WASHINGTON (AP) - Warning that terrorists are seeking new tools of destruction, President Bill Clinton said Friday he will ask Congress for dlrs 2.8 billion to help the United States guard against attacks via computers, viruses or chemicals.
"The enemies of peace realize they cannot defeat us with traditional means," Clinton said in a speech at the National Academy of Sciences.
He said the United States has to guard against attacks on the nation's computer network, banking systems, power grids and other essential services. Similarly, he said the government must accelerate research and development into defenses against germ warfare and chemical attacks.
"We're doing everything we can in ways that I can and ways that I cannot discuss to try to stop people who would misuse chemical and biological capacity from getting that capacity," the president said.
"This is not a cause for panic," he added. "It is a cause for serious, deliberate, disciplined, long-term concern. And I am absolutely convinced that if we maintain our clear purpose and our strength of will, we will prevail here. We have better than a good chance of success but we must be deliberate and we must be aggressive.
The threat that "keeps me awake at night," he told The New York Times in an interview, is the possibility of germ attack.
"A chemical attack would be horrible, but it would be finite," he said, adding that it would not spread. But a biological attack could spread, "kind of like the gift that keeps on giving," the president said.
He told the newspaper it is "highly likely" that a terrorist group would launch or threaten a germ or chemical attack on American soil within the next few years.
The president warned that any attack would lead to "at least a proportionate if not a disproportionate response."
Clinton's plan, to be included in his fiscal 2000 budget proposal next month, is intended to ensure the United States is able to defend against, and ready to respond to, any such terrorist attacks, national security spokesman David Leavy said.
The president's plan earmarks dlrs 52 million to continue purchasing a national stockpile of medicine and vaccines to protect the civilian population. It also envisions dlrs 683 million to train and equip emergency personnel in U.S. cities and strengthen the public health infrastructure.
The president proposed dlrs 206 million to protect government facilities and dlrs 381 million for research and development.