Center Chairman Lt. Gen. Robert Gard has an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun today on the recent House cuts to vital nuclear material security programs. Here’s an excerpt:
In a time of great political gridlock, there is at least one issue that both parties still agree on — the urgency to confront and reduce the threat posed by terrorist groups that are actively seeking nuclear weapons.
But Congress reduced the fiscal 2011 funding for nonproliferation efforts by the significant amount of $369 million, and more recently the House slashed an additional $428 million from the president’s fiscal 2012 budget request for the nonproliferation account, including $85 million for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative.
Now it is up to the Senate to reverse these cuts.
Fortunately, the Senate appears to have listened, as it is poised to reverse the cuts.
