By Jen DiMascio

Removing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld from the Pentagon has enabled Democrats to shift opinion about building a third ballistic missile defense site in Europe, a leading Democratic lawmaker said yesterday.

The administration was rushing ahead with construction of the missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic to protect against missiles coming from Iran, but the plan did not protect all of Europe and agreements about the site are still not ratified, Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the House Armed Services subcommittee that focuses on missile defense, told reporters.

Noting those factors along with growing discontent in Russia, Tauscher said that she advocates a “strategic pause” that would allow the U.S. to work with European countries on a plan that will protect the entire theater.

That is why the defense authorization bill currently in conference is likely to call for additional testing of the system along with a “trap door” that calls for a signed, ratified agreement with Poland and the Czech Republic before dollars can be spent, she said during a Defense Writers Group breakfast.

Tauscher is also pressing to “NATO-ize” the system for full theater protection. That means allowing the United States to provide long-range protection that is linked by command and control systems with European ballistic missile defenses that protect against short and medium-range threats. Russia should work with the United States in that effort, she said.

Tauscher said she was gratified by the recent defense appropriations conference report, approved yesterday by the House, which pulled $85 million in funding for construction at the Poland site.

Tauscher also confirmed that lawmakers have agreed to restore funding for the Boeing [BA] Airborne Laser Program (ABL).

That additional funding means a competition between ABL and the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI), made by Northrop Grumman [NOC] continues, because lawmakers felt they could defer a decision for another year, she said.

Both programs are part of the Missile Defense Agency’s effort to block missiles at all ranges. ABL focuses on early, boost-phase missiles; KEI targets missiles in the boost, ascent or mid-course phase of flight.