Ellen Tauscher: “In January of this year, a bipartisan task force, chaired by former Senator Howard Baker and former White House Counsel…”

“In January of this year, a bipartisan task force, chaired by former Senator Howard Baker and former White House Counsel Lloyd Cutler stated that the most urgent unmet national security threat to the United States is the danger that weapons of mass destruction in Russia can be stolen and sold to terrorists or hostile nations and used against American troops abroad or citizens at home. The report concluded that the national security benefits to the United States from securing or neutralizing the equivalent of more than 80,000 existing potential nuclear weapons would constitute the highest return on investment of any current U.S. national security defense program. To address this critically important concern, I am offering a simple amendment requiring the President to submit a strategic plan to Congress on how to dispose of excess nuclear material that Russia does not retain in its arsenal and to prevent the outflow from Russia of nuclear weapons expertise. I am offering this amendment because I believe it is critical that we have an overall strategic road map of how we plan to deal with the growing threat of weapons of mass destruction.”