[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 154 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 154


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 2, 2008

      Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress that the fatal radiation poisoning of 
 Russian dissident and writer Alexander Litvinenko raises significant 
  concerns about the potential involvement of elements of the Russian 
    Government in Mr. Litvinenko's death and about the security and 
                proliferation of radioactive materials.

Whereas Russian dissident and writer Alexander Litvinenko, a citizen and 
        resident of Great Britain, suddenly fell ill on November 1, 2006, and 
        died three weeks later in a London hospital;
Whereas British health officials concluded, following an autopsy, that Mr. 
        Litvinenko died of radiation poisoning caused by ingestion of the 
        radioactive

              

 element polonium-210, and British law enforcement officials have announced 
that they are treating Mr. Litvinenko's death as a murder;

Whereas polonium-210, according to the Health Physics Society, radiates alpha 
        particles that cannot penetrate paper or human skin but, if ingested 
        through eating, drinking, or breathing, are extremely toxic, with the 
        ability to destroy cells, damage vital organs such as the liver, 
        kidneys, and bone marrow, cause cancer, and result in human death;
Whereas according to the Health Physics Society, just one millionth of a gram of 
        polonium-210 can be fatal, an amount invisible to the naked eye;
Whereas 97 percent of the world's legal production of polonium-210 occurs at the 
        Avangard nuclear facility in Russia, and Russia is the world's leading 
        exporter of polonium-210 for commercial purposes;
Whereas polonium-210 is presently neither produced in nor commercially exported 
        to Great Britain;
Whereas polonium-210, being especially dangerous to public health and safety if 
        improperly handled, may attract the attention of terrorists because it 
        can be easily and safely concealed and transported and is not usually 
        detectable by radiation detectors;
Whereas this instance of poisoning by use of polonium-210 could serve as a model 
        for future use of the radioactive element to assassinate individuals, 
        poison and kill large numbers of people, or spread general panic and 
        hysteria amongst the public;
Whereas Mr. Litvinenko was a former agent and official in the Federal Security 
        Service of the Russian Federation during the period when present Russian 
        President Vladimir Putin ran that agency;
Whereas in 1998 Mr. Litvinenko was fired from the Federal Security Service and 
        subsequently arrested and briefly incarcerated without conviction for a 
        criminal act after publicly accusing high-level officials of the Federal 
        Security Service of crimes that included plotting assassination 
        attempts;
Whereas Mr. Litvinenko fled Russia and successfully sought asylum in Great 
        Britain, becoming a naturalized British citizen in October 2006;
Whereas Mr. Litvinenko, after arriving in Britain, repeatedly accused the 
        Federal Security Service and many of its officers, including now-
        President Putin, of involvement in organized crime, assassinations, and 
        other illegal activity;
Whereas on November 1, 2006, before falling ill, Mr. Litvinenko reportedly met 
        with three citizens of Russia, including former Federal Security Service 
        agent Andrei Lugovoi;
Whereas the manner in which the polonium-210 was obtained, transported, and used 
        must be fully investigated and revealed in order to reveal any defects 
        or inadequacies in the present safeguard regime for that substance 
        administered by the Russian Government and in order to prevent the 
        unlawful, criminal, or terrorist acquisition or use of polonium-210 in 
        the future;
Whereas the danger posed by polonium-210, as displayed by the discovery, 
        subsequent to Mr. Litvinenko's death, of numerous cases of its exposure 
        to objects and persons who had contact with Mr. Litvinenko and his meal 
        companions, demonstrates the threat that the proliferation and use of 
        polonium-210 poses to the lives of innocents worldwide, as well as to 
        international security;
Whereas on July 15, 2006, the United States and Russia jointly announced the 
        Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, which ``will enhance 
        cooperation ... to combat the global threat of nuclear terrorism ... 
        [including] determined and systematic efforts to improve accounting, 
        control, and physical protection of nuclear material and radioactive 
        substances, as well as security of nuclear facilities; [and] detect and 
        suppress illicit trafficking or other illicit activities involving such 
        materials, especially measures to prevent their acquisition and use by 
        terrorists'';
Whereas Mr. Lugovoi has won immunity from prosecution as a member of the Russian 
        Duma in December 2007 elections allegedly influenced by government 
        electoral manipulation, which provides credence to claims that he has 
        enjoyed official support in obtaining that office and its associated 
        immunity; and
Whereas the British investigation into Mr. Litvinenko's murder continues in an 
        atmosphere of deteriorating relations between the United Kingdom and the 
        Russian Federation due, in part, to a lack of agreement on the further 
        pursuit of that investigation: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the fatal radiation poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko 
        raises significant concerns about the potential involvement of 
        elements of the Russian Government in Mr. Litvinenko's death, 
        and about the security and proliferation of radioactive 
        materials;
            (2) the use of such radioactive materials in such cases 
        demonstrates a threat to the safety and security of the people 
        of the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, the United 
        States, and other countries; and
            (3) the President of the United States and the Secretary of 
        State should urge Russian President Vladimir Putin and other 
        officials of the Russian Government to cooperate fully with the 
        British Government in its investigation into Mr. Litvinenko's 
        death and to ensure the security of the production, storage, 
        distribution, and export of polonium-210 as a material that may 
        become dangerous to large numbers of people if utilized by 
        terrorists.

            Passed the House of Representatives April 1, 2008.

            Attest:

                                            LORRAINE C. MILLER,

                                                                 Clerk.