Increase Funding for Nonproliferation Efforts, Experts Urge
Nov 15, 2001
LETTER TO CONGRESS CITES TERRORIST THREAT AS REASON FOR MORE NONPROLIFERATION MONEY
Press Release - 9 October 2001 Contact: Steve LaMontagne - 202.543.4100 ×100
In the wake of the 11 September World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, Congress should dramatically increase funding for programs that secure and eliminate Russia’s massive stockpiles of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons-usable materials so that these materials do not fall into the hands of terrorists, according to a letter signed by prominent arms control experts.
“Our cooperative security relationship with Russia is an essential component of the war against terrorism,” the letter states.
The letter, signed by Matthew Bunn of Harvard, Frank N. von Hippel of Princeton, Ken Luongo, former Director of the Office of Arms Control and Nonproliferation at the Department of Energy, John Isaacs of Council for a Livable World, and Steve LaMontagne of Center for Arms Control & Non-Proliferation, echoes the recommendations of a January 2001 task force led by former Senator Howard Baker (R-TN) and former White House counsel Lloyd Cutler.
The Baker/Cutler task force called on the U.S. to develop and implement a $30 billion strategic plan “to secure and or neutralize in the next eight to ten years all nuclear weapons-usable material located in Russia and to prevent the outflow from Russia of scientific expertise that could be used for nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction.”
“In the wake of the tragic attacks that took place on September 11, 2001, the Baker/Cutler recommendations deserve special attention,” the letter claims. “We are writing to urge you to allocate a portion of the current $40 billion supplemental and any additional supplemental budget request to increase substantially U.S. funding for nonproliferation efforts.”
Contrary to his campaign promise to ask Congress to “increase substantially” U.S. assistance to nonproliferation programs in Russia, President Bush’s fiscal 2002 budget request slashed approximately $100 million from Department of Energy nonproliferation programs and nearly $40 million from the Defense Department’s Cooperative Threat Reduction (Nunn-Lugar) program.
“We must work in close partnership with Russia to accelerate and expand cooperative security efforts, to bolster them with high level coordination and leadership, and to fund them at a level that enable their urgent mission to be fulfilled.” the letter concludes.
Copies of the letter are available upon request.
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