Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act, H.R. 1506

This post Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act, H.R. 1506 originally appeared on Truth About Bills

The Bill: H.R. 1506, the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act

Annualized Savings: $10 billion ($50 billion over five years)

After long-time former Senator John Kerry (D-MA) became President Obama’s new Secretary of State, Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) beat his Republican challenger Gabriel Gomez in the special election for the open seat. Since taking office on June 25th, Senator Markey has yet to introduce any legislation in the upper chamber. It is possible that he might introduce a bill in the Senate that he sponsored before leaving the House, which is the Least Expensive Bill of the Week.

H.R. 1506 would make targeted cuts to all three parts of America’s nuclear armament in the following areas:

• Submarines: Reduce the number of ballistic-missile submarines from its current level of 18 to eight; Limit the number of submarine-launched ballistic missiles from its current 550 to 250; Put a ten-year hold on the Ohio-class replacement-sub and limit any procurement to maintain an eight sub fleet indefinitely.
• Bombers: Prohibit the B-2 and B-52 bombers from carrying a nuclear weapon; Cancel any funding associated with making the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter able to carry nuclear weapons; Put a ten-year hold on developing a long-range bomber to replace the B-2.
• Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs): Reduce the number of ICBMs from its current level of 500 to 200; Terminate current ICBM or shorter-range missile life extension programs; Prohibit the procurement of any new ICBMs indefinitely; Cancel the medium extended air defense system (the replacement for the PATRIOT system).

The bill would also terminate funding for three fuel projects and facilities that deal with manufacturing nuclear weapons.

The savings amount for H.R. 1506 was provided by Rep Markey’s office in the previous Congress. NTUF assumes that the figures would be the same if the bill was enacted in the 113th Congress. It is also assumed that canceling all of the projects would take at least five years to realize the savings.

This article originally appeared in the National Taxpayers Union Foundation’s Taxpayer’s Tab weekly newsletter, The Taxpayer’s Tab, on July 25, 2013. The Foundation’s BillTally project scores the potential spending of every introduced bill in Congress.

This post Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act, H.R. 1506 originally appeared on Truth About Bills