Whereas the national security of the United States is
enhanced by reducing the role and numbers of nuclear weapons and other weapons
of mass destruction;
Whereas in Prague, Czech Republic, on April 13, 2009, the
United States called for a new international effort to secure all vulnerable
nuclear materials around the world in four years and proposed a comprehensive
agenda to reduce the global nuclear arsenal and stop the spread of nuclear
weapons to achieve the ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons;
Whereas the United Nations Security Council unanimously
passed Resolution 1887 endorsing this comprehensive agenda, including the goal
of securing all nuclear materials;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1887
reaffirmed that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and their
means of delivery, constitutes a threat to international peace and
security;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1887
called for further progress on all aspects of disarmament to enhance global
security;
Whereas President Barack Obama stated in his opening
remarks to the Plenary Session of the April 2010 Nuclear Security Summit in
Washington, DC, “Two decades after the end of the Cold War, we face a cruel
irony of history—the risk of a nuclear confrontation between nations has gone
down, but the risk of nuclear attack has gone up”;
Whereas Russia and the United States possess 95 percent of
the world’s nuclear warheads and enhancing their own security and demonstrating
their commitment to reducing nuclear weapons globally is a key element of
strengthening the global stand against Iran and other proliferators;
Whereas the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty cuts the
deployed weapons limits of Russian and United States nuclear weapons by 30
percent;
Whereas the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty relies on
human resources educated and trained in the policy and practice of
nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction;
Whereas a trained, educated, capable cadre of academics
and practitioners are necessary to reduce the risk of the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction and improve the global capacity to eliminate
nuclear weapons;
Whereas Dr. William Potter established the James Martin
Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International
Studies in 1989 with a handful of Institute students and today has over 50
graduate student research assistants and a full-time staff of more than 40
specialists located in offices in Monterey, Washington, DC, and Almaty,
Kazakhstan;
Whereas since its founding, the James Martin Center for
Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies has
worked to reduce the threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction and to educate and build communities of nonproliferation
specialists worldwide;
Whereas the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation
Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies strives to combat
the spread of weapons of mass destruction by training the next generation of
nonproliferation specialists and disseminating timely information and
analysis;
Whereas the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation
Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies is the largest
nongovernmental organization in the United States devoted exclusively to
research and training on nonproliferation issues;
Whereas the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation
Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies publishes the highly
influential refereed journal, The Nonproliferation Review
,
concerned with the causes, consequences, and control of the spread of nuclear,
chemical, biological, and conventional weapons;
Whereas, on May 6, 2010, Deputy Director Leonard S.
Spector of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey
Institute of International Studies testified before the House Subcommittee on
Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade in a hearing entitled “The Future of U.S.
International Nuclear Cooperation”;
Whereas for two decades, published reports, analyses, and
public testimony from the specialists at the James Martin Center for
Nonproliferation Studies have informed nonproliferation policy as well as
broader United States foreign policymaking; and
Whereas the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation
Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies consists of
interrelated activities organized to address five major areas of concern to
nonproliferation, including the Chemical and Biological Weapons
Nonproliferation Program, the East Asia Nonproliferation Program, the Education
Program, the International Organizations and Nonproliferation Program, and the
Newly Independent States Nonproliferation Program: Now, therefore, be it
That the House of
Representatives—
(1)recognizes the contribution made by the
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of
International Studies to combat the spread of weapons of mass destruction by
training the next generation of nonproliferation specialists and disseminating
timely information and analysis; and
(2)commends the James
Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of
International Studies on its 20th anniversary.