“Our nation needs an open dialogue about government spending, especially on U.S. military programs that damage our national security by ballooning the national debt,” writes Lt. General Robert Gard & Board member, Brig. General John Johns, for Roll Call.

“Senator Menendez and his colleagues should rethink this very bad idea and come back from their holiday break with this bomb defused,” writes Council Board member Col. Richard Klass and Lt. General Robert Gard for The Huffington Post.

“I’m honored to have the endorsement of PeacePAC, an organization that believes in solutions to address our nation’s security threats with direct diplomacy and international pressure,� Strouse responded. “The people of Pennsylvania deserve an advocate in Washington that will stand up and seek solutions over division.�

But these new designs violate “the spirit if not the letter of the administration’s pledge to not develop new nuclear weapons,” Philip Coyle, UCS report co-author and former Pentagon head of weapons testing, argued in a statement. “It sends the wrong message to the rest of the world.”

Event chairman Terry Lierman said in a news release: “It is a pleasure to give this well-deserved award to Senator Harkin for his nearly four decades of work advocating for human rights in the U.S. Congress. Senator Harkin has been a tireless advocate and his retirement next year will leave a significant void in the halls of the Capitol.