[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 58 (Thursday, May 9, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S4140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           NUCLEAR AND TERRORISM THREAT REDUCTION ACT OF 2002

  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce this 
week, with Senator Mary Landrieu, the Nuclear and Terrorism Threat 
Reduction Act of 2002 NTTRA. The NTTRA addresses one of the most 
serious security challenges facing the United States today: the 
possibility that a portion of the Russian nuclear weapons arsenal and 
other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) will fall into the hands of 
terrorists or terrorist states.
  Over a decade after the end of the cold war, Russian still possesses 
about 95 percent of the world's nuclear weapons and materials outside 
of the United States. These weapons and materials are stored in over 
400 locations across Russia and many are not fully secure. To 
understand the need to help the Russians on this front, one fact bears 
noting: Each year, the Russians spend approximately 2 percent of the 
amount that we spend to operate and secure our nuclear weapons arsenal.
  The members of this body know that addressing this challenge is not a 
partisan issue. It is an issue of deep concern to all Americans. Early 
last year, a bipartisan task force led by former Sentate majority 
leader and current U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Howard Baker, and former 
White House Counsel Lloyd Cutler reached three primary conclusions: 
First, the most urgent unmet national security threat to the United 
States today is the danger that weapons of mass destruction or weapons-
usable material in Russia can be stolen and sold to terrorists or 
hostile nation States and used against American troops abroad or 
citizens at home; second, current nonproliferation programs in the 
Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and related agencies have 
achieved impressive results thus far, but their limited mandate and 
funding fall short of what is required to address adequately the 
threat; and third, the President and the leaders of the 107th Congress 
face the urgent national security challenge of devising an enhanced 
response proportionate to the threat.
  It bears repeating that these conclusions were reached months in 
advance of the September 11 attacks. This legislation will address each 
of the Baker-Cutler Task Force conclusions.
  The Bush administration has devoted considerable time and effort to 
increase cooperation between the United States and Russia on these 
matters, as exemplified by U.S.-Russia cooperation in the war against 
terrorism, the Bush-Putin summit in November 2001, and the May 2002 
U.S.-Russia summit in Russia. Also, late last year, the administration 
completed a thorough review of U.S. efforts to help Russia secure its 
nuclear and other WMD arsenal. The review concluded that, ``most U.S. 
programs to assist Russia in threat reduction and nonproliferation work 
well, are focused on priority tasks, and are well managed.'' At the 
time, the White House also noted: ``The President has made clear 
repeatedly that his administration is committed to strong, 
effective cooperation with Russia and the other states of the Former 
Soviet Union to reduce weapons of mass destruction and prevent their 
proliferation.'' The President wisely realizes that only through 
greater cooperation with Russia can we deal effectively with this 
problem. The NTTRA supports the President's desire to strengthen U.S.-
Russia cooperative efforts.

  Senator Landrieu and I are carrying on the tradition of Senators like 
Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar, who along with other of our colleagues were 
responsible for the U.S. effort to help the Russians secure, account 
for, and, where possible, dispose of their nuclear weapons and other 
WMD. The United States must make every effort to defeat global 
terrorism. One of the most important actions we can take is to deny 
terrorists the means to kill tens of thousands, if not hundreds of 
thousands, of people.
  The NTTRA will address this serious national security challenge in 
the following ways:
  First, the NTTRA states that it is the policy of the United States to 
work cooperatively with the Russian Federation in order to prevent the 
diversion of weapons of mass destruction and material, including 
nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, as well as scientific and 
technical expertise necessary to design and build weapons of mass 
destruction. As I noted earlier, the administration's recent review of 
U.S.-Russia programs concluded: ``most U.S. programs to assist Russia 
in threat reduction and nonproliferation work well, are focused on 
priority tasks, and are well managed.'' The NTTRA proposals complement 
the increases and proposed organizational changes that the Bush 
administration has proposed for these programs.
  The NTTRA also calls for the President to deliver to Congress, no 
later than 6 months after the enactment of the NTTRA, a series of 
recommendations on how to enhance the implementation of U.S.-Russia 
non-proliferation and threat reduction programs, including suggestions 
on how to improve and streamline the contracting and procurement 
practices of these programs and a list of impediments to the efficient 
and effective implementation of these programs.
  Second, this bill addresses the shortcomings in the Russian system in 
accounting for nuclear warheads and weapons-grade material: The NTTRA 
states that it is the policy of the United States to establish with 
Russia comprehensive inventories and data exchanges of Russian and U.S. 
weapons-grade material and assembled warheads with particular attention 
to tactical, or ``non-strategic,'' warheads--one of the most likely 
weapons a terrorist organization or state would attempt to acquire--and 
weapons which have been removed from deployment. Only through such an 
accounting system will we be able to reliably say that Russian warheads 
and materials are sufficiently secure.
  Third, the NTTRA calls for the establishment of a joint U.S.-Russia 
Commission on the Transition from Mutually Assured Destruction to 
Mutually Assured Security. The U.S. side of the Commission would be 
composed of private citizens who are experts in the field of U.S.-
Russia strategic stability. The NTTRA also calls upon the President 
to make every effort to encourage the Russian Government to establish a 
complementary Commission that would jointly meet and discuss how to 
preserve strategic stability during this time of rapid and positive 
change in the U.S.-Russia relationship.

  The United States and Russia have made great strides to reshape our 
countries' relationship since the end of the cold war. I am encouraged 
by the work of President Bush and President Putin regarding the 
reduction of U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals and I have been pleased 
to see Russia's understanding and support of our war on terrorism. I 
hope that this bill will support our countries' working relationship by 
encouraging further movement towards arms reductions and helping build 
trust and expand dialogue and cooperation between our nations. This 
relationship is critical to protecting both Russia and the United 
States from nuclear terrorism.
  I call upon the members of this body to join Senator Landrieu and me 
as we work against nuclear terrorism by supporting the Nuclear and 
Terrorism Threat Reduction Act of 2002.

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