Washington DC – May 1, 2014– Press Release – In an effort to express frustration with three years of successive cuts to critical preventing terrorists from gaining access to dangerous nuclear materials, 100 experts on national security and nuclear non-proliferation issues have written to President Obama decrying twenty-five percent or greater budget cuts to key nuclear non-proliferation programs in the President’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request.
Signers include former Senator Byron Dorgan (ND); Lt. Generals John Castellaw (USMC ret.), Robert Gard (USA ret.) and Arlen D. Jameson (USAF ret.); and Ambassadors Kenneth C. Brill, Ralph Earle II, Thomas Graham Jr., Peter Galbraith and Nancy Soderberg. The letter was also signed by two former Members of Congress, other retired generals, sitting State Senators and Representatives and heads of various nongovernmental organizations.
The full text of the letter and all signers can be found here.
In reference to the cuts former Senator Dorgan said: “Terrorist groups are working overtime to acquire nuclear weapons with which to terrorize the world. Our country needs to show leadership in preventing terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons. Cutting federal spending now on the nuclear non-proliferation programs would be a very dangerous mistake.”
The letter originated with the Council for a Livable and the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation’s Director of Non-Proliferation Programs, Kingston Reif said: “Reducing funding for these programs increases the amount of time it will take to secure or eliminate dangerous materials that could be used by terrorists in an improvised nuclear explosive device or a dirty bomb.”
Council for a Livable World is a non-partisan advocacy organization dedicated to increasing national security, particularly through reducing of the danger of nuclear weapons proliferation. The Council advocates for a strong and sensible national security policy and helps elect congressional candidates supporting those ideals.