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MORE
INFORMATION ABOUT
S.313 to strengthen U.S. nonproliferation efforts
Introduced by Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), cosponsored
by 5 Republicans and 4 Democrats and supported
by the Administration
From
Sen. Lugar’s speech to the Senate when
he introduced the bill:
"This
bill represents the fourth installment of Nunn-Lugar
legislation that I have offered since 1991.
In that year, Sen. Sam Nunn and I authored the
Nunn-Lugar Act, which established the Cooperative
Threat Reduction Program. That program has provided
U.S. funding and expertise to help the former
Soviet Union safeguard and dismantle their enormous
stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons, means of delivery and related materials.
"The
bill that I am introducing today would strengthen
the Nunn-Lugar program and provide it with greater
flexibility to address emerging threats.
To
date, the Nunn-Lugar program has deactivated
or destroyed: 6,564 nuclear warheads; 568 ICBMs;
477 ICBM silos; 17 ICBM mobile missile launchers;
142 bombers; 761 nuclear air-to-surface missiles;
420 submarine missile launchers; 543 submarine
launched missiles; 28 nuclear submarines; and
194 nuclear test tunnels.
Nunn-Lugar
is the primary tool through which the United
States is working with Russian authorities to
identify, safeguard and destroy Russia's massive
chemical and biological warfare capacity…These
successes were never a foregone conclusion.
Today, even after more than 12 years, creativity
and constant vigilance are required to ensure
that the Nunn-Lugar program is not encumbered
by bureaucratic obstacles or undercut by political
disagreements.
In
our own country, opposition often has been motivated
by false perceptions that Nunn-Lugar money is
foreign assistance or by beliefs that Defense
Department funds should only be spent on troops,
weapons, or other war-fighting capabilities.
Until recently, we also faced a general disinterest
in non-proliferation that made gaining support
for Nunn-Lugar funding and activities an annual
struggle.
The
attacks of September 11 changed the political
discourse on this subject. We have turned a
corner--the public, the media, and political
candidates are paying more attention now. In
a remarkable moment in the first presidential
debate last year, both President Bush and his
opponent agreed that the number one national
security threat facing the United States was
the prospect that weapons of mass destruction
would fall into the hands of terrorists.
While
the Administration has noted its support for
this bill, the 9/11 Commission also weighed
in last year with another important endorsement
of the Nunn-Lugar program, saying that ``Preventing
the proliferation of [weapons of mass destruction]
warrants a maximum effort--by strengthening
counter-proliferation efforts, expanding the
Proliferation Security Initiative, and supporting
the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program.''
The Report went on to say that "Nunn-Lugar
..... is now in need of expansion, improvement
and resources.''
My
bill would underscore the bipartisan consensus
on Nunn-Lugar by streamlining and accelerating
Nunn-Lugar implementation. It would grant more
flexibility to the President and the Secretary
of Defense to undertake proliferation projects
outside the former Soviet Union. It also would
eliminate Congressionally-imposed conditions
on Nunn-Lugar assistance that in the past have
forced the suspension of time-sensitive nonproliferation
projects. The purpose of the bill is to reduce
bureaucratic red tape and friction within our
government that hinder effective responses to
nonproliferation opportunities and emergencies.
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