Press Release of Senator Lugar We must take every measure to address WMD threats, Lugar says Tuesday, December 2, 2008 A new report released today calls for implementing many of the recommendations made by U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar.   “We must take every measure possible in addressing threats posed by weapons of mass destruction. We must eliminate those conditions that restrict or delay our ability to act. The United States has the technical expertise and diplomatic standing to dramatically benefit international security. American leaders must ensure that we have the political will and resources to implement programs devoted to these ends,” Lugar said.   Lugar testified to the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism in July. The congressionally chartered panel was chaired by former Sens. Bob Graham (D-FL) and Jim Talent (R-MO).  The full report, WORLD AT RISK: The Report of the Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism is available at: www.lugar.senate.gov/nunnlugar.   Among recommendations from Lugar included in the report are:   ·             that the White House have a coordinator for WMD nonproliferation programs. ·             enhancing the U.S. partnership with Pakistan such as the Biden-Lugar bill S. 3263 ·             increase funding for the Nunn-Lugar program to confront biological weapons. In February 2005, Lugar requested an increase of $100 millions for the 2006 budget. The Congress granted $80 million. ·             dedicating resources to a nuclear fuel bank. This was part of the Lugar-Bayh Nuclear Safeguards and Supply Act, S. 1138. ·             extending the START Treaty, which is set to expire in 2009. ·             continuing the Nunn-Lugar work at the Luch Scientific Production facility in Podolsk, Russia. The facility is preventing theft or diversion of weapons-usable nuclear materials from Russia. Lugar visited the Luch in 2007 (pdf).   In 2005, Lugar surveyed 85 experts (pdf) who predicted that the world would face a 29 percent chance of a nuclear attack and the prospect of four new nations being added to the nuclear weapons club in the next 10 years. Over the same period, the experts rated the risks of a major chemical or biological attack as both greater than 30 percent, while the prospects of a dirty bomb attack were pegged at 40 percent. In November 1991, Lugar (R-IN) and former Sen. 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. On January 30, 2008, Senator Lugar delivered a speech at a Defense Threat Reduction Agency conference, saying arms control has suffered significant setbacks. "The United States lacks even minimal confidence about many foreign weapons programs. In most cases, there is little or no information regarding the number of weapons or amounts of materials a country may have produced, the storage procedures they employ to safeguard their weapons, or plans regarding further production or destruction programs. We must pay much more attention to making certain that all weapons and materials of mass destruction are identified, continuously guarded, and systematically destroyed," Lugar said in the speech. The Nunn-Lugar scorecard now totals 7,298 strategic nuclear warheads deactivated, 728 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) destroyed, 496 ICBM silos eliminated, 137 ICBM mobile launchers destroyed, 631 submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) eliminated, 456 SLBM launchers eliminated, 31 nuclear submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles destroyed, 155 bomber eliminated, 906 nuclear air-to-surface missiles (ASMs) destroyed, 194 nuclear test tunnels eliminated, 411 nuclear weapons transport train shipments secured, upgraded security at 18 nuclear weapons storage sites, and built and equipped 16 biological monitoring stations.  Perhaps most importantly, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus are nuclear weapons free as a result of cooperative efforts under the Nunn-Lugar program. Those countries were the third, fourth and eighth largest nuclear weapons powers in the world.   Beyond nuclear, chemical and biological elimination, the Nunn-Lugar program has worked to reemploy scientists and facilities related to weapons of mass destruction in peaceful research initiatives. The International Science and Technology Centers, of which the United States is the leading sponsor, 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.   Lugar makes annual oversight trips to Nunn-Lugar sites in the former Soviet Union and Albania.   On the web: The Nunn-Lugar program: http://lugar.senate.gov/nunnlugar/ The Nunn-Lugar scorecard: http://lugar.senate.gov/nunnlugar/scorecard.html   ###