EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS

∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor.

Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor.

December 9, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E2339 

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 

ORRICK HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL 

TEAM 

HON. IKE SKELTON OF MISSOURI

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, December 9, 2008 

Mr. SKELTON. Madam Speaker, let me 

take this opportunity to congratulate the Orrick 

High School Football Team on winning the 

Missouri Class 1 Football Championship. The 

team, led by Coach Pat Richard, won the 

game in double overtime against Thayer High. 

The Orrick Bearcats headed into the title 

game as a perfect 14–0 team ready to play. 

From a team that had its struggles in the early 

2000s, this group has come a long way and 

has achieved the ultimate State prize. The 

thrilling win exemplifies the drive and ambition 

of these young men. I would like to share their 

success with you, Madam Speaker, and I am 

confident that my colleagues will echo my 

praise. 

f 

CUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS BUDGET 

HON. BARNEY FRANK OF MASSACHUSETTS

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, December 9, 2008 

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam 

Speaker, in a thoughtful and well documented 

article in the Boston Globe for December 3, 

Joseph Cirincione makes a very persuasive 

case for putting significant reductions in our 

nuclear weapons budget at the head of the list 

of budget savings President-elect Obama intends to make. Mr. Cirincione is the president 

of Ploughshares, and some of us remember 

the good work he did as a staff member working on trying to fashion a sensible nuclear 

weapons policy years ago in the House. He 

speaks with a great deal of knowledge and I 

am very pleased that someone as responsible 

and well informed as Mr. Cirincione has come 

forward to make this case. As he says in his 

article, the President ‘‘can cut obsolete programs and transfer tens of billions of dollars 

per year to pressing conventional military and 

domestic programs.’’ 

Madam Speaker, no rational solution to the 

problem of an ever-increasing budget deficit 

can be imagined that does not include significant reductions in the rate of military spending. Joseph Cirincione demonstrates how this 

can be done in a way that does no damage 

whatsoever to our national security and I ask 

that the article be printed here. 

[From the Boston Globe, Dec. 3, 2008] 

NEED CASH? CUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS BUDGET

(By Joseph Cirincione) 

President-Elect Barack Obama needs 

money, ‘‘To make the investments we need,’’ 

he said last week, ‘‘we’ll have to scour our 

federal budget, line by line, and make meaningful cuts and sacrifices, as well.’’ 

There is no better place to start than the 

nuclear weapons budget. He can cut obsolete 

programs and transfer tens of billions of dollars per year to pressing conventional military and domestic programs. 

Transfers to domestic programs will help 

jumpstart the economy. Military spending 

provides some economic stimulus but not as 

much as targeted domestic spending. This is 

one reason Representative Barney Frank has 

called for a 25 percent reduction in military 

budgets that have exploded from. 305 billion 

in fiscal year 2001 to $716 billion in fiscal 

year 2009, including the $12 billion spent 

every month for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

We must, of course, spend what we need to 

defend the country. But a good part of the 

military budget is still devoted to programs 

designed for the Cold War, which ended almost 20 years ago. This is particularly true 

of the $31 billion spent each year to maintain 

and secure a nuclear arsenal of almost 5,400 

nuclear weapons, with 1,500 still deployed on 

missiles ready to launch within 15 minutes. 

We can safely reduce to 1,000 total weapons, as recommended by Senator JOHN

KERRY and other nuclear experts. That reduction would save over $20 billion a year, 

according to the Center for Strategic and 

Budgetary Assessments. 

The reductions could be done without any 

sacrifice to US national security, particularly if the Russians did the same (as they 

indicated they’d be willing to do) either by a 

negotiated treaty or the kind of unilateral 

reductions executed by former presidents 

George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev in 

1991. 

The arsenal of 1,000 warheads could be deployed on 10 safe and secure Trident submarines, each with enough weapons to devastate any nation. In total, the smaller, 

cheaper arsenal would still be sufficient to 

destroy the world several times over. Further reductions would generate further savings over time. 

Additional savings are available in the related anti-missile programs created during 

the Bush administration. Total spending is 

now $13 billion a year—up from $4 billion in 

2000. Bush and former secretary of defense 

Donald Rumsfeld exempted the agency from 

the normal checks of Pentagon tests and 

procurement rules in an effort to institutionalize the program, locking in the next 

president, Obama will inherit half-built facilities in Alaska and California, along with 

plans to build new sites in Poland and the 

Czech Republic, but no assurance that the 

interceptors actually work—and a huge bill 

to pay. If Obama were to continue the program as is, he would spend an estimated $62 

billion through 2012. 

In a congressional review of these programs, Representative John Tierney of Massachusetts concluded, ‘‘Since the 1980s, taxpayers have already spent $120 to $150 billion—more time and more money than we 

spent on the Manhattan project or the Apollo program, with no end in sight.’’ Tierney 

recommends refocusing the program to concentrate on defenses against the short-range 

weapons Iran and other nations currently 

field, and restoring realistic testing and realistic budgeting. Doing so could save $6 billion or more a year. 

Further savings can be found by stopping a 

planned expansion of nuclear weapons production facilities pushed by contractors and 

some government nuclear laboratories. The 

facilities would cost tens of billions of dollars and produce hundreds of new nuclear 

warheads. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates 

strongly backs the expansion. In a direct 

challenge to Obama’s plans to reduce nuclear 

weapons and ratify the Comprehensive Test 

Ban Treaty, Gates said in October, ‘‘there is 

absolutely no way we can maintain a credible deterrent and reduce the number of 

weapons in our stockpile without either resorting to testing our stockpile or pursuing 

a modernization program.’’ Obama will have 

to back him down or pony up billions to pay 

Gate’s nuclear tab. 

What will the new president do? He comes 

to office with a comprehensive nuclear policy that could save billions. Obama will now 

have to show that this new security team 

will implement the change he promised, not 

their own parochial agendas. 

f 

HONORING ASSISTANT DEAN EVE 

KLOTHEN, RECIPIENT OF THE 

2009 FATHER ROBERT DRINAN 

AWARD 

HON. ROBERT E. ANDREWS OF NEW JERSEY

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, December 9, 2008 

Mr. ANDREWS. Madam Speaker, I rise 

today to honor Assistant Dean Eve Klothen for 

receiving the 2009 Father Robert Drinan 

Award. This prestigious award is given by the 

American Association of Law Schools in recognition of outstanding contributions to pro 

bono activities and public service. 

Assistant Dean Klothen’s distinguished career has included service as a legal services 

lawyer in Georgia, director of the Philadelphia 

Volunteers for the Indigent Program, and director of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation. During Assistant Dean Klothen’s service in these 

positions, she has successfully created programs to help the less fortunate while also 

mentoring students and young professionals. 

Assistant Dean Klothen has worked tirelessly 

over the course of her career to instill the values of public service and expand opportunities 

for students to participate in pro bono activities. During Assistant Dean Klothen’s tenure at 

Rutgers Law School, she has been central to 

efforts to create a number of programs, including the Pro Bono Research Project, new pro 

bono projects in areas such as tax assistance 

and immigration, and leadership training for 

students at nearby law schools. 

Assistant Dean Klothen’s record of serving 

low income clients in south Jersey and Philadelphia is exceptional. This reputation, along 

with her remarkable leadership in advising the 

next generation of outstanding legal minds, 

clearly demonstrates why Assistant Dean 

Klothen is very deserving of the 2009 Father 

Robert Drinan award. 

Madam Speaker, I congratulate Assistant 

Dean Klothen on this achievement and wish 

her the best of luck in future endeavors. 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with REMARKS