Dick Lugar: “I rise to introduce two new bills to strengthen U.S. nonproliferation efforts. One of these is a new Conventional Arms…”

“I rise to introduce two new bills to strengthen U.S. nonproliferation efforts. One of these is a new Conventional Arms Threat Reduction Act. The other is the fourth installment of the Nunn-Lugar legislation, the nonproliferation program that Sam Nunn and I sponsored in 1991. In that year, Sam Nunn and I authored the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction or Nunn-Lugar Act, which established the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. That program has provided U.S. funding and expertise to help the former Soviet Union safeguard and dismantle their enormous stockpiles of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, means of delivery and related materials. In 1997, Senator Nunn and I were joined by Senator Domenici 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. The bill that I am introducing today would strengthen the Nunn-Lugar program and other nonproliferation efforts and provide them with greater flexibility to address emerging threats.”