Dick Lugar: “I commend to the Senate this morning an amendment that I believe will make a historic difference in American security…”

“I commend to the Senate this morning an amendment that I believe will make a historic difference in American security, and it is our security we are talking about, the security of Americans, who would like relief from the possibilities of an ICBM attack in nuclear, chemical, or biological terms coming out of the former Soviet Union--or out of any country, for that matter--which might jeopardize it and who want some assurance that we here in the United States are prepared to coordinate the remarkable work of our Department of Defense in historic research efforts to combat potential difficulties for American personnel from biological, chemical, or nuclear attack that might be transferred to local officials who will work with these people. All of these objectives are approached. They will never be fully achieved, but clearly the passage of this amendment will bring a greater sense of security to all Americans that our Government works, that we have talented people in our military and in our civilian components of government at all levels that will make a difference in the safety of Americans. For these reasons, I commend this amendment.”