Deep down, we’re all Americans

The sixth anniversary of 9/11 is a stark reminder that terrorists still threaten American security. But a story out of Albania, of all places, provides a small piece of hopeful news. Earlier this month, that former Communist country celebrated the complete destruction of its cache of chemical weapons, secretly hidden during the depths of the Cold War.

Eliminating the stockpile was financed by $50 million appropriated under legislation sponsored in 1991 by a Republican, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, and a Democrat, former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia. Both men attended a conference marking the event and suggested that the Albanian example could be duplicated elsewhere in the world to reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction.

The uncontrolled global spread of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons poses the most serious threat to American security today. A terrorist wielding a single portable device could cause countless casualties in a crowded city, spreading fear and panic worldwide.

A year after 9/11 we spoke with then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who told us: America can absorb and survive the loss of 3,000 lives. But suppose terrorists had the weaponry to kill 30,000? Or 300,000? There is no better use for American tax dollars than quarantining and destroying the arsenals that could make Rumsfeld’s nightmare come true.

The event in Albania was part of a weeklong tour made by Nunn and Lugar to highlight the impact of their program. As lawmakers return to Washington, paralyzed by partisan wrangling and widely derided by the American public, it’s important to remember that Congress can still work, it can still produce legislation that makes the world a better place. But that’s true only if lawmakers follow the Nunn-Lugar model, pushing partisan agendas aside and working together on measures that serve the long-term national interest, not short-term political advantage.

Neither party “won” anything when Nunn-Lugar was adopted in 1992, neither party could use the vote in campaign ads to bash the other side. The only winners were the American families who are no longer targeted by nearly 7,000 nuclear warheads, 653 intercontinental ballistic missiles and 30 nuclear submarines that have been destroyed since then.

The program is hardly perfect, waste and delays have plagued its efforts. But on the Russian leg of their journey, Nunn and Lugar visited a factory in western Siberia that will eventually destroy 2 million Soviet-era artillery shells containing deadly nerve gas. At Mayak, they inspected a complex designed to safeguard 25 metric tons of plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapons.

These are not “bridges to nowhere,” pet projects catering to parochial political whims. They are huge bargains, in both practical and political terms. In fact, Nunn said of the Mayak facility, “this is the strongest bridge we’ve built” between Washington and Moscow, demonstrating that former enemies can forge “working relationships” and cooperate on common goals.

Building bridges between the two parties on Capitol Hill is just as necessary, and just as difficult. Take the Iraq issue. Democratic leaders have refused to allow votes on moderate compromises that might give vulnerable Republicans political cover. President Bush has been equally rigid, vowing to veto any measure that sets limits on his power.

People like Nunn and Lugar are needed more than ever on Capitol Hill. Their great achievement, making every American a little bit safer every day, should remind lawmakers what can be accomplished if they’re prepared to share credit with their political rivals.

Steve and Cokie Roberts can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected].