Nuclear summit means hard work for Obama

Fourth, the president must demand greater transparency from countries that currently possess nuclear weapons. The international community has focused on the negotiations between the United States and Russia recently, but many other countries currently possess nuclear weapons. Some of these, such as the China, cloak their capabilities under a heavy shroud of secrecy. The president should demand that these countries follow the lead of the United States and Russia by unveiling more information about their programs in order to downgrade the risk of nuclear proliferation.

Finally, the president must send the message to potential adversaries that, despite perceptions, the United States will not hesitate to respond with strategic weapons if attacked. The Nuclear Posture Review rightly focuses on denying al-Qaeda and their extremist allies from obtaining nuclear weapons, equipment, and technologies. However, the United States must remain committed to ensuring all options are on the table to respond to a rogue biological or chemical attack against the United States or our allies and partners.

Many people in the United States and across the globe have heaped praise upon the president for his pledge to seek a world without nuclear weapons. However, as French President Nicholas Sarkozy noted last fall, “We live in a real world, not a virtual one.” This is a point that the president’s administration acknowledges as well. America’s nuclear stockpile will continue to serve as a deterrent to potential adversaries—whether they are state or non-state actors—for years and decades to come.

U.S. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) serves as the senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee. McKeon represents California’s Twenty-Fifth Congressional District, which includes Fort Irwin, Edwards Air Force Base, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and the Marine Mountain Warfare Training Center.