Representative Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), chair of the Strategic Forces subcommittee, has inserted language into the FY2008 Authorization Bill creating a Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States.
Congresswoman Tauscher said the Commission will “create a public discussion about future requirements for nuclear weapons.”
If the Senate, which is not expected to include similar language, recedes to the House position, the Commission will “assess the benefits and risks associated with the current strategic posture and nuclear weapons policies of the United States” and “make recommendations as to the most appropriate strategic posture and most effective nuclear weapons strategy” including:
(1) the military capabilities and force structure necessary to support the strategy, including conventional means of providing global strike capabilities;
(2) the number of nuclear weapons required to support the strategy, including the number of replacement warheads required, if any;
(3) the appropriate qualitative analysis, including force-on-force exchange modeling, to calculate the effectiveness of the strategy under various scenarios;
(4) the nuclear infrastructure (that is, the size of the nuclear complex) required to support the strategy;
(5) an assessment of the role of missile defenses in the strategy;
(6) an assessment of the role of nonproliferation programs in the strategy;
(7) the political and military implications of the strategy for the United States and its allies; and
(8) any other information or recommendations relating to the strategy (or to the strategic posture) that the commission considers appropriate.
The Congressionally-appointed commission will replace a Commission that was to examine implementation of the Nuclear Posture Review and appointed by the Secretary of Defense—something the SECDEF never got around to doing.
The Commission will have 12 members. Who would you pick?