The Daily Signal:
The U.S. House of Representatives recently took a first step to enact the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year 2017 into law. The bill is one of the major congressional vehicles to advance policies related to U.S. national security issues.
The NDAA advances several important nuclear weapons and missile defense policy positions. For example, the bill places limits on modernization of equipment of the Russian aircraft under the Open Skies Treaty unless certain conditions are met, including Russia permitting overflight over Moscow, Chechnya, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Kaliningrad without restriction and without inconsistency to requirements under the Open Skies Treaty.
Additionally, the NDAA calls for developing military options in response to the Russian violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and with some exceptions limits cooperation with Russia unless Russia ceases its occupation of Ukraine. These are good policies. The United States should not reward Russia’s belligerent international behavior
