(a) Program authorized

(1) The Secretary of Energy may carry out a program, to be known as the Silk Road Initiative, to promote non-weapons-related employment opportunities for scientists, engineers, and technicians formerly engaged in activities to develop and produce weapons of mass destruction in Silk Road nations. The program should—

(A) incorporate best practices under the Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention program; and

(B) facilitate commercial partnerships between private entities in the United States and scientists, engineers, and technicians in the Silk Road nations.

(2) Before implementing the program with respect to multiple Silk Road nations, the Secretary of Energy shall carry out a pilot program with respect to one Silk Road nation selected by the Secretary. It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary should select the Republic of Georgia.

(b) Silk Road nations defined
In this section, the Silk Road nations are Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Republic of Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

(c) Funding
Of the funds authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Energy for nonproliferation and international security for fiscal year 2005, up to $10,000,000 may be used to carry out this section.