Barack Obama

Lugar-Obama Bill to Keep Weapons Out of Terrorists' Hands Heads to Senate Floor

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Obama Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, (202) 228-5511
Lugar Contact: Andy Fisher, andy_fisher@foreign.senate.gov, (202) 224-2079
Date: May 23, 2006

Lugar-Obama Bill to Keep Weapons Out of Terrorists' Hands Heads to Senate Floor
Bipartisan Effort Focuses on Antiaircraft Missiles, Stolen WMDs and Conventional Weapons used in Improvised Roadside Bombs

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee today passed out of committee, S. 2566, the Lugar-Obama Act. Modeled after the Nunn-Lugar program that focuses on weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union, the bill was introduced by Sens. Dick Lugar (R-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL) to expand the cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons.

Lugar-Obama would expand the detection and interdiction of weapons and materials of mass destruction.

A full list of the legislation, nominations and treaties passed out of committee and headed to the Senate floor is available at: http://lugar.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=255996.

"The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is the number one national security threat that confronts the United States today. Under Senator Lugar's leadership, the Nunn-Lugar program has safely disposed of literally thousands of weapons of mass destruction which, had they fallen into the wrong hands, could have been used against America with catastrophic results. The Lugar-Obama bill will build on this success by helping other nations find and eliminate conventional weapons that have been used against our own soldiers in Iraq and sought by terrorists all over the world," said Obama.

"We are convinced that the United States can and should do more to eliminate conventional weapons stockpiles and assist other nations in detecting and interdicting weapons of mass destruction. We believe that these functions are underfunded, fragmented and in need of high-level support," Lugar said.

"We are particularly concerned that our government has the capacity to deal quickly with vulnerable stockpiles of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, known as MANPADS. In recent years, concerns have grown that such weapons could be used by terrorists to attack commercial airliners, military installations, and government facilities here at home and abroad. Al Qaeda reportedly has attempted to acquire MANPADS on a number of occasions," said Lugar.

The first part of the Lugar-Obama legislation would energize the U.S. program against unsecured lightweight anti-aircraft missiles and other conventional weapons. There may be as many as 750,000 man-portable air defense systems in arsenals worldwide, and the State Department estimates that more than 40 civilian aircraft have been hit by such weapons since the 1970s. In addition, loose stocks of small arms and other weapons help fuel civil wars in Africa and elsewhere and provide the means for attacks on peacekeepers and aid workers seeking to stabilize war-torn societies. In Iraq, unsecured stockpiles of artillery shells and ammunition have been reconfigured into improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that have become the insurgents' most effective weapon.

The second part of Lugar-Obama would strengthen the ability of America's allies to detect and interdict illegal shipments of weapons and materials of mass destruction. U.S. security depends not just on the willingness of other nations to help; it depends on whether they have the capabilities to be effective. The State Department engages in several related anti-terrorism and export control assistance programs. But these programs are focused on other stages of the threat, not on detection and interdiction, and create a gap in our defenses that needs to be filled.

The Lugar-Obama bill would increase by $25 million funding available for the elimination of conventional weapons and MANPADS and by $50 million funding to assist countries in improving their ability to detect and interdict materials and weapons of mass destruction. This offers a potent but flexible tool to build a robust international network to stop proliferation.

Lugar and Obama traveled together to Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan in August to oversee a number of Nunn-Lugar projects. In Ukraine they saw a conventional weapons facility that is typical of the focus of the new legislation.

In 1991, Senator Lugar (R-IN) and former Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA) authored the Nunn-Lugar Act, which established the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. This program has provided U.S. funding and expertise to help the former Soviet Union safeguard and dismantle its enormous stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, related materials, and delivery systems. In 1997, Lugar and Nunn were joined by Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) in introducing the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act, which expanded Nunn-Lugar authorities in the former Soviet Union and provided WMD expertise to first responders in American cities. In 2003, Congress adopted the Nunn-Lugar Expansion Act, which authorized the Nunn-Lugar program to operate outside the former Soviet Union to address proliferation threats. In October 2004, Nunn-Lugar funds were used for the first time outside of the former Soviet Union to secure chemical weapons in Albania, under a Lugar-led expansion of the program.

The latest Nunn-Lugar Scorecard shows that the program has deactivated or destroyed: 6,828 nuclear warheads; 611 ICBMs; 485 ICBM silos; 55 ICBM mobile missile launchers; 152 bombers; 865 nuclear air-to-surface missiles; 436 submarine missile launchers; 563 submarine launched missiles; 29 nuclear submarines; and 194 nuclear test tunnels.

Beyond the scorecard's nuclear elimination, the Nunn-Lugar program secures and destroys chemical weapons, and works to reemploy scientists and facilities related to biological weapons in peaceful research initiatives. The International Science and Technology Centers, of which the United States is the leading sponsor, have engaged 58,000 former weapons scientists in peaceful work. The International Proliferation Prevention Program has funded 750 projects involving 14,000 former weapons scientists and created some 580 new peaceful high-tech jobs. Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan are nuclear weapons free as a result of cooperative efforts under the Nunn-Lugar program. They otherwise would be the world's the third, fourth and eighth largest nuclear weapons powers, respectively.

On the web:

Lugar-Obama: http://lugar.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=248096
Nunn-Lugar Program: http://lugar.senate.gov/nunnlugar/