broad bipartisan support. . (5) The Foreign Minister of Japan, Taro Kono, said in a statement on February 3, 2018, Japan highly appreciates the latest NPR which clearly articulates the U.S. resolve to ensure the effectiveness of its deterrence and its commitment to providing extended deterrence to its allies including Japan, in light of the international security environment which has been rapidly worsened since the release of the previous 2010 NPR, in particular, by continued development of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. . (6) In testimony before the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate on April 30, 2018, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said, Modernizing the nation’s nuclear deterrent delivery systems and our nuclear command and control is the [Department of Defense’s] top priority. . (b) Sense of the Senate It is the sense of the Senate that— (1) the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review is a measured and appropriate response to the current security environment, taking into account the developments in other nuclear weapons states such as the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation and the return to great power competition as identified by two successive Secretaries of Defense and outlined in the 2018 National Defense Strategy