REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Saga Foundation, a non-profit organization focusing on the threat of nuclear terrorism, announced its support today for a television advertising campaign that raises nuclear security as a key issue deserving more bipartisan attention in the 2008 presidential campaign.
Set to air beginning on Super Bowl Sunday and run through the Super Tuesday primaries on major networks and on line, the ad reminds viewers that while they go about their daily lives, terrorists are shopping the black market trying to secure the materials needed to make a crude nuclear bomb.
"The 9/11 Commission told us that terrorists can buy or steal materials for a nuclear bomb," the narrator says in the 30-second spot. "Yet Washington hasn't done enough to protect us from the threat of terrorists getting nuclear weapons. Ask how your candidate will secure loose nuclear materials around the world to prevent a nuclear 9/11."
The Saga Foundation provided the principal funding for the ad campaign, which was put together by the Partnership for a Secure America, a bipartisan coalition of leaders in the foreign policy arena advocating for a new, more cooperative approach to U.S. foreign policy and an end to the divisiveness that has hurt America's reputation worldwide. Among the prominent Americans who have co-signed a bipartisan op-ed article laying out the key elements of the campaign are former Senators Howard Baker , Nancy Kassebaum Baker, Gary Hart , Sam Nunn and Warren Rudman , and former 9/11 Commission Co-Chairs Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton .
"The Saga Foundation is proud to support this effort to steer the presidential debate in a constructive direction toward an issue that has been neglected in the campaign so far. This is an issue that we neglect at our peril," said Saga President David Bartoshuk .
Nuclear terrorism is first among five issue areas identified by the supporters of the advertising campaign as being capable of bridging the partisan divide at a time when Americans are calling for greater unity in their government. The op-ed article, signed by 22 prominent Americans who have held senior government posts for both major parties, reminds voters that in 2005 the 9/11 Commission gave the U.S. government a grade of "D" for its efforts to secure global nuclear stockpiles and prevent further proliferation. The article challenges the presidential candidates to describe how they would strengthen international cooperation to prevent terrorists from buying or stealing nuclear material, and turn this failing grade into an "A."
Saga was founded by William P. Laughlin, founder of the restaurant and food company, the Saga Corporation. The Foundation has worked with other non-profit organizations on a number of programs and is dedicated to raising awareness and creating models for action to increase nuclear safety and security. PSA's campaign also received support from Connect US, a consortium of non-profit groups. For more information on the campaign, visit www.SagaFoundation.org.
Contact: David Bartoshuk, President
650-369-9944
SOURCE The Saga Foundation
