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U.S. Representative Howard Berman (D-Calif.) yesterday announced a new bill aimed partly at employing former weapons of mass destruction scientists in civilian enterprises (see GSN, Feb. 4).
The legislation is intended to "enhance U.S. efforts at science diplomacy," according to a press release. It would support collaborative nuclear nonproliferation activities, offer grant funding to scientists in the United States and abroad and augment ongoing academic exchange programs, among other measures (U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee release, March 10).
The bill calls for the initiative -- dubbed the Global Science Program for Security, Competitiveness and Diplomacy -- to place particular focus on engaging "former WMD scientists to assist in their transition to peaceful, civilian research." The program would offer benefits to U.S. firms for giving jobs to such specialists.
The initiative could tailor certain grant-supported research and training programs to non-U.S. scientists and engineers who have "WMD experience or who could be targeted to participate in a WMD or nuclear weapons program," according to the bill. U.S. specialists could also take part in such activities.
The program could also create research and training programs for nuclear experts and specialists in "eligiible countries" who would be charged with implementing civilian nuclear cooperation pacts with the United States.
"It is of the highest priority for United States national security to ensure that scientists who have been engaged in weapons of mass destruction (WMD)-related research and engineering are encouraged and supported, in partnership with foreign governments, to engage in productive civil initiatives," the bill states. "This collaboration and other international scientific partnerships can be applied directly to solving pressing problems of global security, including global pandemics and climate change."
The program should "conduct research and training programs that (i) engage scientists and engineers
who might otherwise be exploited to participate in illicit nuclear or WMD weapons programs; (ii) help prevent nuclear and WMD proliferation; or (iii) encourage foreign scientists and engineers, in collaboration with United States partners, to develop technologies and methods to combat WMD terrorism," the legislation states (Diane Barnes, Global Security Newswire, March 11).