WASHINGTON – Today at a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Congresswoman Elaine Luria asked top Air Force leaders about their familiarity with the Independent Review of the Department of Defense Nuclear Enterprise, conducted in 2014.
In response, Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson and Air Force Chief of Staff David L. Goldfein both said they thought Congresswoman Luria meant to say the Nuclear Posture Review.
A 20-year Navy veteran, Congresswoman Luria responded that she was, in fact, seeking an update on the Independent Review of the Department of Defense Nuclear Enterprise, which examined all Navy and Air Force nuclear assets.
Due to the fact that the Air Force leaders did not provide an answer to her question, Congresswoman Luria submitted the following for the written record: “The Independent Review of the Department of Defense Nuclear Enterprise recommended quarterly meetings with the Secretary of Defense on required corrective actions which the Secretary started in 2014. Are these meetings still occurring? If not, have all the required corrective actions been completed?”
Congresswoman Luria will continue to seek answers from top Air Force leadership.
Her initial, intended line of questioning at the hearing is the latest example of how she is pushing military and Department of Veterans Affairs leadership to implement important reforms, including those mandated after recent maritime accidents in the Western Pacific in which a combined 17 American sailors died.
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