[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 14888-14890]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     ADDRESS BY SENATOR RICHARD LUGAR AT NUCLEAR DANGERS SYMPOSIUM

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA

                           of american samoa

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 18, 2006

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, in reference to H. Res. 905, I submit 
an address by Senator Richard Lugar, Chairman of the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee, presented on December 16, 2003 at a symposium 
entitled Kazakhstan: Reducing Nuclear Dangers, Increasing Global 
Security.

 Symposium Keynote Address by Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), Chairman, 
                   Senate Foreign Relations Committee

       It is a pleasure to be here today to celebrate the decision 
     made by Kazakhstan to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation 
     Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear state. A little more than a 
     decade ago, when the Soviet Union collapsed, Kazakhstan 
     became the fourth largest nuclear power in the world. But 
     instead of enlarging the nuclear club, Kazakhstan joined 
     Ukraine and Belarus in turning away from weapons of mass 
     destruction. Courageous leaders chose instead to embrace the 
     NPT and the arms control process in eliminating offensive 
     nuclear, chemical and biological arms from Kazakhstan.
       The world cheered when Kazakhstan became a non-nuclear 
     state in November 1996. I am proud of the role the United 
     States played in Kazakhstan's decision and of our role in 
     facilitating the removal of thousands of nuclear warheads and 
     the elimination of hundreds of SS-18 intercontinental 
     ballistic missiles, silos, and command centers. The addition 
     of three more nuclear weapons states would have been a 
     devastating setback to the reduction of offensive nuclear 
     arms around the world.


                         historic significance

       Kazakhstan's wise and brave choice stands in stark contrast 
     to events in India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Iran. In 1998, 
     the world was shocked by the testing of nuclear weapons in 
     India and Pakistan. In January of this year, the 
     international arms control process was again shaken by the 
     departure of North Korea from the NPT. Last month, the world 
     watched closely as the IAEA deliberated over Iran's numerous 
     NPT violations amid Tehran's threats of withdrawal should the 
     body seek to enforce the treaty's provisions.
       With these events in mind, the world should be especially 
     appreciative of the course selected by Kazakhstan. Leaders in 
     Almaty faced the same choices as their counterparts in New 
     Delhi, Islamabad, Pyongyang, and Tehran. But instead of 
     violating international norms and pursuing nuclear weapons, 
     Kazakh leaders made the right choice. When searching for 
     success stories, the international community should turn to 
     Kazakhstan.

[[Page 14889]]

