Staff Reports
A top Biden official is said to have invited Chinese Communist Party representatives to a key national security site, which has caused a lot of worry among Republicans. Elise Stefanik, Chair of the Republican Conference, was shocked by the move and asked President Biden to take back the invitation right away. Stefanik said that letting China and Russia into secret nuclear test sites could give them important information they could use to weaken the US's nuclear weapons and make their own stronger. She said this was a very big problem because both countries are deliberately building up their nuclear arsenals to try to take over from the United States.
The event happened at a recent meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) offered to show Chinese and Russian coworkers around a Nevada facility where sensitive nuclear experiments were being carried out. It looks like Russia and China have not yet replied to the offer, though. A spokesperson for the Department of Energy (DOE) made it clear that talks or invites are not going on with Russia or China. The spokesperson also stressed that the U.S. is still committed to its nuclear testing moratorium.
Senior Biden Official Invited CCP and Russian Officials to Tour Nuclear Testing Sitehttps://t.co/icqQpQOZ8l
— Sheri™ (@FFT1776) November 16, 2023
Russia recently pulled out of the last nuclear weapons limitation treaty with the US, and President Putin recently signed a law that stops Russia from ratifying a global treaty that bans nuclear weapons testing. This offer comes at a very bad time. The State Department has said that these moves have made things worse between the two countries.
Representative Doug Lamborn, a Republican, was very worried about enemies of the United States being able to watch nuclear tests being done by the United States. He said that giving them access could let them copy American methods and processes, which would weaken deterrence in the long run. Lamborn, who is the Chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, introduced a bill that would stop foreigners from watching U.S. nuclear tests. The bill was included in the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2024, which was passed by the House last month.
Other Republican lawmakers, like Stefanik and Lamborn, stressed how important it was to keep America's national security edge. They talked about how China's nuclear program has grown faster than expected. The Department of Defense has warned that by the end of the decade, China will have more than 1,000 nuclear weapons. People are very worried that letting China into sensitive U.S. military sites without taking similar steps in return could make China more determined to build up its nuclear weapons.
In response to this news, Republican Representative Rob Wittman said that letting America's enemies in was truly disturbing and logically impossible. Along with his colleagues, he asked the Biden administration to explain why they were letting Russian and Chinese Communist Party officials into secret labs and testing sites. They say this move shows a disturbing trend in the Democratic Party: they are giving in to America's enemies.
Republicans are getting more worried about the administration's policies and actions because President Biden is being investigated for impeachment over his family's participation in schemes to sell influence with foreign countries like China and Ukraine. They stress how important it is for the Biden government to deal with these issues right away and make protecting America's nuclear interests and capabilities a top priority.
