Religious freedom is a cornerstone of the foundation that makes democracy and free enterprise work worldwide.

U.S. engagement with Latin America has struggled from perceptions that our government has neglected the region.

I appreciate your response very much because I am hopeful as Ambassador you will be able to work in behalf of the center and/or other ways in which the dangers are decreased.

There is still a lot of work to be done, and the vast majority of these weapons of mass destruction are in our two countries.

Fifteen years ago, Senator Nunn and I created or helped create the International Science and Technology Center in Russia to prevent the proliferation of WMD know-how and technology from the former Soviet Union.

The administration has sought to cooperate with Russia on U.S. missile defense programs in Europe.

This is an oversimplification, but some analysts have indicated that as oil and natural gas increased in price worldwide, economic problems that were severe for Russia began to dissipate.

in 2007, Russia suspended implementation of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty and has not provided any CFE data since that time.

I think sometimes we think, well, this is no longer an issue: we need to move on to third countries and other issues. It is not.

Russia abstained on U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973, which gave international support for NATO successful campaign to protect Libyan civilians.

The administration has been actively supporting Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization.

We have continued to work with Russia to follow through on the vision of Senator Lugar and former Senator Nunn to enhance the physical security at Russia's chemical, biological, and nuclear research, production and storage facilities.

We remain committed to denuclearization as our ultimate goal.

We have continued to fulfill Senator Lugar's vision of reducing threats from weapons of mass destruction.

The threat that one day weapons or materials of mass destruction will be transferred out of the former Soviet Union remains very real, and such a transfer could have catastrophic results for the United States and the global community.

I would mention, as you well know, this is of great interest to many of our friends in Europe.

We continue to work closely with Russia to develop additional measures to stop Iran's development of a nuclear weapons program.

A major challenge for United States policymakers will be to convince Russia to bring transparency to its tactical nuclear weapons arsenal.