§2301. Findings
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Weapons of mass destruction and related materials and technologies are increasingly available from worldwide sources. Technical information relating to such weapons is readily available on the Internet, and raw materials for chemical, biological, and radiological weapons are widely available for legitimate commercial purposes.
(2) The former Soviet Union produced and maintained a vast array of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons of mass destruction.
(3) Many of the states of the former Soviet Union retain the facilities, materials, and technologies capable of producing additional quantities of weapons of mass destruction.
(4) The disintegration of the former Soviet Union was accompanied by disruptions of command and control systems, deficiencies in accountability for weapons, weapons-related materials and technologies, economic hardships, and significant gaps in border control among the states of the former Soviet Union. The problems of organized crime and corruption in the states of the former Soviet Union increase the potential for proliferation of nuclear, radiological, biological, and chemical weapons and related materials.
(5) The conditions described in paragraph (4) have substantially increased the ability of potentially hostile nations, terrorist groups, and individuals to acquire weapons of mass destruction and related materials and technologies from within the states of the former Soviet Union and from unemployed scientists who worked on those programs.
(6) As a result of such conditions, the capability of potentially hostile nations and terrorist groups to acquire nuclear, radiological, biological, and chemical weapons is greater than at any time in history.
(7) The President has identified North Korea, Iraq, Iran, and Libya as hostile states which already possess some weapons of mass destruction and are developing others.
(8) The acquisition or the development and use of weapons of mass destruction is well within the capability of many extremist and terrorist movements, acting independently or as proxies for foreign states.
(9) Foreign states can transfer weapons to or otherwise aid extremist and terrorist movements indirectly and with plausible deniability.
(10) Terrorist groups have already conducted chemical attacks against civilian targets in the United States and Japan, and a radiological attack in Russia.
(11) The potential for the national security of the United States to be threatened by nuclear, radiological, chemical, or biological terrorism must be taken seriously.
(12) There is a significant and growing threat of attack by weapons of mass destruction on targets that are not military targets in the usual sense of the term.
(13) Concomitantly, the threat posed to the citizens of the United States by nuclear, radiological, biological, and chemical weapons delivered by unconventional means is significant and growing.
(14) Mass terror may result from terrorist incidents involving nuclear, radiological, biological, or chemical materials.
(15) Facilities required for production of radiological, biological, and chemical weapons are much smaller and harder to detect than nuclear weapons facilities, and biological and chemical weapons can be deployed by alternative delivery means other than long-range ballistic missiles.
(16) Covert or unconventional means of delivery of nuclear, radiological, biological, and chemical weapons include cargo ships, passenger aircraft, commercial and private vehicles and vessels, and commercial cargo shipments routed through multiple destinations.
(17) Traditional arms control efforts assume large state efforts with detectable manufacturing programs and weapons production programs, but are ineffective in monitoring and controlling smaller, though potentially more dangerous, unconventional proliferation efforts.
(18) Conventional counterproliferation efforts would do little to detect or prevent the rapid development of a capability to suddenly manufacture several hundred chemical or biological weapons with nothing but commercial supplies and equipment.
(19) The United States lacks adequate planning and countermeasures to address the threat of nuclear, radiological, biological, and chemical terrorism.
(20) The Department of Energy has established a Nuclear Emergency Response Team which is available in case of nuclear or radiological emergencies, but no comparable units exist to deal with emergencies involving biological or chemical weapons or related materials.
(21) State and local emergency response personnel are not adequately prepared or trained for incidents involving nuclear, radiological, biological, or chemical materials.
(22) Exercises of the Federal, State, and local response to nuclear, radiological, biological, or chemical terrorism have revealed serious deficiencies in preparedness and severe problems of coordination.
(23) The development of, and allocation of responsibilities for, effective countermeasures to nuclear, radiological, biological, or chemical terrorism in the United States requires well-coordinated participation of many Federal agencies, and careful planning by the Federal Government and State and local governments.
(24) Training and exercises can significantly improve the preparedness of State and local emergency response personnel for emergencies involving nuclear, radiological, biological, or chemical weapons or related materials.
(25) Sharing of the expertise and capabilities of the Department of Defense, which traditionally has provided assistance to Federal, State, and local officials in neutralizing, dismantling, and disposing of explosive ordnance, as well as radiological, biological, and chemical materials, can be a vital contribution to the development and deployment of countermeasures against nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons of mass destruction.
(26) The United States lacks effective policy coordination regarding the threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
(
Short Title of 1996 Amendment
Short Title
Section 1401 of title XIV of div. A of
Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States From Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack
"SEC. 1401. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.
