Lugar-Obama Bill to Keep Weapons Out of Terrorists' Hands Heads to Senate Floor | Print | U.S.

Senator Barack Obama 7/8/08 4:52 PM

Barack Obama - U.S. Senator for Illinois - obama.senate.gov

Lugar-Obama Bill to Keep Weapons Out of Terrorists' Hands

Heads to Senate Floor
Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Obama Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, (202) 228-5511

Lugar Contact: Andy Fisher, andy_fisher@foreign.senate.gov, (202) 224-2079
Date: May 23, 2006

Lugar-Obama Bill to Keep Weapons Out of Terrorists' Hands Heads to Senate Floor
Bipartisan Effort Focuses on Antiaircraft Missiles, Stolen WMDs and Conventional Weapons used in Improvised
Roadside Bombs

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee today passed out of committee, S. 2566, the
Lugar-Obama Act. Modeled after the Nunn-Lugar program that focuses on weapons of mass destruction in the
former Soviet Union, the bill was introduced by Sens. Dick Lugar (R-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL) to expand
the cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons.

Lugar-Obama would expand the detection and interdiction of weapons and materials of mass destruction.

A full list of the legislation, nominations and treaties passed out of committee and headed to the Senate floor is
available at: http://lugar.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=255996.

"The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is the number one national security threat that
confronts the United States today. Under Senator Lugar's leadership, the Nunn-Lugar program has
safely disposed of literally thousands of weapons of mass destruction which, had they fallen into the
wrong hands, could have been used against America with catastrophic results. The Lugar-Obama bill
will build on this success by helping other nations find and eliminate conventional weapons that have
been used against our own soldiers in Iraq and sought by terrorists all over the world," said Obama.

"We are convinced that the United States can and should do more to eliminate conventional weapons stockpiles
and assist other nations in detecting and interdicting weapons of mass destruction. We believe that these
functions are underfunded, fragmented and in need of high-level support," Lugar said.

"We are particularly concerned that our government has the capacity to deal quickly with vulnerable stockpiles
of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, known as MANPADS. In recent years, concerns have grown that such
weapons could be used by terrorists to attack commercial airliners, military installations, and government
facilities here at home and abroad. Al Qaeda reportedly has attempted to acquire MANPADS on a number of
occasions," said Lugar.

The first part of the Lugar-Obama legislation would energize the U.S. program against unsecured lightweight
anti-aircraft missiles and other conventional weapons. There may be as many as 750,000 man-portable air
defense systems in arsenals worldwide, and the State Department estimates that more than 40 civilian aircraft
have been hit by such weapons since the 1970s. In addition, loose stocks of small arms and other weapons
help fuel civil wars in Africa and elsewhere and provide the means for attacks on peacekeepers and aid workers
seeking to stabilize war-torn societies. In Iraq, unsecured stockpiles of artillery shells and ammunition have
been reconfigured into improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that have become the insurgents' most effective

http://obama.senate.gov/press/060523-lugar-obama_bil/print.php Page 1 of 2
Lugar-Obama Bill to Keep Weapons Out of Terrorists' Hands Heads to Senate Floor | Print | U.S. Senator Barack Obama 7/8/08 4:52 PM

weapon.

The second part of Lugar-Obama would strengthen the ability of America's allies to detect and interdict illegal
shipments of weapons and materials of mass destruction. U.S. security depends not just on the willingness of
other nations to help; it depends on whether they have the capabilities to be effective. The State Department
engages in several related anti-terrorism and export control assistance programs. But these programs are
focused on other stages of the threat, not on detection and interdiction, and create a gap in our defenses that
needs to be filled.

The Lugar-Obama bill would increase by $25 million funding available for the elimination of conventional
weapons and MANPADS and by $50 million funding to assist countries in improving their ability to detect and
interdict materials and weapons of mass destruction. This offers a potent but flexible tool to build a robust
international network to stop proliferation.

Lugar and Obama traveled together to Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan in August to oversee a number of Nunn-
Lugar projects. In Ukraine they saw a conventional weapons facility that is typical of the focus of the new
legislation.

In 1991, Senator Lugar (R-IN) and former Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA) authored the Nunn-Lugar Act, which
established the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. This program has provided U.S. funding and expertise
to help the former Soviet Union safeguard and dismantle its enormous stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons, related materials, and delivery systems. In 1997, Lugar and Nunn were joined by Senator
Pete Domenici (R-NM) in introducing the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act, which expanded
Nunn-Lugar authorities in the former Soviet Union and provided WMD expertise to first responders in American
cities. In 2003, Congress adopted the Nunn-Lugar Expansion Act, which authorized the Nunn-Lugar program to
operate outside the former Soviet Union to address proliferation threats. In October 2004, Nunn-Lugar funds
were used for the first time outside of the former Soviet Union to secure chemical weapons in Albania, under a
Lugar-led expansion of the program.

The latest Nunn-Lugar Scorecard shows that the program has deactivated or destroyed: 6,828 nuclear
warheads; 611 ICBMs; 485 ICBM silos; 55 ICBM mobile missile launchers; 152 bombers; 865 nuclear air-to-
surface missiles; 436 submarine missile launchers; 563 submarine launched missiles; 29 nuclear submarines;
and 194 nuclear test tunnels.

Beyond the scorecard's nuclear elimination, the Nunn-Lugar program secures and destroys chemical weapons,
and works to reemploy scientists and facilities related to biological weapons in peaceful research initiatives. The
International Science and Technology Centers, of which the United States is the leading sponsor, have engaged
58,000 former weapons scientists in peaceful work. The International Proliferation Prevention Program has
funded 750 projects involving 14,000 former weapons scientists and created some 580 new peaceful high-tech
jobs. Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan are nuclear weapons free as a result of cooperative efforts under the
Nunn-Lugar program. They otherwise would be the world's the third, fourth and eighth largest nuclear weapons
powers, respectively.

On the web:

Lugar-Obama: http://lugar.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=248096
Nunn-Lugar Program: http://lugar.senate.gov/nunnlugar/

http://obama.senate.gov/press/060523-lugar-obama_bil/print.php Page 2 of 2