BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), after the Senate’s passage of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act by a vote of 82-15, applauded language benefitting Minot Air Force Base, which plays a historic and critical role in the defense of our nation, as it is the only base to house two out of three legs of the nuclear triad. Senator Cramer voted in favor of the legislation.

“It’s always a great day to see progress on North Dakota projects I’ve championed. The number one priority of our national defense strategy is nuclear modernization, and this bill requires reporting and updating on projects at Minot Air Force Base like future weapons generation facilities and security upgrades,” said Senator Cramer. “The bill contains complementary language to the NDAA I helped authorize earlier this year, and it’s proof of the good things we can secure for our state and national security when our delegation works together.”

The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 affects Minot Air Force Base through language in the accompanying Senate Report, directing the Air Force to:

  • Provide Congress with status updates on future weapons generation facilities and accelerate the facilities wherever possible.
  • Prioritize plans to upgrade security gates at Global Strike Command bases, which could include Minot Air Force Base.

This appropriations report language is complementary to language in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which Senator Cramer helped pass in his role on the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC). The NDAA language calls for decreasing the time to upload additional warheads to the intercontinental ballistic missile fleet for bases including Minot AFB.