Urges House Conferees to Support Feinstein / Domenici
Amendment in Defense Authorization Bill
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Adam Schiff (CA-29) and Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher (CA-10) sent a letter today to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (CA-52) and Ranking Member Ike Skelton (MO-04) in support of the Global Cleanout Amendment to the FY 20005 Defense Authorization Bill (H.R. 4200).
“As top Democrats and Republicans have acknowledged, the most serious national security threat facing the United States today is unsecured nuclear material,” Schiff said. “The 9/11 Commission noted that Osama Bin Laden wants to carry out another ‘Hiroshima.’ We cannot allow nuclear materials to get into the wrong hands.”
The amendment to the Senate Defense Authorization bill, sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) and Senator Pete Domenici (NM) is nearly identical to Global Cleanout legislation (H.R. 4212), which was introduced by Representative Schiff earlier this year.
Specifically, the amendment would:
• Urge the President to establish a task force, in the Department of Energy, on nuclear materials removal;
• Provide a specific mandate for a program to remove the nuclear material from vulnerable sites around the world as quickly as possible, whether the nuclear material was supplied by the U.S. or the Soviet Union;
• Provide authorization for funding to begin these efforts; and
• Provide specific direction to provide flexible approaches tailored to each site to get them to give up their nuclear material.
The amendment seeks to speed the rate at which the United States and its allies are removing unsecured nuclear materials. At present funding levels, the global cleanout will take 10 to 20 years to complete -- at the rate of one facility per year. “With the proper investment, we can do better. To ensure the strongest possible security for our citizens, we must do better,” said Schiff.
Congressman Schiff has been a longtime advocate of securing nuclear material, offering an amendment to the Energy and Water appropriations bill in May that would have increased funding for nonproliferation activities in FY 2005 by $200 million. The amendment was co-authored by Representative Martin Meehan (MA-05).
On September 29, the House Judiciary Committee approved three important amendments proposed by Congressman Adam Schiff (CA-29) to the 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act (H.R. 10), including a cleanout amendment that would require the President to develop a plan to secure the most vulnerable of nuclear sites and destroy nuclear stockpiles around the world. Another amendment would require the President to develop a comprehensive counter-proliferation strategy, including efforts to secure nuclear material in the former Soviet Union. A third calls for the United States to develop an international legal structure to prevent the smuggling of nuclear materials and technology – an item taken directly from the 9/11 Commission report. H.R. 10 is expected to be considered by the full House next week,
Congressman Schiff is the co-founder of the Democratic Study Group on National Security and a member of both the House Judiciary and International Relations committees. He represents California’s 29th Congressional District, which includes the communities of Alhambra, Altadena, Burbank, East Pasadena, East San Gabriel, Glendale, Monterey Park, Pasadena, San Gabriel, South Pasadena and Temple City.