Government Not Doing Enough to Secure Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Weapons and Materials

Warren Rudman and Sam Nunn Team Up in Ad Campaign: “Government Not Doing Enough to Secure Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Weapons and Materials”

In a television advertisement that will start running tomorrow in New Hampshire and Iowa, former U.S. Senators Warren Rudman (R-NH) and Sam Nunn (D-GA) urge citizens to take action now to help keep nuclear, biological and chemical weapons out of the hands of terrorists. The ad is part of the “Act Now for a Safer World” public awareness campaign organized by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI).

“Nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and materials are stored without proper security around the world,” said Senator Rudman, who has been a leader in focusing attention on the terrorist threat and the need to strengthen homeland security. “We’re not doing enough to keep these dangerous weapons and materials out of the hands of the world’s most dangerous people. If we don’t get this right, nothing else matters.”

“It may be an election season, but political affiliations don’t matter with a threat this serious,” said Senator Nunn, co-chairman of NTI. “This issue needs to be the top security priority for the President, the presidential candidates and the Congress. Sometimes the best way to focus our political leaders on our priority challenges is to inform their constituents on the critical threats. That’s what this public awareness campaign is about.”

“Act Now for a Safer World” is a nonpartisan public awareness campaign designed to elevate this key national security issue and make it a higher priority for elected officials and policy makers. The campaign urges citizens to take immediate action by calling on the President, the presidential candidates and the Congress to do more, faster by working with other nations to:

• Secure nuclear weapons and materials at the source;
• Strengthen our defenses against biological attacks; and
• Secure and destroy chemical weapons stockpiles.

The Safer World campaign includes television, radio, and outdoor advertising, citizen outreach and a toll free phone number (1-800-336-0035) and website www.saferworld.org to advance these priorities. At www.saferworld.org, citizens can learn about the threats, what should be done to address them, and can make their voices heard by signing onto the Safer World agenda. A distinguished, bipartisan group of leaders is supporting the Safer World agenda, including former Senators Nunn and Rudman, CNN founder Ted Turner, U.S. Senator Richard Lugar, U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry, U.S.-Russian expert Susan Eisenhower, and General Eugene Habiger (former head of U.S. strategic nuclear forces), as well as other American and international leaders.

To view the “Nunn-Rudman” ad, visit www.saferworld.org. The text of the ad follows:

Sam Nunn: “Americans always pull together a crisis. Now we must pull together to prevent one.
Warren Rudman: Nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and materials are stored without proper security around the world. We’ve done a lot, but the job of locking down these weapons from terrorists is not moving fast enough.
Sam Nunn: We’re in a race between cooperation and catastrophe, so we must work with other nations. Danger close to home can start far away.
Warren Rudman: You can help make the world safer. Tell the President, the candidates and the Congress to make this a top priority."

Additional television ads in the Safer World campaign focus on the need to secure nuclear weapons and materials wherever they exist and the global threat from chemical weapons.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative is a public charity working to reduce the global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. NTI brings together people with different ideological views around a common ground mission focused on immediate actions to close the gap between the global threats and the global response. Co-chaired by CNN founder Ted Turner and former Senator Sam Nunn, NTI is governed by an international Board of Directors with members from nine countries.

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