Bush pressured for more anti-nuke funds

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Lawmakers and scientists Thursday separately called on the Bush administration to spend more on projects preventing the spread of Russian nuclear materials and technical know-how.

House Democrats held a news conference at the Capitol to chide the president on what they termed as an inconsistent message on nonproliferation. On the one hand, Bush talks about the threat of terrorists obtaining weapons of mass destruction, they said, yet the administration sat silent while legislators cut millions of dollars from the very programs designed to safeguard nuclear materials.

Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, said those cuts came after the House approved multi-billion-dollar tax rebates for companies such as IBM and Ford, a move he called unconscionable.

"If special interest corporate tax cuts take precedence over protecting 281 million Americans from nuclear terrorist attacks, then Americans have more to fear than fear itself," Edwards said.

The administration should help add at least $100 million to the program that safeguards 600 metric tons of Russian weapons-grade uranium, Edwards said.

Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., said there is no time left to delay such a move, and Tom Ridge and the Office of Homeland Security must devise a plan to sustain funding for the programs.

"Loose nukes and loose germs are a huge problem," Edwards said. "If we're going to protect our homeland, we have to protect their supply. ... It's very disappointing that we have a mixed message (on the problem)."

Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., said the country must pay close attention to Russian nuclear scientists and technicians, who could otherwise turn to selling their knowledge to support their families. Next week's summit between Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin is an excellent opportunity to deal with preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, she said.

"We're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars (for nonproliferation) as opposed to billions of dollars for a national missile defense," Tauscher said. "Those of us that believe in a limited, deployable missile defense ... understand you can't have a successful system if it gets flooded by dozens or hundreds of nuclear weapons. It only makes sense to cover your bet on national missile defense by spending pennies on the dollar."

The Federation of American Scientists held a briefing later in the day to give a very similar message.

Frank von Hippel, FAS chairman and a professor at Princeton, referenced a government commission, which also was mentioned during the Capitol news conference, that said nuclear terrorism is the prime threat to U.S. national security, and the country's spending priorities must reflect that fact.

Less than 40 percent of Russian nuclear facilities have benefited from U.S.-provided security upgrades, von Hippel said. Federation documents call for about $1 billion for non-proliferation projects, primarily directed at Russian facilities.

Henry Kelly, FAS president, said the Sept. 11 attacks proved a weapon of mass destruction can be delivered without resorting to missiles, so a missile defense is a dead-end. This makes the Bush-Putin meeting even more important, he said.

"One of our major expectations is the hope that we'll find a way to redefine the requirements for strategic nuclear weapons," Kelly said. "We need to work closely with other countries, Russia in particular, to address the very difficult problem of preventing terrorist access to nuclear and biological materials."