14 March 1998 Source: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aaces002.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Congressional Record: February 25, 1998 (Senate)] [Page S1001] From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:cr25fe98-145] COMBATING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, with the end of the Cold War, the terrible threat of nuclear holocaust has been substantially reduced. But the world is far from trouble-free. The threat of the 90's, perhaps to become the threat of the coming decade, is that posed by weapons of mass destruction in the hands of lesser powers--like Iraq or Iran--or even terrorist groups. My esteemed colleague, the senior Senator from Indiana, has written a sobering article in today's issue of The Hill. His conclusion is one to which we should all pay attention: Absent congressional support of a U.S. response to this threat as focused, serious and vigorous as America's Cold War strategy, Americans may have every reason to anticipate domestic or international acts of nuclear, chemical and biological terrorism against American targets before another decade is out. The Nunn-Lugar and related programs that help countries in the former Soviet Union to guard against diversion of material or technology relating to weapons of mass destruction are an important defense against such terrorism. Last year, I was pleased to co-sponsor Senator Lugar's amendment that restored full funding to these programs. This year, we would all be well advised to seek opportunities to expand these programs, as recommended in a study last year by the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. I commend Senator Lugar's article to my colleagues and ask unanimous consent that its text be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: [From The Hill, Feb. 25, 1998] The Threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction (By Senator Richard G. Lugar) Last week the American people were reminded that terrorism is not just somebody else's problem. Two men were arrested by the FBI in Nevada on suspicion of possessing a biological agent believed to be anthrax. News reports suggested that the suspects were members of the Aryan Nation, and rumors abounded that they planned to attack a large metropolitan area. This is but the latest instance in a growing series of incidents in which weapons of mass destruction have been linked to terrorist plots. Terrorists of today do not need a Manhattan Project to construct weapons of mass terror. Local law enforcement and the FBI responded quickly and efficiently to the potential threat in Nevada. But this episode begs the question: What would have happened if we had not detected this threat? What were the origins of this material? In this case, the source appears to have been an American laboratory. But the origins could just as well have been foreign. On the day the suspects were arrested in Nevada, the news media reported on a Russian-made form of deadly anthrax bacteria that is resistant to penicillin and all current vaccines. If true, this creates the risk that individual Russian biologists might illicitly sell samples of their work to rogue nations, such as Iraq. The U.S. military is concerned that such an untreatable strain, if it exists, could show up in Iraq during any military action in the Persian Gulf. At home, the terms under which American firms and laboratories can sell such materials need to be tightened. One of the suspects arrested in Nevada had pleaded guilty to fraud after he was accused of illegally obtaining bubonic plague bacteria from an American laboratory. The Nevada incident demonstrates that the threat is real and that we must be prepared. Preparation must take the form of help to locate ``first responders''--the firemen, police, emergency management teams, and medical personnel who will be on the front lines if deterrence and prevention of such incidents fail. That is why the 1996 Nunn-Lugar-Domenici ``Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction'' legislation directed the professionals from the Department of Defense, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Emergency Management Agency and other executive agencies to join in a partnership with local emergency professionals in cities across the country. To date, 14 metropolitan areas have received training to deal with these potential threats. The Pentagon intends to supply training and equipment to 120 cities across the country over the next five years. Preparations at home, however, are insufficient, because the most dangerous sources of proliferation are abroad where the threats are more complex and the solutions more complicated. There are three main lines of defense against the proliferation of weapons and materials of mass destruction. Individually, each is insufficient; together, they help to form the policy fabric of an integrated defense- in-depth. The first is preventing proliferation at the sources abroad. The second is deterring and interdicting the flow of illicit trade in these weapons and materials. The third line of defense is preparing domestically for a crisis. As a consequence of the collapse of the Soviet totalitarian command and control society, a vast potential supermarket of weapons and materials of mass destruction has become increasingly accessible. Religious sects, organized crime and terrorist organizations can now attempt to buy or steal what they previously had to produce on their own. The available technology allows a small number of conspirators to threaten large populations, something heretofore achievable only by nation-states. In attempting to fashion a response to this threat, it is common sense to attempt to deal with the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction at as great a distance from our borders as possible. The Nunn-Lugar program at the Department of Defense, along with its companion programs at the Department of Energy, are the tools the United States is employing to reduce this threat at the source, the former Soviet Union. The program seeks to secure weapons-usable materials that are at risk of falling into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, much still remains poorly secured. Americans are still threatened by weapons of mass destruction. In the United States we are not adequately equipped to manage the crisis posed by the threatened use of such weapons or to manage the consequences of their use against civilian populations, whether weapons production is foreign or local. The real question, is whether there exists sufficient political will in Congress to devote the requisite resources not only to domestic preparedness but to the first two lines of defense--namely, prevention and deterrence. Only by shoring up the lines of defense abroad can we hope to prepare successfully for the threat at home. Absent congressional support of a U.S. response to this threat as focused, serious and vigorous as America's Cold War strategy, Americans may have every reason to anticipate domestic or international acts of nuclear, chemical and biological terrorism against American targets before another decade is out. ____________________