Roger Wicker Underscores Need To Revitalize ‘Long-Neglected’ Nuclear Stockpile Amid Growing Threats

During a Senate Armed Committee hearing last week, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) spoke about the United States’ nuclear stockpile.

Transcript

00:00I say it frequently but it needs to be said even more frequently. I'm grateful

00:07that these two individuals have stepped up to help these help us in these

00:13challenging times. Mr. Scott Papano has been nominated to be principal deputy

00:19administrator of the National Security National Nuclear Security

00:24Administration. In this position Mr. Papano will help lead an organization

00:29tasked with rebuilding and modernizing our long-neglected nuclear weapons stockpile.

00:34He must be up to the task because our nuclear dangers are more complex than

00:40ever. Over the past several years we've watched as Russia, China, and North Korea

00:46have rapidly expanded their nuclear arsenals and developed new types of

00:50weapons, weapons which for which we are not prepared. In his previous position Mr.

00:57Papano saw firsthand that the US is far behind in shipbuilding. I hope he'll

01:03bring important lessons from that experience and apply them to this role

01:08modernizing our nuclear deterrent is a national imperative and this committee

01:13expects to see results. I look forward to hearing how Mr. Papano intends to drive

01:18NNSA to achieve this objective. Mr. Michael Catanasi has been nominated to be the

01:27Assistant Secretary of Defense for industrial-based policy at the

01:32Department of Defense. Mr. Catanasi served 10 years in the US Navy as a

01:37cryptologic officer and then took his talents to private industry. He spent 20

01:44years addressing strategic and operational defense and aerospace challenges. He has

01:48launched or participated in startups working on analytics, technical service,

01:54and artificial intelligence. He has been nominated to a position that is

01:58relatively new but it must not be overlooked. As a matter of fact it should be

02:04given very serious attention. The office of industrial-based policy is one of the

02:10most important posts in the Pentagon. We need a large and capable cohort of

02:16defense industrial policy analysts who can bring serious options to the

02:20Secretary of Defense and the Congress and we need those analysts to be guided by a

02:25capable leader. I look forward to hearing Mr. Catanasi's opinions on how we can

02:32improve and simplify the Department's analytic capacity and investment

02:36authorities to build a more resilient industrial base. I look forward to their

02:43testimony.