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U.S. Worried About Security of Russian Weapons
November 29, 2001
By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration said on Thursday the possibility of Russian nuclear, biological or chemical weapons falling into the hands of terrorists is a key national security concern, but opposed a move in Congress to overhaul U.S. efforts aimed at stopping this from happening.

Officials from the departments of defense, state, energy and commerce told a Senate hearing that the Bush administration was working hard to keep weapons of mass destruction from leaving Russia or other former Soviet states.

"The proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the missiles capable of delivering them is now a central security threat facing the United States, our allies and our friends," State Department official Vann Van Diepen told a hearing of a Governmental Affairs Committee subcommittee that deals with weapons proliferation issues.

"Where we once faced thousands of nuclear weapons under centralized command of a great rival power, Sept. 11 and the biological attacks since have shown how much more diverse and less predictable the threat has become," Van Diepen added.

He was referring to the attacks on New York and Washington blamed by the United States on Saudi-born extremist Osama bin Laden and a subsequent series of anthrax attacks by mail.

The administration officials spoke strongly against legislation introduced by Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska that would create a single interagency committee to coordinate U.S. nonproliferation efforts relating to Russia and other former Soviet states. Current efforts are spread out among numerous offices in four Cabinet departments.

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Van Diepen said the bill "is not needed, as the Bush administration has already acted and taken the kinds of steps this legislation calls for." He also said the Hagel bill could intrude on President Bush's powers.

Defense Department official Marshall Billingslea said creating a new office in charge of the matter could complicate nonproliferation coordination efforts now assigned to the White House National Security Council.

The administration is reviewing how the United States handles these nonproliferation issues.

But Democratic senators expressed concern at the pace of progress, and worried that the Bush administration would move forward with funding cuts in this nonproliferation area.

"We have lost valuable time in figuring how to recork the bottles containing dangerous chemical, biological and nuclear weapons," said Hawaii Democratic Sen. Daniel Akaka, the panel's chairman. "I hope the administration shares my sense of urgency. And if it does not, I would like to know why not."

Billingslea said the Pentagon remains concerned that Russian nuclear weapons could be stolen by U.S. enemies. He said the Defense Department has worked with Russia to make security upgrades at key sites and create an inventory of existing nuclear weapons pending their eventual dismantlement.

Billingslea said efforts to consolidate and eliminate biological weapons agents such as the smallpox virus and anthrax bacterium are of "exceptional and increasing importance." He added that U.S. officials were troubled by inadequate security and safety measures on stocks of chemical weapons such as poisonous gas.

Concerned about the possibility of rouge nations offering to buy the services of weapons scientists idled by the demise of the Soviet Union, Van Diepen said the State Department was helping to redirect these scientists "toward sustainable careers in peaceful, transparent, civilian endeavors in their home countries."