*EPF404 11/18/2004
Congressional Report, November 18: New Nonproliferation Bill Introduced
(Legislation to focus on projects outside the former Soviet Union) (410)

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has introduced legislation to strengthen nonproliferation projects, especially those occurring outside the territory of the former Soviet Union.

Senator Richard Lugar is the sponsor of the Conventional Arms Threat Reduction Act (CATRA) of 2004, introduced November 16. The chairman said it is modeled after the 1991 Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program to eliminate weapons of mass destruction generated during the Soviet era and find gainful employment for former Soviet weapons scientists. It also follows on the 2003 Nunn-Lugar Expansion Act that funded, for the first time, the destruction of chemical weapons in Albania.

The new legislation is designed to give the State Department "a focused response to the threat posed by vulnerable stockpiles of conventional weapons around the world," he said, "including tactical missiles and man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS." MANPADS in the hands of terrorists could pose threats to commercial airliners and increase the vulnerability of military and government facilities.

Lugar's bill would authorize the State Department to accelerate global efforts to eliminate conventional weapons, including small arms and light weapons, and to destroy or safeguard tactical missiles through cooperative efforts with allies and international organizations.

Conventional arms are too often "inadequately stored and protected," the chairman said, thereby posing "grave risk to American military bases, embassy compounds and even targets within the United States."

While the State Department has been addressing conventional threats, Lugar said, only $6 million was spent in fiscal years 2003 and 2004 to secure small arms and light weapons, and said more money needs to be spent "to secure vulnerable stockpiles."

Lugar said his bill seeks to provide greater flexibility to the president through the State and Defense departments to address emerging proliferation threats.

It would eliminate a $50 million annual spending ceiling on Cooperative Threat Reduction projects outside the former Soviet Union.

In October, Lugar said he was pleased that President Bush had embraced the Nunn-Lugar concepts and had endorsed efforts to apply them worldwide. "Russia will continue to be a major focus," he said, "but emerging risks must also be addressed in the Middle East, Asia and elsewhere."

Since Lugar introduced the CATRA legislation during a lame-duck session of the 108th Congress; he said he expects to reintroduce it January 2005 when the 109th Congress convenes.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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