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“ADDRESS BY SENATOR RICHARD LUGAR AT NUCLEAR DANGERS SYMPOSIUM” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1442-E1444 on July 18, 2006.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ADDRESS BY SENATOR RICHARD LUGAR AT NUCLEAR DANGERS SYMPOSIUM
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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.
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 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.
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