East Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers (R) has announced that he will continue in 2015 as Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Strategic Forces subcommittee.

Rogers says as Chairman he plans to keep up the pressure on foreign leaders like Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, who continues his aggressive push into European territory like Crimea and Ukraine, including illegally seizing the territory of Crimea. Rogers said the panel’s work is critical for keeping the nation’s defenses strong in a dangerous world.

“I am honored to be continuing my work as Chairman of this subcommittee and plan to make sure we have the strategic capabilities in place and available to provide for our national security and that of our allies. It is Congress’ responsibility under our Constitution to provide for the armed forces, and I intend to see that ours remain the best trained and equipped in the world,” Rogers said.

The Strategic Forces subcommittee has jurisdiction over the nation’s nuclear weapons and missile defense and space programs, as well as Department of Energy national security programs.

As the panel’s Chairman, Rogers says he has been the leading advocate in the House for the nation’s nuclear forces.  Many of these space and missile programs, so critical to our national defense, are important elements to Alabama’s defense based economy.  In addition, Rogers has been a strong critic of Russia’s violations with the INF Treaty and will continue to press on this issue in the next Congress.

He has also been leading efforts to introduce public-private partnerships in areas such as commercial satellite communications acquisitions, which could achieve significant cost-savings for the Department of Defense and the U.S. taxpayer.