Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: “since its creation by this administration in the year 2002, the Proliferation Security Initiative, known as PSI, has…”

“since its creation by this administration in the year 2002, the Proliferation Security Initiative, known as PSI, has quickly become one of this country's most valuable tools in helping to stop spread the weapons of mass destruction and preventing them falling into the hands of terrorist countries. Our PSI partners, working at times with others, have stopped the transshipment of materials and equipment that have been bound for Iran's ballistic missiles programs and also has prevented Iran from procuring goods to support its WMD programs, including its nuclear program. Again, it was PSI cooperation between the United States, Britain and other European partners that began the demise of the Dr. A.Q. Khan network, an action that also contributed to the decision of the Libyan Government to stop and abandon its nuclear weapons and longer-range missile program. However, despite this extraordinary record of success, some of our Democratic colleagues tell us, as noted in the Dear Colleague that they have circulated today, that securing United Nations authorization under international law would persuade countries that are not currently cooperating with us in the United States to prevent this illicit trade in items of proliferation concern to somehow cooperate with us. They dismissed a coalition of the willing, on which the PSI is based as an ad hoc assembly. But the PSI has been a success precisely because it is a coalition of the willing.”