WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) today announced the creation of a bipartisan caucus to focus on the serious threat to our national security posed by potential terrorist acts employing weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The Senate Caucus on WMD Terrorism will highlight the challenges posed by terrorist groups acquiring nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and provide a forum for the discussion of appropriate policy responses to prevent, prepare for, mitigate and respond to such attacks.
“There is no greater national security danger to the American people than the threat of a terrorist group destroying an American city with a nuclear weapon. We know that groups like Al Qaeda possess the motivation, and too many states around the world maintain lax security over the fissile materials essential to a nuclear weapon,” said Senator Casey. “In forming this caucus, I want to establish a forum to better educate Senators on the scope of the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction and the very real policy steps we can take to mitigate this grave challenge.”
“Our nation and the world continues to face a serious threat from the use of weapons of mass destruction. In fact, a recent report from the Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism said that a terror attack is likely somewhere in the world by 2013 using a weapon of mass destruction, most likely a biological agent. We must ensure the U.S. government continues to make the prevention of, and preparedness for, bioterrorism and other WMD threats a top priority. I am pleased to help form this new Senate caucus to focus on these important national and homeland security issues and make sure we are consistently improving our level of preparedness,” Burr said.
Within the United States Senate, numerous Committees exercise overlapping jurisdictions over the Executive Branch departments tasked with WMD terrorism prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response. The Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, the Armed Services Committee, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence all oversee how the U.S. government organizes itself to detect, deter, defend, prepare for and respond to an act of WMD terrorism. But no one Senate committee encompasses jurisdiction over all dimensions of this enormous challenge.
The Senate Caucus on WMD Terrorism will comprise of an informal grouping of Members who recognize the urgency and depth of the threat posed to the United States and its citizens by acts of nuclear, biological and chemical terrorism and who seek a better understanding of feasible policy responses. It will organize occasional roundtables for Members and their staffs to hear from the leading experts in the field on proposed policy responses to prevent, prepare for, mitigate and respond to acts of WMD terrorism.
Members of the Senate Caucus on WMD Terrorism are Bob Casey (D-PA), Richard Burr (R-NC), Evan Bayh (D-IN), James Inhofe (R-OK), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA).
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