"(a)
"(b)
"(c)
"(d)
"(e)
"(f)
"(g)
"SEC. 1402. DUTIES OF COMMISSION.
"(a)
"(1) the nature and magnitude of potential high-altitude EMP threats to the United States from all potentially hostile states or non-state actors that have or could acquire nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles enabling them to perform a high-altitude EMP attack against the United States within the next 15 years;
"(2) the vulnerability of United States military and especially civilian systems to an EMP attack, giving special attention to vulnerability of the civilian infrastructure as a matter of emergency preparedness;
"(3) the capability of the United States to repair and recover from damage inflicted on United States military and civilian systems by an EMP attack; and
"(4) the feasibility and cost of hardening select military and civilian systems against EMP attack.
"(b)
"(c)
"SEC. 1403. REPORTS.
"(a)
"(b)
"(1) commenting on the Commission's findings and conclusions;
"(2) describing political-military scenarios that could possibly lead to an EMP attack against the United States;
"(3) evaluating the relative likelihood of an EMP attack against the United States compared to other threats involving nuclear weapons; and
"(4) explaining what actions, if any, the Secretary intends to take to implement the recommendations of the Commission and the Secretary's reasons for doing so.
"SEC. 1404. POWERS.
"(a)
"(b)
"SEC. 1405. COMMISSION PROCEDURES.
"(a)
"(b)
"(2) The Commission shall act by resolution agreed to by a majority of the members of the Commission.
"(c)
"(d)
"SEC. 1406. PERSONNEL MATTERS.
"(a)
"(b)
"(c)
"(2) The chairman of the Commission may fix the pay of the staff director and other personnel without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating to classification of positions and General Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay fixed under this paragraph for the staff director may not exceed the rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title and the rate of pay for other personnel may not exceed the maximum rate payable for grade GS–15 of the General Schedule.
"(d)
"(e)
"SEC. 1407. MISCELLANEOUS ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.
"(a)
"(b)
"SEC. 1408. FUNDING.
"Funds for activities of the Commission shall be provided from amounts appropriated for the Department of Defense for operation and maintenance for Defense-wide activities for fiscal year 2001. Upon receipt of a written certification from the Chairman of the Commission specifying the funds required for the activities of the Commission, the Secretary of Defense shall promptly disburse to the Commission, from such amounts, the funds required by the Commission as stated in such certification.
"SEC. 1409. TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION.
"The Commission shall terminate 60 days after the date of the submission of its report under section 1403(a)."
Domestic Preparedness for Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction
"SEC. 1401. SHORT TITLE.
"This title may be cited as the 'Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1998'.
"SEC. 1402. DOMESTIC PREPAREDNESS FOR RESPONSE TO THREATS OF TERRORIST USE OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
"(a)
"(b)
"SEC. 1403. REPORT ON DOMESTIC EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS.
"[Amended section 1051 of
"SEC. 1404. THREAT AND RISK ASSESSMENTS.
"(a)
"(b)
"(1) conduct any threat and risk assessment performed under subsection (a) in coordination with appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies; and
"(2) develop procedures and guidance for conduct of the threat and risk assessment in consultation with officials from the intelligence community.
"SEC. 1405. ADVISORY PANEL TO ASSESS DOMESTIC RESPONSE CAPABILITIES FOR TERRORISM INVOLVING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
"(a)
"(b)
"(2) Members of the panel shall be selected by the federally funded research and development center in accordance with the terms of the contract established pursuant to subsection (a).
"(c)
"(d)
"(1) assess Federal agency efforts to enhance domestic preparedness for incidents involving weapons of mass destruction;
"(2) assess the progress of Federal training programs for local emergency responses to incidents involving weapons of mass destruction;
"(3) assess deficiencies in programs for response to incidents involving weapons of mass destruction, including a review of unfunded communications, equipment, and planning requirements, and the needs of maritime regions;
"(4) recommend strategies for ensuring effective coordination with respect to Federal agency weapons of mass destruction response efforts, and for ensuring fully effective local response capabilities for weapons of mass destruction incidents; and
"(5) assess the appropriate roles of State and local government in funding effective local response capabilities.
"(e)
"(f)
"(g)
"(h)
"(2) Not later than December 15 of each year, beginning in 1999 and ending in 2001, the panel shall submit to the President and to the Congress a report setting forth its findings, conclusions, and recommendations for improving Federal, State, and local domestic emergency preparedness to respond to incidents involving weapons of mass destruction.
"(i)
"(2) The Attorney General, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and any other official of the United States shall provide the panel with full and timely cooperation in carrying out its duties under this section.
"(j)
"(k)
"(2) Members of the panel shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies under chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or regular place of business in performance of services for the panel.
"(l)
"(m)