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Reuters January 29, 2010 Biden: U.S. budget to seek nuclear funds increase -"Even in a time of tough budget decisions, these are investments we must make for our security. We are committed to working with Congress to ensure these budget increases are approved." WASHINGTON: Vice President Joe Biden said President Barack Obama's budget proposal will include $7 billion to maintain the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, which would be $600 million more than Congress approved last year. In an opinion piece on the Wall Street Journal's website on Thursday, Biden also said the administration intended to boost funding in that area by more than $5 billion over the next five years. "Even in a time of tough budget decisions, these are investments we must make for our security. We are committed to working with Congress to ensure these budget increases are approved," Biden said. Biden said the Obama administration had inherited a "steady decline" in support for U.S. nuclear stockpiles and infrastructure. "For almost a decade, our laboratories and facilities have been underfunded and undervalued. The consequences of this neglect - like the growing shortage of skilled nuclear scientists and engineers and the aging of critical facilities - have largely escaped public notice," he wrote. "The budget we will submit to Congress on Monday both reverses this decline and enables us to implement the president's nuclear-security agenda." The Obama administration will publish its budget for fiscal year 2011 on Monday Feb. 1. The proposal will include a budget increase for nuclear issues while paring back other areas in an effort to control record deficits. Biden said those steps along with others to advance nonproliferation were essential to "holding nations like North Korea and Iran accountable when they break the rules, and deterring others from trying to do so." (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Tabassum Zakaria; editing by Todd Eastham) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://en.rian.ru/world/20100129/157711698.html Russian Information Agency Novosti January 29, 2010 U.S. to increase spending on nuclear complex - Biden Moscow: The United States will allocate $7 billion in 2011 to maintain the country's nuclear complex, $600 million more than Congress approved in 2009, U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden said in a Wall Street Journal article. "We will spend what is necessary to maintain the safety, security and effectiveness of our weapons," Biden said in the article, entitled The President's Nuclear Vision. He said the U.S. intended to boost funding for "these important activities", intended to "ensure our security" by more than $5 billion over the next five years. "Even in a time of tough budget decisions, these are investments we must make for our security. We are committed to working with Congress to ensure these budget increases are approved," the vice president said. Biden said the country's nuclear facilities have been "underfunded and undervalued" for almost a decade and required "urgent attention." "The consequences of this neglect-like the growing shortage of skilled nuclear scientists and engineers and the aging of critical facilities-have largely escaped public notice," he said. U.S. President Barack Obama reiterated on Wednesday his pledge to work toward comprehensive nuclear disarmament. "I have embraced the vision of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan through a strategy that reverses the spread of these weapons, and seeks a world without them," Obama said in his annual State of the Union speech. Biden said the increase in funding the U.S. nuclear complex "will strengthen the nonproliferation regime, which is vital to holding nations like North Korea and Iran accountable when they break the rules, and deterring others from trying to do so." The Obama administration will present the 2011 budget proposal to the U.S. Congress on February 1. Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, agreed last year to reduce the nuclear warhead stockpile to 1,500-1,675 and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000 for each country. A new document to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1), which expired on December 5, has not been signed yet over disagreements on verification and control arrangements to be included in the document. Obama and Medvedev agreed in a telephone conversation on Wednesday to order the speedy completion of the deal, which is almost ready to be signed, according to officials on both sides. =========================== Stop NATO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato Blog site: http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/ To subscribe, send an e-mail to: rwroz...@yahoo.com or stopnato-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Daily digest option available. ============================== --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: arch...@mail-archive.com EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bNM5nn.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: antinato-unsubscr...@topica.com For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit: http://www.topica.com/?p=TEXFOOTER --^----------------------------------------------------------------