       The presence of dangerous weaponry in the states of the 
     former Soviet Union was not a problem that the U.S. 
     Government was prepared to deal with in 1991. Most decision-
     makers in Washington were highly skeptical of assisting the 
     newly independent states in eliminating their inherited 
     arsenals. In fact, many were opposed to committing funds to 
     any program that seemed to benefit the former Soviet Union. 
     The atmosphere was decidedly hostile to initiatives that 
     focused on foreign problems. Americans were weary of the Cold 
     War and the Gulf War. Both Congress and aspirants in the 1992 
     Presidential election had decided that attention to foreign 
     concerns was politically a lowered priority.
       In this atmosphere, Senator Nunn and I proposed legislation 
     to commit a portion of Defense Department resources each year 
     to the cooperative dismantlement of the old Soviet arsenal. 
     The House of Representatives had previously rejected a plan 
     to commit one billion dollars to addressing the problems of 
     the former Soviet Union. That outcome did not give Senator 
     Nunn and me much of a springboard for our initiative. Yet we 
     brought together a bipartisan nucleus of Senators who saw the 
     problem as we did. Remarkably, the Nunn-Lugar Program was 
     passed in the Senate by a vote of 86 to 8. It went on to gain 
     approval in the House and was signed into law by President 
     George H.W. Bush.
       Many believed that the Nunn-Lugar Program would be a 
     relatively simple affair wherein weapons would be quickly 
     safeguarded and destroyed. But these efforts were far more 
     complex than most expected. It wasn't until Sam Nunn and I 
     took high-ranking Bush Administration officials with us on a 
     trip to the former Soviet Union that executive branch 
     implementation was accelerated and a strong commitment was 
     established.
       At a cost of less than two-tenths of one percent of the 
     annual U.S. defense budget, the Nunn-Lugar Program has 
     facilitated the destruction of 520 ballistic missiles, 451 
     ballistic missile launchers, 7 mobile missile launchers, 122 
     bombers, 624 long-range nuclear air-launched cruise missiles, 
     408 submarine missile launchers, 445 submarine launched 
     ballistic missiles, and 27 strategic missile submarines. It 
     also has sealed 194 nuclear test tunnels. Most notably, 6,212 
     warheads that were on strategic systems aimed at the United 
     States have been deactivated. To put this into perspective, 
     Nunn-Lugar has dismantled more nuclear weaponry than the 
     countries of Great Britain, France, and China currently 
     possess in their stockpiles and arsenals combined.
       Nunn-Lugar also has undertaken previously-classified 
     emergency missions in cooperation with the government of 
     Kazakhstan to thwart proliferation. Project Sapphire is the 
     best known. In the pre-dawn hours of November 20, 1994, as 
     winter descended upon northeastern Kazakhstan, experts from 
     the Departments of Defense and Energy took possession of 
     enough highly enriched uranium to make between 20 and 30 
     nuclear weapons. Two U.S. C-5 cargo planes then flew 20 hours 
     with five mid-air refuelings, to deliver the material safely 
     to the United States and prevent it from falling into the 
     hands of rogue states or terrorist cells.
       Nunn-Lugar also assisted Kazakhstan in eliminating the 
     former Soviet nuclear weapons testing complex. The Degelen 
     Mountain Test Tunnel Complex and Balapan were the sites of 
     hundreds of nuclear weapons tests throughout the Cold War. In 
     close cooperation with Kazakh partners, the Nunn-Lugar 
     Program systematically dismantled the complex and sealed 
     nearly 200 nuclear test tunnels and shafts. These facilities 
     will never again contribute to the weapons systems that 
     threatened the world during the Cold War.
       More recently, the Nunn-Lugar Program concluded an 
     agreement with Kazakhstan to raze to the ground the world's 
     largest anthrax production and weaponization facility. 
     Stepnogorsk, built by the Soviet Union during the height of 
     the Cold War, will be completely eliminated and 
     decontaminated.
       The Nunn-Lugar Program has already eliminated or dismantled 
     equipment necessary for the production of biological weapons. 
     But now we will take the additional step of razing the 
     weapons-related buildings to the ground. Currently, American 
     contractors are removing windows, non-load bearing walls, and 
     other debris and disposing of it prior to the commencement of 
     demolition. Each building will be contained and eliminated in 
     a secure and ecologically safe manner.


                       RECENT TRIP TO KAZAKHSTAN

       This past summer, I had the opportunity to visit Almaty. 
     During that visit, I toured Nunn-lugar projects and visited 
     with Kazakh leaders about future opportunities for 
     cooperative threat reduction.
       I toured the Kazakh Science Center for Quarantine and 
     Zoonotic Diseases, a biological research facility located in 
     one of the city's residential neighborhoods. The Center has 
     135 staff members and 50 years of experience in the 
     identification, handling, control and treatment of dangerous, 
     naturally occurring microbes that cause anthrax, tularemia, 
     plague, and brucellosis.
       The facility is working on treatments for Tuberculosis, 
     plague, and other dangerous diseases, not only for 
     Kazakhstan, but for all mankind. We are creating cures arid 
     helping people throughout the world. The Nunn-Lugar Program 
     has worked to improve the security surrounding the facility, 
     installed alarm and accounting systems, and improved the 
     protection and control in storage areas. Today the facility 
     is working closely with experts here in the United States and 
     elsewhere to address mutual threats from dangerous diseases 
     and pathogens.
       I also had good discussions with Kazakh leaders on plans to 
     dismantle a former nuclear weapons storage bunker at 
     Semipalatinsk so that terrorists or rogue nations will not 
     have the opportunity to study and duplicate its design. Let 
     me be clear, this facility does not represent a Kazakh 
     violation of international commitments. Instead, the concern 
     was that the facility would provide would-be terrorists with 
     valuable intelligence and insight into the design of such 
     facilities. I am pleased to announce that the U.S. and 
     Kazakhstan have agreed to eliminate this dangerous facility 
     and the potential threat it poses to the security of 
     operational Soviet-designed storage facilities elsewhere.


