On the recordDecember 2, 2010
As a result of Nunn-Lugar, we sawed the wings off. How is it that I stand on the floor with a piece of a wing from a bomber that used to carry nuclear weapons threatening to destroy this country? I do that because we know these work. Ukraine is now nuclear free. This is a hinge from a silo that contained a nuclear-tipped missile aimed at the United States. This piece, from a silo containing an intercontinental ballistic missile aimed at America, is from a missile that no longer exists. The nuclear weapon is gone; the missile is gone. There are now sunflower seeds planted where there was previously a missile. I tell that to say: We understand what works. Arms negotiations, arms treaties with which we have tried to reduce delivery vehicles and nuclear weapons work. I have just described the Nunn-Lugar program. Let me show a couple photographs of it. This is a Typhoon-class ballistic missile submarine that carried nuclear weapons. I have the copper wiring from this submarine in my desk, reminding all of us, again, that this works. We didn't have to destroy this submarine with a weapon under the sea in hostile action. We negotiated a treaty. It was taken apart. This shows an SS-18 missile silo in Ukraine. We can see they planted dynamite and blew up the silo. Because we agreed with the Russians that we were going to reduce nuclear weapons, reduce delivery vehicles, that silo is now gone and sunflower seeds are planted where a missile previously had been.
