{ "id": "R43143", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R43143", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 447565, "date": "2015-11-23", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T17:52:30.164846", "title": "The Evolution of Cooperative Threat Reduction: Issues for Congress", "summary": "The United States uses a number of policy tools to address the threat of attack using chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons. These include a set of financial and technical programs known, variously, as cooperative threat reduction (CTR) programs, nonproliferation assistance, or, global security engagement. Congress has supported these programs over the years, but has raised a number of questions about their implementation and their future direction.\nOver the years, the CTR effort shifted from an emergency response to impending chaos in the Soviet Union to a broader program seeking to keep CBRN weapons away from rogue nations or terrorist groups. It has also grown from a DOD-centered effort to include projects funded by the Department of Defense (DOD), the State Department, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Together, these agencies sought nearly $1.67 billion for these programs in FY2016. \nAlthough initially focused on the former Soviet Union, these programs now seek to engage partners around the world. The United States has used its funding and expertise to help secure or destroy dangerous weapons and materials in nations that experience civil strife or regime collapse, such as in Libya, and to prevent their spread outside a conflict\u2019s borders, such as with Syria\u2019s neighboring countries. U.S. cooperation has nearly stopped, with many of the CTR projects in Russia winding down after the June 2013 expiration of the Memorandum of Understanding that governed DOD\u2019s cooperation with Russia. The two countries could continue to cooperate on some areas of nuclear security with a bilateral protocol under the Multilateral Nuclear Environmental Program in the Russian Federation Agreement (MNEPR).\nIn its oversight of these programs, Congress has addressed questions about the coordination of and priority given to these programs, about partner nations\u2019 willingness to provide access to their weapons facilities, and about metrics used to measure progress. Congress has also reviewed efforts to engage nations around the world in cooperative threat reduction and security engagement activities. Some Members have actively encouraged the Obama Administration to expand these programs to the Middle East and North Africa.\nThis report summarizes cooperative activities conducted during the full 20 years of U.S. threat reduction and nonproliferation assistance. Many older programs have concluded their work, while more recent programs continue to expand their scope and their geographic reach.\nSeveral DOD and DOE programs have helped Russia and the other former Soviet states eliminate nuclear weapons delivery systems and secure nuclear warheads in storage. DOE has also helped Russia strengthen security and materials accounting at facilities that store nuclear materials. These agencies are seeking to expand this effort to other nations by sharing \u201cbest practices\u201d with partner countries through Centers of Excellence. DOE is also working, through the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI), to secure, protect, and in some cases, remove vulnerable nuclear and radiological materials at civilian facilities worldwide. \nDOD has also helped Russia secure and eliminate chemical weapons by supporting the design and construction of a chemical weapons destruction facility at Shchuch\u2019ye. DOD and the State Department also provide assistance to address concerns about the proliferation of pathogens that might be used in biological weapons. DOD\u2019s biological threat reduction program now accounts for nearly 60% in the FY2016 budget request. It also has grown from a program focused on dismantling the vast biological weapons complex in Russia into a tool used to promote \u201cbest practices\u201d at biological laboratories with dangerous pathogens and to develop disease surveillance systems on several continents, particularly Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.\nThe United States also supports global programs that are designed to prevent the smuggling or illegal export of CBRN materials and technology. The State Department and DOE have also developed programs that are designed to reduce the risk that the weapons scientists would sell their knowledge to nations seeking their own CBRN weapons. These programs seek to prevent terrorists from exploiting scientists, other personnel, or materials to develop these weapons. The programs also train not only scientists, but other lab personnel about international security standards and improve personnel reliability programs to address the \u201cinsider threat.\u201d\nThis report will be updated as needed.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43143", "sha1": "c2737fe2170bb865f13c2b9ac6d311f2fbf7d56a", "filename": "files/20151123_R43143_c2737fe2170bb865f13c2b9ac6d311f2fbf7d56a.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43143", "sha1": "ea9728ba69f622015c04aa39537330b196ec0da9", "filename": "files/20151123_R43143_ea9728ba69f622015c04aa39537330b196ec0da9.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 283, "name": "Russia and the Caucasus" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 3227, "name": "Proliferation and Arms Control" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4531, "name": "Defense Authorization" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc805675/", "id": "R43143_2014Jun13", "date": "2014-06-13", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "The Evolution of Cooperative Threat Reduction: Issues for Congress", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140613_R43143_038d1e15a739cce3b67f79608de94dd0b93798e0.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140613_R43143_038d1e15a739cce3b67f79608de94dd0b93798e0.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc227883/", "id": "R43143_2013Jul08", "date": "2013-07-08", "retrieved": "2013-11-05T18:07:05", "title": "The Evolution of Cooperative Threat Reduction: Issues for Congress", "summary": "This report provides information on the wide range of programs that the United States is pursuing to secure and eliminate nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and materials and to prevent hostile nations and terrorist organizations from gaining access to these weapons or the knowledge and materials needed to manufacture and use them.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20130708_R43143_db03dde8cac9e3fb28fe3f78583de9c71d35644a.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20130708_R43143_db03dde8cac9e3fb28fe3f78583de9c71d35644a.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Mass destruction weapons", "name": "Mass destruction weapons" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nuclear weapons", "name": "Nuclear weapons" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Weapons systems", "name": "Weapons systems" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Biological weapons", "name": "Biological weapons" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Foreign Affairs", "Intelligence and National Security", "National Defense" ] }