                          NUNN-LUGAR EXPANSION

       This year Congress took important steps in the Fiscal Year 
     2004 Defense Authorization Conference Report to continue the 
     Nunn-Lugar Program's important work. I commend Senate Armed 
     Services Committee Chairman, John Warner, and Ranking Member, 
     Carl Levin, for a bill that fully funds the Bush 
     Administration's request for nonproliferation and 
     dismantlement projects and expands the President's authority 
     to confront the threat posed by proliferation.
       The outcome was far from certain when the Senate and House 
     passed divergent bills with respect to the Nunn-Lugar 
     Program. The Senate bill included a provision that I had 
     authored, known as ``The Nunn-Lugar Expansion Act.'' This 
     provision gives the President the authority to use the Nunn-
     Lugar Program beyond the former Soviet Union to address 
     proliferation emergencies. Unfortunately, the House took a 
     different approach, denying the Administration the ability to 
     use Nunn-Lugar worldwide. In the end, however, the House and 
     Senate conferees arrived at a compromise that will permit 
     Nunn-Lugar to continue its important work and, where needed, 
     to expand the winning strategy beyond the borders of the 
     former Soviet Union. The bill permits President Bush to use 
     up to $50 million of unobligated Nunn-Lugar funds for 
     proliferation emergencies outside the former Soviet Union. I 
     worked closely with the Administration on this important 
     issue and received the strong support of Dr. Condoleezza Rice 
     and Secretary of State Colin Powell. Most importantly, I have 
     spoken to the President on more than one occasion about 
     Cooperative Threat Reduction. The program as well as our new 
     initiatives has his full and strong support.
       The continuing experience of Nunn-Lugar has created a 
     tremendous nonproliferation asset for the United States. We 
     have an impressive cadre of talented scientists, technicians, 
     negotiators, and managers working for the Defense Department 
     and for associated defense contractors who understand how to 
     implement non-proliferation programs and how to respond to 
     proliferation emergencies. The new authority will permit and 
     facilitate the use of Nunn-Lugar expertise and resources when 
     nonproliferation threats around the world are identified.
       Proliferation threats sometimes require an instantaneous 
     response. We must not allow a proliferation or WMD threat to 
     ``go critical'' because we lacked the foresight to empower 
     the U.S. to respond. The Nunn-Lugar Program's experience in 
     Kazakhstan through ``Project Sapphire'' shows the utility of 
     such capabilities.
       The precise replication of the Nunn-Lugar Program will not 
     be possible everywhere. Clearly, many states will continue to 
     avoid accountability for programs related to weapons of mass 
     destruction. When nations resist such accountability, other 
     options must be explored. When governments continue to 
     contribute to the WMD threat facing the United States, we 
     must be prepared to apply diplomatic and economic power, and 
     as a last resort, military force.
       Yet we should not assume that we cannot forge cooperative 
     nonproliferation programs with some critical nations. The 
     experience of the Nunn-Lugar Program in Kazakhstan has 
     demonstrated that the threat of weapons of mass destruction 
     can lead to extraordinary outcomes based on mutual interest. 
     No one would have predicted in the 1980s that American 
     contractors and DOD officials would be on the ground in 
     Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan destroying thousands of 
     strategic systems. If we are to protect ourselves during this 
     incredibly dangerous period, we must create new 
     nonproliferation partners and aggressively pursue any 
     nonproliferation opportunities that appear. Nunn-Lugar 
     expansion authority is the first step down that road. 
     Ultimately, a satisfactory level of accountability, 
     transparency, and safety must be established in every nation 
     with a WMD program.
       There are always risks when expanding a successful venture 
     into new areas, but I

[[Page 14890]]

     don't believe we have a choice. We must give the 
     Administration the ability to interdict and neutralize the 
     proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This new 
     venture, like its predecessor, will take time to organize and 
     to establish operating procedures, but I am hopeful that a 
     decade from now, we will look back on this effort and marvel 
     at the successes we have enjoyed.


