Representatives Issa and Melancon have circulated a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee that supports the nomination of Kazakhstani president Nursultan Nazarbayev and US Senators Lugar and Nunn for the… Nobel Peace Prize!

The introduction to the letter reads:

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakhstan inherited a ruined economy and the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal, This arsenal could possibly have helped to resolve the financial problems of this young and struggling nation. However, led by President Nazarbayev, the people of Kazakhstan, knowing firsthand the horrible effects of nuclear tests, made a choice to renounce nuclear weapons. In fact, even during Soviet times and in spite of threats from the Kremlin, President Nazarbayev closed and sealed the world’s second largest test site in Semipalatinsk where the Soviet Union conducted more than 450 nuclear tests from 1949 to 1991.

In the past your bosses have expressed an interest in strengthening the U.S.-Kazakhstan relationship and it is my hope that they will show their support by signing onto this letter as well.

neweurasia reported about this story some while ago. People’s Assembly delegates suggested Nazarbayev should receive the Nobel Peace Prize back then. Having the support of some American representatives probably gives this proposition some more beef now. Without further ado and commenting, here the letter, which came our way some days ago.

June 23 2008

The Norwegian Nobel Committee
Drammensveien 19 NO-0255
Oslo, Norway

Dear Committee Members:

As friends of Kazakhstan, we would like to nominate President Nursultan Nazarbayev of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the award of the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the previous Congress we asked our colleagues to join us in honoring the actions taken by President Nazarbayev and on July 18, 2006, the US House of Representatives unanimously passed House Resolution 905 congratulating Kazakhstan on the 15th anniversary of the closure of the world’s second largest nuclear test site in the Semipalatinsk region of Kazakhstan and for its efforts on the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. With the passage of this resolution the US Congress recognized Kazakhstan as a model for advancing the cause of nuclear nonproliferation.

As important as this Resolution was, we believe the international community can do more to acknowledge Kazakshtan’s contribution to world peace. While we are pleased that in the past the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), we believe President Nazarbayev should be equally honored for reaffirming the worth and advancing the rights of the human person by dismantling the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal, closing and sealing the Semipalatinsk test site, and most recently blending down 6,600 pounds of weapons-usable highly enriched uranium, or enough to produce up to 25 nuclear warheads, converting the material for peaceful use and thereby preventing it from falling into the hands of terrorist organizations.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakhstan inherited a ruined economy and the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal. Under the wrong leadership this arsenal could have been used to help resolve the financial problems of this young and struggling nation. However, led by President Nazarbayev, the people of Kazakhstan, knowing firsthand the horrible effects of nuclear tests, made a choice to renounce nuclear weapons. In fact, even during Soviet times and in spite of threats from the Kremlin, President Nazarbayev closed and sealed the world’s second largest test site in Semipalatinsk where the Soviet Union conducted more than 450 nuclear tests from 1949 to 1991.

Today, few know of President Nazarbayev’s brave decision that undoubtedly changed the course of modern history. This is because Kazakhstan did not bargain and did not lobby to gain political or economic dividends from its choice. Rather, Kazakhstan, for the sake of global peace and security, consciously chose to ensure a better tomorrow for future generations. The courageous decision made by President Nazarbayev serves as an example that we should strongly encourage other leaders to follow.

While we are grateful that the world is aware of the Chernobyl disaster where thousands perished, we believe the world knows too little about the tragedies of Semipalatinsk where children and the elderly have been dying for decades as a result of Cold War policies that to this day have never been set right. In Semipalatinsk, the cumulative power of explosions from nuclear tests conducted by the former Soviet Union is believed to be equal to the power of 2,500 explosions of the type of bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. More than 1.5 million people in Kazakhstan suffered from nuclear contamination as a result of these tests and a horrifying array of disease will continue to destroy the lives of many more.

The time has come for their story to be told and, in a time when there is a great need to establish a global initiative to combat nuclear terrorism, it is only fitting for President Nursultan Nazarbayev, along with US Senator Richard Lugar, and former US Senator Sam Nunn to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their commitment to nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, and for their efforts in bringing an end to further suffering.

Sincerely,