Senator Feinstein, 15 Others Urge President Bush to Take Thousands of Nuclear Weapons off High-Alert Status

Senator Feinstein, 15 Others Urge President Bush to Take Thousands of Nuclear Weapons off High-Alert Status

April 8, 2003

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and 15 of her Senate colleagues have urged President Bush to take thousands of nuclear warheads off "high-alert" status, which could help reduce the threat from an accidental or unauthorized launch.

Under the Moscow Treaty, the United States and Russia are scheduled to remove approximately 3,200 - 3,700 nuclear warheads each from their operationally deployed arsenals. Nevertheless, there are currently no plans to reduce the alert status of these weapons from their highest level. This means that these nuclear weapons could still be launched with just a few minutes notice.

In the letter to President Bush, the Senators wrote: "When the Senate voted to ratify the Moscow Treaty, one of the issues raised during the debate concerned the high alert status of U.S. and Russian nuclear weapon systems. We are writing to urge you to begin a bilateral effort to move beyond the nuclear postures of the Cold War by reducing the alert status of the approximately 3,200-3,700 nuclear warheads each side plans to remove from its operationally deployed arsenals under the Treaty. Reducing the alert status could reduce the possibility of an accidental or unauthorized launch.

Specifically, the Senators urged the President to:

Create a commission comprised of weapon system experts to study methods to take weapons off high- alert status; and

Engage the Russian Government and initiate, in a safe, effective, and verifiable manner, a bilateral stand down from alert status of all U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons systems that will no longer be operationally deployed under the Moscow Treaty.

The Senators continued: "As you have argued, Russia and the United States are entering a new era of relations based on friendship and cooperation. A deliberate nuclear war by either side is unthinkable. Nevertheless, both countries continue to maintain nuclear weapons on high alert status, more than a decade after the end of the Cold War. We must take action to give Russian and American leaders sufficient time to evaluate a crisis before making a decision on a nuclear response."

The letter was cosigned by Senator Tim Johnson, Jon Corzine, Russell Feingold, Tom Harkin, Paul Sarbanes, Jack Reed, Herb Kohl, Daniel Akaka, Patrick Leahy, Patty Murray, Frank Lautenberg, James Jeffords, John Kerry, Carl Levin, and Ron Wyden.

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