Panel Says Russia Nuclear Security Needs Funding Hike
A blue-ribbon task force headed by two elder statesmen, Republican Howard H. Baker Jr. and Democrat Lloyd Cutler, recommended Wednesday that the United States spend up to $30 billion over the next eight to 10 years to improve security over Russia’s nuclear stockpile.
Arguing that the possible theft or sale of Russian nuclear materials presents “a clear and present danger . . . to American lives and liberties,” the bipartisan panel concluded that U.S. spending on nuclear security programs in Russia should rise to about $3 billion a year from the current $700 million.
The report was released by Baker, a former Senate majority leader from Tennessee, and Cutler, who was White House counsel in the Carter and Clinton administrations.
Baker and Cutler acknowledged that congressional support for nuclear programs in Russia could be endangered by Moscow’s promotion of its civilian atomic energy business, particularly through sales to Iran.
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