White House on the FY09 Defense Authorization Bill

The White House released its “Statement of Administration Policy” on the FY09 Defense Authorization bill today. Below are the relevant portions on Iran, missile defense, and RRW.

Iran: The Administration also strongly opposes any amendments that would restrict the ability of the United States to deal effectively with the threats to regional security posed by the conduct of Iran.

Missile Defense: The Administration strongly opposes the significant reduction of over $700 million to our missile defense programs, including European Missile Defense, Airborne Laser, the Multiple Kill Vehicle, and the Kinetic Energy Interceptor. In addition, the Administration strongly opposes any potential amendment that would impose even more dramatic reductions to missile defense funding. The Administration is particularly concerned with the reduction of $371 million for the European Missile Defense program, which could jeopardize the security of the United States and our European allies by delaying the fielding of missile defense assets to protect against the emerging missile threat posed by Iran.

Reliable Replacement Warhead: The Administration opposes the redirection of all funding requested for the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration's Reliable Replacement Warhead program, which is needed to improve the security, reliability and maintainability of our aging nuclear stockpile.