6-8-2009

Graham and Talent Call on President Obama to Appoint Vice President to
Lead Campaign on WMD Proliferation and Terrorism,

Express Concern About Mission Falling Through Cracks

Washington, DC, June 8, 2009—On June 7, 2009, Senator Bob Graham and Senator Jim Talent, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, sent a letter to President Barack Obama on the urgency of launching an aggressive and comprehensive campaign to meet the challenges of WMD proliferation and terrorism and proposed that Vice President Biden lead the initiative.  The text of the letter follows:

 
Dear Mr. President:

We write today, with urgency and concern, as the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.  As you are aware, the Commission released its report, World at Risk, in December 2008, with a set of recommendations designed to improve the ability of the United States to prevent weapons of mass destruction proliferation and terrorism.

The Commission unanimously concluded that, unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013—and that a biological attack is more likely than nuclear.  This conclusion was publicly affirmed by then-Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell.

The clock is ticking on that assessment.  It is with this urgency that we write.

We know that you understand these threats. We were heartened that your April speech on nuclear threats echoed many of our recommendations. Indeed, one of the steps in your first 100 days was to create a WMD Proliferation and Terrorism Coordinator, which was one of our recommendations.

However, this step is not enough to ensure that protecting the United States from WMD terrorism is a constant priority of the most senior officials in all branches of government.

Our report strongly urged the appointment of a senior official with experience, visibility and the ability to speak directly for you on proliferation and terrorism. This senior official would ensure that these issues would not get lost among competing priorities, economic considerations, or the flow of daily events. This official must possess the authority, consistent with the recommendations of the Project on National Security Reform, to coordinate the myriad parts of the government to take the steps necessary to improve our national security.

In light of the urgency of this threat, we respectfully encourage you to put Vice President Biden in charge of an aggressive and comprehensive campaign to meet the challenges of WMD proliferation and terrorism.

You already know what he offers: long experience working on WMD, an understanding of how to move the levers of power to meet important goals, and most important, the unique credibility and stature of his office would signal that WMD issues will be a top priority. 

We would hope that this appointment would create a precedent for future presidents.

We would like to offer reasons why we believe that now is the time to make this proposal and why we believe that without the highest-level attention, the WMD and terrorism mission can fall through the cracks:

• Though the bio-threat is urgent, there is no senior-level advocate for bio-preparedness in the Administration.  Currently, there is a patchwork quilt of offices and agencies with more than two dozen presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed individuals with some oversight responsibility but no single person in charge. 
• Because no one was responsible, no one focused on this priority during the debate on the stimulus legislation in February. As a result, the government missed an opportunity to adequately fund several biopreparedness initiatives including the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority or BARDA—one of the most important biodefense organizations in the United States.
• Today, the Administration is considering using funding for BioShield—a Department of Health and Human Services program designed to fund development of effective medical countermeasures against biological, chemical, radiological and nuclear agents—to fund H1N1 vaccine production.  Using BioShield funds for flu preparedness will severely diminish the nation’s efforts to prepare for WMD events and will leave the nation less, not more, prepared.

WMD terrorism is too important an issue to get lost like this in legislative or bureaucratic processes.

What should the Vice President’s first steps be?

He must provide leadership to our biodefense community and ensure that biopreparedness and prevention programs are fully funded and effectively managed.

Second, he should work to strengthen the Proliferation Security Initiative, a global effort aimed at stopping WMD trafficking, delivery systems, and related material.  This initiative can be expanded to better fight black-market networks and the financing of proliferation.

Third, he should bolster US leadership in helping to select the new director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)—one of the most important world figures to counter nuclear proliferation.

And finally, he should champion diplomatic efforts around your planned Global Nuclear Summit in preparation for the 2010 Review Conference of the Non-proliferation Treaty.  These two meetings will be critical to enhancing the authorities and financial base of the IAEA, as our Commission recommended.

The Vice President is uniquely positioned to ensure that protecting America has the priority it deserves, regardless of the ebb and flow of domestic politics.  Putting the Vice President in charge of the government’s efforts to prevent a nuclear or bio attack would give a lasting, structural boost to the fight against WMD terrorism. 

In the long run, it could make all the difference.

Congress recently took the extraordinary action of extending the mandate of our Commission so that we can generate action on our recommendations.  That is exactly what we will do.  We intend to hold the government accountable by carefully observing the priority it gives to this issue and grading its progress in implementing the Commission’s recommendations.

We believe that taking this step would enable progress on all the Commission’s recommendations so that together we can present a positive report card to the American people. 

Thank you for your leadership on this issue during an exceptional time in history.  We look forward to working closely with you and the American people to confront these challenges and help ensure peace and prosperity for our country and the world.

Sincerely,

Senator Bob Graham                        Senator Jim Talent
Chairman                                        Vice Chairman

For more information about the Commission, visit www.preventwmd.gov.