Toward True Security," outlines 10 unilateral steps the next president should take to transform U.S. nuclear policy, which would strengthen national security and put the world on a path to eventually banning nuclear weapons.    » read more »

January 17, 2008 -- Barack Obama's statement: "I welcome the renewed call by Sam Nunn, George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, and William Perry to urge the United States to support a world free of nuclear weapons. These four Americans have shown leadership on this issue for many months, and I have embraced this goal throughout my campaign. As I said in a speech on October 2: "Here's what I'll say as President: America seeks a world in which there are no nuclear weapons."    » read more »

January 9, 2008 -- Las Vegas, NV – U.S. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada addressed the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health today to express his support for the approval of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) Special Exposure Cohort (SEC).

“I sit together with these petitioners because they have worked so hard on behalf of their families, friends and colleagues,” said Reid. “They have faced injustice. I am hopeful that you will agree and grant the Nevada Test Site Special Exposure Cohort designation.”    » read more »

December 20, 2007 -- Washington, DC – Today, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) and Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) announced that a provision authored by Obama and Senator Hagel (R-NE) in the Senate and advanced by Schiff in the House requiring a comprehensive nuclear threat reduction plan passed as part of the omnibus appropriations bill.    » read more »

The danger inherent in nuclear arms proliferation far outweighs other threats from weapons of mass destruction, according to two top U.S. weapons experts, and they warned that intense political leadership must focus on halting the spread of nuclear technology and on dismantling many of the weapons in existing arsenals.    » read more »