Senator Richard Lugar Voted Arms Control Person of the Year
Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) garnered the highest number of votes in an online poll to determine the "2009 Arms Control Person of the Year." Lugar was nominated for "his long-running support for U.S. financial contributions to assist with the construction of Russia's chemical weapons demilitarization complex, which began work this year to neutralize about 2 million shells and warheads stored nearby that are loaded with VX, sarin and soman." In 1999, Senator Lugar visited Shchuchye and demonstrated the proliferation danger of chemical weapons by placing a VW-filled shell in a briefcase. After more than $1 billion in U.S. aid, the site became operational in 2009 with Lugar attending its official opening ceremony in May.
"The opening of the Shchuchye site was an important development in 2009 because it will accelerate the destruction of millions of dangerous and obsolete chemical weapons," said Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Ploughshares Funded Arms Control Association, "His [Lugar] leadership, along with Senator Sam Nunn's, was [also] instrumental in founding the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program that is still working to secure dangerous former Soviet nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and can serve as a model for related efforts around the globe."
Arms Control Association