                               CONCLUSION

       The U.S., Kazakhstan, and the international community still 
     have much work to do and these efforts will require 
     compromise and sacrifice. The last ten years have shown that 
     nothing is impossible. Both sides have set aside past 
     differences to accomplish this cooperation. Let us continue 
     to approach these challenges with creativity, a willingness 
     to cooperate, and a commitment to a safer world.
       Historically, the world has never before enjoyed such an 
     opportunity for former adversaries to work together on mutual 
     threat reduction and on such an awesome and world threatening 
     agenda. After decades of tense military confrontation and 
     ideological struggle, we are sending American firm and know-
     how to Kazakhstan as we work together to dismantle weapons 
     and materials of mass destruction, and their means of 
     development and delivery. Bipartisan vision, statesmanship, 
     and patience will be required over many years. For the sake 
     of our children and our hopes for normal life in our world, 
     we must be successful.
       From an interview by Senator Richard Lugar to the news 
     media following the symposium:
       I hope the Nunn-Lugar Program will continue to be funded. I 
     would like to stress that the cooperation with Kazakhstan has 
     played a key role for putting this program into practice. 
     Kazakhstan is a courageous country and the policies of 
     President Nazarbayev have laid the foundation for practical 
     realization of our program.
       Kazakhstan remains a reliable partner of the United States, 
     and we are grateful to this nation for its enthusiasm and 
     real deeds in the area of disarmament. All of this gives us 
     hope for a continued successful work.''

Richard Lugar: U.S. Senator (R-IN), Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations 
                               Committee

       Dick Lugar is an unwavering advocate of U.S. leadership in 
     the world, strong national security, free-trade and economic 
     growth.
       This fifth generation Hoosier is the longest serving U.S. 
     Senator in Indiana history. He is the Chairman of the Foreign 
     Relations Committee and a member and former chairman of the 
     Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committe. He was first 
     elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976 and won a fifth term in 
     2000, his third consecutive victory by a two-thirds majority. 
     He holds all Indiana statewide election records.
       Lugar manages his family's 604-acre Marion County corn, 
     soy-bean and tree farm. Before entering public life, he 
     helped manage with his brother Tom the family's food 
     machinery manufacturing business in Indianapolis.
       As the two-term mayor of Indianapolis (1968-75), he 
     envisioned the unification of the city and surrounding Marion 
     County into one government. Unigov, as Lugar's plan was 
     called, set the city on path of uninterrupted economic 
     growth.
       Richard Lugar has been a leader in reducing the threat of 
     nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. In 1991, he forged 
     a bipartisan partnership with then-Senate Armed Services 
     Chairman, Sam Nunn (D-GA), to destroy these weapons of mass 
     destruction in the former Soviet Union. To date, the Nunn-
     Lugar Program has deactivated nearly 6,000 nuclear warheads 
     that were once aimed at the United States.
       As Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Lugar built 
     bipartisan support for 1996 federal farm program reforms, 
     ending 1930s era federal production controls. He has promoted 
     broader risk management options for farmers, research 
     advancements, increased export opportunities and higher net 
     farm income. Lugar initiated a biofuels research program to 
     help decrease U.S. dependency on foreign oil. He also led 
     initiatives to streamline the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
     reform the food stamp program and preserve the federal school 
     lunch program.
       Lugar has promoted policies that spur economic growth, cut 
     taxes, lead to job creation, eliminate wasteful government 
     spending and reduce bureaucratic red tape for American 
     businesses.
       His Hoosier commonsense has been recognized many times 
     including such awards as Guardian of Small Business, the 
     Spirit of Enterprise, Watchdog of the Treasury, and 36 
     honorary doctorate degrees. He was the fourth person ever 
     named Outstanding Legislator by the American Political 
     Science Association.
       Richard Lugar and his wife Charlene were married September 
     8, 1956, and have four sons and seven grandchildren.

                          ____________________