Lawmakers Push SANE Approach to Nuclear Spending

Smart - Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) have introduced legislation that would cut $100 billion from the U.S. nuclear weapons budget over the next decade. The bill, appropriately dubbed the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act, proposes a number of reductions that would dramatically reduce the financial burden of the bloated nuclear arsenal, while maintaining force levels set by New START.

--Reductions include scaling back the purchase of new nuclear submarines submarines from 12 to 8, deferring development of new intercontinental ballistic missiles, cutting warhead life extension programs, delaying the new nuclear bomber and removing the nuclear mission for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The full bill is here (pdf). http://1.usa.gov/1FThzqC

--“We are robbing America’s future to pay for unneeded weapons of the past,” said Sen. Markey in a press statement. “The SANE Act cuts the nuclear weapons and delivery systems that we don’t need and will never use so we can invest in the people and programs that will make America safe and prosperous in the future.” Full statement: http://1.usa.gov/1Bp1jru

Tweet - @Cirincione: This may be better. "The risk of a nuclear exchange between the U.S. and China are somewhere between nil and zero," D. Blair. #nukefest2015

Why the rush? - “There is no way that the Corker bill—given the posture and approach of the majority party on this issue as indicated by the letter to the Iranians—could strengthen the basis of the agreement, or show that the United States is united, or have any positive result,” writes Paul Pillar in the National Interest.

--“The bill calls for a rush to judgment… [making] it seem obligatory for Congress to pass a resolution hastily, as well as to make it clearer to the Iranians and to everyone else that Congressional disapproval would in fact kill the deal,” the author concludes. Why the rush? “Opponents of any agreement with Iran want to kill this particular agreement before it has a chance to demonstrate its success. ” http://bit.ly/1CV2NRg

Spy games - “Soon after the U.S. and other major powers entered negotiations last year to curtail Iran’s nuclear program, senior White House officials learned Israel was spying on the closed-door talks,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The espionage didn’t upset the White House as much as Israel’s sharing of inside information with U.S. lawmakers and others to drain support from a high-stakes deal intended to limit Iran’s nuclear program, current and former officials said.”

--Israeli officials have denied the report, which the Journal says is “based on interviews with more than a dozen current and former U.S. and Israeli diplomats, intelligence officials, policy makers and lawmakers.” http://on.wsj.com/1Ck365T

Optimism - As the resumption of the Iran nuclear talks nears, many experts expressed optimism that the negotiators could resolve the remaining technical difficulties and conclude a framework agreement. “Upbeat about the ability to verify measures, upbeat about the measures that are coming into play, but a little concerned about what the Congress might do that could disrupt diplomacy,” Mark Fitzpatrick tells NPR’s Michelle Keleman.

--On the question of breakout time, Fitzpatrick said, “What can you do in two years that you can't do in one year? You have to detect the breakout, which will happen very quickly. You have to confirm the breakout, which could take a few more weeks. You have to, you know, apply some diplomacy to try to solve it peacefully. And then applying military options can be done overnight. So, yes, I think one year is enough.” The full interview with Fitzpatrick and other nuclear experts is here. http://n.pr/1y1dwSW

Tweet - @NIACouncil: Nuclear Deal? What Iranian-Americans think. #IranTalks #LetDiplomacyWork http://t.co/kCQSiKZsIx

Unrealistic - Speaking at an event yesterday, former Secretary of State James Baker warned against efforts to get a perfect deal with Iran. “If the only agreement is one in which there is no enrichment, then there will be no agreement,” Baker said.

--If the talks collapse over unrealistic expectations, the consequences would be dire, Baker told the crowd. “An American strike would only generate more support among Iranians for the fundamentalist government, and an Israeli strike would neither be as effective nor carry American support.” Full story by Edward Dovere in POLITICO. http://politi.co/1xebX8W

Restraint - “As the United States and Iran prepare to restart nuclear talks this week, [Iran’s] hard-liners have been keeping a low profile… Their silence is a result of state policies intended by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to seriously try to find a solution through negotiations.” The New York Times’ Thomas Erdbrink reports from Tehran. http://nyti.ms/1ENnGLI

Bad idea - “If U.S. hawks succeed in scuttling a nuclear deal, then those same hawks will shift, in short order, to insisting on war as the only remedy,” writes Robert Farley in The National Interest. “Attacking Iran is a terrible idea, but the sheer terribleness of it won’t prevent it from happening… The United States has the capability to inflict grievous damage on the Islamic Republic, but cannot solve the problem of Iran by bombing alone.” http://bit.ly/1Nbgknm

Doomsday Dashboard - The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has released their Doomsday Dashboard, an overview of the data the organization considers when they set the time of their famous Doomsday Clock: http://bit.ly/1CKnyNX

Quick Hits:

--“Judge, Citing State Secrets, Throws out Lawsuit Over Iran,” report by AP. http://abcn.ws/1FTczCA

--“Pakistan: Short-range nukes needed to deter India,” report by AP http://yhoo.it/19hCSpa

--“Denmark slams Russian envoy's nuclear target warning,” by Susannah Cullinane for CNN. http://cnn.it/1IqpDig

-- “Senator: Obama risks backlash if Iran deal goes to UN first,” report from AP. http://yhoo.it/1IqpXha

Events:

--House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water. Hearing on the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Nuclear Nonproliferation and Naval Reactors budgets. With Frank Klotz, Administrator, NNSA; Anne Harrington, Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, NNSA; and Adm. John Richardson, Director, Naval Reactors. March 25 at 9:30 AM. Located in 2362-B Rayburn House Office Building, Washington DC. Webcast on the committee website. http://1.usa.gov/1ptJEtv

--“P5+1 and Iran Nuclear Negotiations.” Featuring Robert Einhorn, former State Department official; Thomas Pickering, former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs; Kelsey Davenport, Arms Control Association; Dylan Williams, J Street; Trita Parsi, National Iranian American Council; and Kate Gould, Friends Committee on National Legislation. March 26 from 9:30-10:30 AM. Sponsored by Arms Control Association. Located at the National Press Club, First Amendment Lounge, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington. RSVP online. http://bit.ly/1CmmDD1

--“Deal or no deal? Negotiating with Iran.” Featuring Robert Einhorn, Senior Fellow, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative of Brookings, William Galston, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies of Brookings and Suzanne Maloney, Senior Fellow, Center for Middle East Policy of Brookings. April 1 from 10:00AM – 11:30 AM. Located at The Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 2003. http://brook.gs/1x8WE1a

--“Paths to Disarmament: The NPT and the Humanitarian Initiative.” Featuring John Loretz, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and Martin Fleck, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR). April 2 from 8:00-9:00 PM EST. Online webinar sponsored by PSR. RSVP online. http://bit.ly/1Oek3Ur