Richard G. Lugar, United States Senator for Indiana

The Obama Administration announces today that Kenneth A. Myers III has been appointed by the Secretary of Defense to be the Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). DTRA’s mission is to safeguard the United States from weapons of mass destruction (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high explosives) by providing capabilities to reduce, eliminate and counter the threat, and mitigate its effects. The agency implements the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program, manages treaty implementation and plays an important role in WMD protection and consequence management.

Myers, 40, has been a Senior Professional Staff Member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee since 2003, advising U.S. Sen. Richard G. Lugar and other members of the Committee on European, former Soviet and Central Asian affairs and the Caucasus, as well as nonproliferation, counterproliferation and arms control. Previously, Myers served on Lugar’s personal office staff for nearly nine years. In these positions, he was Lugar’s primary advisor on the Nunn-Lugar program and staffed Lugar’s efforts to expand the program beyond the former Soviet Union, remove bureaucratic obstacles at home and abroad and enhance its authorities and funding.

In addition, Myers assisted Lugar on arms control matters and the ratification of more than 13 treaties in the Senate. His responsibilities included oversight of treaty implementation, including the critical role of verification, and our country’s inspection capacity. DTRA also has an important mission in WMD consequence management. Myers served as the lead staffer for Lugar in the development of the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici legislation. It established a coordinated WMD response capability and first responder training program at the Pentagon. Myers also traveled extensively with Lugar overseas, joining him on his annual inspection tours of Nunn-Lugar projects.

“I applaud Secretary Gates’ appointment of Ken Myers to lead DTRA. Ken’s nearly 15 years of experience in these areas is unparalleled and his unique combination of hands-on experience with the Nunn-Lugar program as well as his arms control expertise and leadership on consequence management matters will ensure strong leadership in these critical issues. Fighting the spread of weapons of mass destruction is a critically important job and no one is more capable of intensifying U.S. efforts to control WMD” Lugar said.

“I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity to have served on the staff of Senator Lugar. He is a true leader and statesman who I will continue to try to emulate. I am thankful to Secretary Gates for the opportunity to take the experience I have gained and apply it to the implementation of programs that make our country safer from the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction. President Obama has challenged our government to secure all loose nuclear weapons and materials in four years. I look forward to working with the professionals at DTRA to meet the President’s goal,” Myers said.

DTRA, established in 1998, employs 2,000 men and women, both military and civilian at more than 14 locations in 9 countries around the world. The agency headquarters is located in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

In November 1991, Lugar (R-IN) and Sen. Sam Nunn (D-GA) authored the Nunn-Lugar Act, which established the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. This program has provided U.S. funding and expertise to help the former Soviet Union safeguard and dismantle its enormous stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, related materials, and delivery systems. In 2003, Congress adopted the Nunn-Lugar Expansion Act, which authorized the Nunn-Lugar program to operate outside the former Soviet Union to address proliferation threats. In 2004, Nunn-Lugar funds were committed for the first time outside of the former Soviet Union to destroy chemical weapons in Albania, under a Lugar-led expansion of the program. In 2007, Lugar announced the complete destruction of Albania’s chemical weapons.

The Nunn-Lugar scorecard now totals 7,514 strategic nuclear warheads deactivated, 752 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) destroyed, 498 ICBM silos eliminated, 143 ICBM mobile launchers destroyed, 643 submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) eliminated, 476 SLBM launchers eliminated, 31 nuclear submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles destroyed, 155 bomber eliminated, 906 nuclear air-to-surface missiles (ASMs) destroyed, 194 nuclear test tunnels eliminated, 444 nuclear weapons transport train shipments secured, upgraded security at 24 nuclear weapons storage sites, and built and equipped 18 biological monitoring stations. Perhaps most importantly, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus are nuclear weapons free as a result of cooperative efforts under the Nunn-Lugar program. Those countries were the third, fourth and eighth largest nuclear weapons powers in the world.

Lugar makes annual oversight trips to Nunn-Lugar sites around the world. In 2005, he and Myers were joined by then Sen. Barack Obama on an oversight trip to Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

The Nunn-Lugar program: http://lugar.senate.gov/nunnlugar/

The Nunn-Lugar scorecard: http://lugar.senate.gov/nunnlugar/scorecard.html

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