Future of the Nunn-Lugar Program Act of 2017

To provide for an independent assessment of the future of cooperative threat reduction. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Future of the Nunn-Lugar Program Act of 2017 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The Cooperative Threat Reduction program, initially established in 1991 by Senators Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn, provided funding and expertise to secure and dismantle nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and delivery systems in former Soviet Union states. (2) After the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program was signed into law, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan all agreed to implement the program. (3) Russia developed programs to improve security at nuclear weapons facilities and together with Ukraine opened science and technology centers to help employ former Soviet weapons scientists. (4) Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan agreed to remove all nuclear warheads from their territories, and accomplished this objective within three years. (5) In 1996, the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici Domestic Preparedness Initiative built on the initial goals of the Cooperative Threat Reduction program to train civilians to assist following an attack by a weapon of mass destruction. (6) In recent years, funding provided through the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program has focused on export and border control programs and on the detection of radiological weapons, sometimes referred to as dirty bombs (7) In 2013, the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program provided funding for Libya to dispose of the chemical weapons and munitions discovered after the fall of the Gadhafi regime. (8) In 2014, under the umbrella of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program, the United States played a role in carrying out the removal of chemical weapons from Syria. (9) The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program has been a success, but as the world continues to change, new partnerships and strategies will be required to deal with new threats posed by weapons of mass destruction. 3. Assessment on the future of cooperative threat reduction (a) Assessment (1) In general Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall seek to enter into an agreement with a federally funded research and development center to assess the current, anticipated, and potential future requirements for cooperative threat reduction. (2) Information and resources The Secretary shall provide the federally funded research and development center conducting the assessment under paragraph (1) with access to any information and resources necessary for the federally funded research and development center to conduct such assessment. (b) Report (1) Interim report Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the federally funded research and development center conducting the assessment under subsection (a)(1) shall submit to the Secretary an interim report on the assessment. (2) Final report Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the federally funded research and development center conducting the assessment under subsection (a)(1) shall submit to the Secretary a final report on the assessment. (3) Elements Each report under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall include the following: (A) A detailed discussion of the requirements and capabilities necessary for reducing the threats of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. (B) An identification of capability gaps for current and future cooperative threat reduction efforts and requirements. (C) Recommendations with respect to actions that could be taken, including legislative actions, to modernize the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program of the Department of Defense established under section 1321 of the Department of Defense Cooperative Threat Reduction Act ( 50 U.S.C. 3711 (D) Recommendations with respect to actions that could be taken to modernize the command and control enterprise and the role of the Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. (E) Such other matters as the Secretary determines appropriate. (4) Submission Not later than seven days after receiving each report under paragraphs (1) and (2), the Secretary shall submit such report to Congress without change. (c) Cooperative threat reduction defined In this section, the term cooperative threat reduction 50 U.S.C. 3711(a)

Summary: Future of the Nunn-Lugar Program Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to: (1) seek to enter into an agreement with a federally funded research and development center to assess requirements for cooperative threat reduction, and (2) provide such center with access to necessary information and resources. The center shall provide DOD with an interim and a final report that shall include: (1) a discussion of the requirements and capabilities necessary for reducing the threats of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons; (2) identification of capability gaps for cooperative threat reduction efforts; (3) recommendations for actions to modernize the DOD's Cooperative Threat Reduction Program; and (4) recommendations to modernize the command and control enterprise and the role of the Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, with respect to foreign countries, is intended to facilitate the elimination and the safe and secure transportation and storage of nuclear, chemical, biological, or other weapons and prevent their proliferation.