06.09.18

Sullivan Provisions in NDAA Help Bolster President Trump’s Leverage in Upcoming U.S./North Korea Summit

WASHINGTON, DC – In the lead up to the U.S./North Korea Summit – scheduled to begin on June 12th in Singapore – U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, fought to secure several provisions in the FY19 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to help bolster the Trump administration’s position heading into negotiations with the unpredictable North Korean regime.

“With the upcoming U.S./North Korea Summit just days away, my colleagues and I on the Senate Armed Services Committee have worked to bolster the President’s hand in these negotiations,” said Senator Sullivan. “By properly integrating and bolstering America’s homeland missile defense, while also sending a strong message that removing U.S. military forces on the Korean Peninsula should be a non-negotiable item, the Trump administration’s negotiating power will be stronger.”


BACKGROUND:

Removal of U.S. Forces from Korea:

  • The provision forcefully states that it is the Sense of the U.S. Senate that the removal of U.S. forces from the Korea Peninsula is non-negotiable as it relates to the upcoming North Korea — U.S. Summit. 
  • This Sense of the U.S. Senate reinforced what Secretary of Defense Mattis said recently at a defense ministers meeting in Singapore last week.

 

Integrating our U.S. Missile Defense Systems:

  • Develops and Deploys Space-based Sensors: Mandates the development deployment of space-based sensors as soon as practicable.
  • Readies Our Defenses: Mandates an analysis of accelerating the development and deployment of the Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) to Missile Field 4 at Fort Greely.
  • Promotes a More Integrated Missile Defense: Directs a study on an integrated air-and-missile defense architecture to protect against evolving threats outlined in the 2018 National Defense Strategy.
  • Accelerates Our Defenses Against Hypersonic Threats: Directs the acceleration of our hypersonic missile defenses and links them to the deployment of space-based sensors.
  • Focuses of Allies: Expresses that the U.S. should work with allies and trusted partners to share missile defense capabilities.
  • More Rigorous Testing: Seeks to discourage a risk adverse culture of missile defense testing and promotes a more rigorous testing regime to deliver capabilities at the “speed of relevance.”
  • This provision builds on the success of last year’s Advancing America’s Missile Defense Act – legislation authored by Senator Sullivan – which passed the Senate as part of FY18 NDAA and was fully funded by Congress and signed into law by President Trump in December 2017. 

 

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