Rohlfing: Congress Must Act to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism

On the heels of recent headlines highlighting security vulnerabilities in the U.S. nuclear enterprise, NTI President Joan Rohlfing calls on Congress to "pass legislation that would complete the ratification of two critical international treaties designed to protect against the unthinkable: a terrorist with a nuclear weapon."

In a new op-ed for The Hill's Congress Blog, Rohlfing argues that Senate action to pass implementing legislation for the 2005 Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) and the International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) will enhance U.S. security, strengthen international counterterrorism and legal frameworks and encourage other nations to do the same. 

"Failure to ratify these treaties is an embarrassment," writes Rohlfing, noting that countries like Russia, India, China, and the United Kingdom have all ratified the treaties. "Members of Congress have a responsibility — to their own constituents and to the rest of the world — to do everything possible to prevent nuclear terrorism."

Read the op-ed.