DePaul University Law Professor Barry Kellman, an expert on arms control, international security and terrorism, is available to discuss The National Commission on Terrorism's report issued Monday and the U.S.-Russian arms control summit. Kellman is co-director of DePaul's International Criminal Justice and Weapons Control Center and served as a legal consultant for the anti-terrorism commission.

     A 10-member independent panel formed by Congress to investigate the threat of terrorism issued its report to lawmakers Monday, concluding that the United States has not been aggressive enough in fighting terrorism.

     The 64-page report by the National Commission on Terrorism, formed after the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa, makes a number of recommendations for a more aggressive government response to terrorism and spells out criteria for the FBI to investigate suspected terrorists.

     Kellman said that some have misinterpreted the recommendations as restrictions of civil liberties. "The report does not restrict civil liberties, but precisely reflects the current state of laws on civil liberties as interpreted by the Supreme Court," he said. "The commission is saying in its report that the FBI can accomplish its anti-terrorism mission within the boundaries of the Constitution, and not exceed it."

     U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Vladimir Putin will wrap up a three-day Moskow summit on arms control Monday. The two nations each pledged to destroy 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium in the next 20 years and agreed to a joint early-warning system for missile launches. However, no accord was reached on the United States' intention to build a nuclear missile defense system, which would require an amendment to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

     Kellman said the two leaders could have accomplished more at the summit.

     "Both countries have more than 5,000 nuclear weapons and have agreed to reducing their arsenals to between 2,000 to 2,500," Kellman said. "Putin wanted to substantially scale back nuclear weapons, with a goal of 1,500 for each country, and would have made concessions on the missile defense issue if the United States had agreed. But the U.S. Defense Department advised Clinton to say no. It was a missed opportunity to reduce the size of each country's arsenal and resolve the missile defense issue."