Source: United States Senator for Nebraska Deb Fischer
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the top Republican on the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, today joined the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss China’s growing nuclear arsenal and her latest Fox News op-ed on the topic.
Click here for audio of the full interview
An edited transcript of portions of the interview is copied below:
On the Op-ed:
Hugh Hewitt: …So Senator, let’s get to your op-ed, which posted just a couple hours ago over at Fox. It is eye opening. It’s about the Chinese Communist Party and General Secretary Xi’s strategic weaponry build up. And I knew about this intellectually, but the numbers you put here are astonishing. I want to summarize for the audience, because you are the ranking member on the Strategic Forces subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee, what is Xi up to?
Sen. Fischer: Well, thank you for bringing that up, Hugh. You know we have to recognize as a country and the people of this country have to recognize the threat that China poses. You know, with the balloons coming across the United States, the surveillance across the continental United States, I think that woke a lot of people up. But China has been building up its nuclear enterprise. And we have been slow to modernize ours. When I look at what they have accomplished in a very, very short period of time, it is truly amazing. They are a peer competitor, they have a triad, they have a goal of tripling their arsenal by 2035. That’s only a decade away. They have more ICBM launchers than the United States. They have bombers, similar to the B-2, and they are building submarines. So this is something that people need to be aware of. And I don’t put this out there to scare people or to terrify them. But instead to educate them about what we face. You know, since the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall, we’ve kind of sidelined our nuclear enterprise. And we cannot because it’s the bedrock of our national security.
On the Nuclear Triad:
Hugh Hewitt: You know Senator, I have asked a number of would-be presidential nominees: if the triad cannot be fully funded, which third of it do we not fund? Because we’ve got to do something. And I know the Columbia class, the B-21, they’re both in production, they’re going forward. We’re not doing it fast enough. I’m wondering if we’re past the era of ICBMs, except for a second strike capability. You’re the chair and ranking member of the Strategic Forces subcommittee; what do you think about shrinking the missile leg of the triad in order to spend what we need on the most survivable legs of the Triad?
Sen. Fischer: Oh, I disagree with that completely. The triad, each leg of the triad serves a unique purpose. And we have to have those ICBMs. For one thing, I personally believe it makes our adversaries take a step back and think about attacking the heartland of the United States, because that’s where our ICBM silos are. That alone causes them to rethink any kind of aggressive action that they would have. It is also an extremely vital part. I don’t think many people also realize, Hugh, that our bombers are not loaded. So in effect right now, we have a dyad, with our submarines and our ICBMs. So there would have to be policy changes and buy in from Congress to be able to change our posture when it comes to our bombers.
[…]
Hugh Hewitt: Well, that’s what your op-ed is so eye-opening about. It looks like they’re trying to get first strike capability and counting on American incoherence to allow our triad to decay to the point where they could Pearl Harbor us. I go back to the era of the MX missile debate when it dominated Time Magazine, and we used to look at those charts. And the American public understood the number of missiles that Russia had, the number of missiles the Soviets had, the number of missiles the Americans had, and the fact that we had survivability…What do you think?
Sen. Fischer: I believe we do. I think we have strong capabilities. As I said, I think each leg of the triad serves a very unique purpose. And so that’s why I’m definitely a huge supporter, that we modernize our triad, keep it on schedule, and be able to hopefully even speed it up. But there again, you get into the manufacturing of what we need and and what we are facing there with time limits and constraints that we have and not being able to, no matter how much money you’re going to put behind it. It would be a challenge to be able to speed it up to any substantial degree.
On Upcoming Defense Budget:
Hugh Hewitt: Now, Senator King is a serious guy across the aisle when it comes to strategic security. Who else works with you? Because you need 60 votes to move anything forward, especially on the Appropriations side. And the House can support you right now in a defense budget that’s serious about the deterrent, but who will be the 10 Democrats who come alongside of the 49 or the 11 Democrats who come alongside the 49 Republicans to vote for a serious defense budget?
Sen. Fischer: I think when you look at the last two years, the budget that President Biden sent to us, and the overwhelming support that we had in the Senate Armed Services Committee to add to that budget to increase it. Because again, there’s an understanding there of the need, and to see support on the floor too. Senator King is wonderful to work with. And we have a great working relationship on the Strategic Forces subcommittee. Our staffs work well together. We have a kind of a mind meld when it comes to what we need. There are a lot of other good members out there. Jeanne Shaheen is great. Jack Reed is a good chairman of the committee. Mark Kelly is an active good member on the Strategic Forces Subcommittee. So there’s a number of members on both sides of the aisle.