by Senator Jon Kyl
A March 1995 CIA report warned that at least 20 countries -- half of them in the Middle East and South Asia -- already have or may be developing weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile delivery systems. Five countries -- North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Syria -- pose the greatest threat because of the aggressive nature of their regimes and advanced status of their weapons of mass destruction programs. All five already have or are developing ballistic missiles that could threaten U.S. interests.
Iraq has already attacked U.S. forces with ballistic missiles. Twenty percent of all U.S. casualties in the Persian Gulf War were from Iraqi Scud attacks. Only about 30 percent of the Scuds could be intercepted by our outmoded Patriot system. Some day, someone, somewhere will threaten to or actually launch a ballistic missile at the United States.
When the warning comes, if it comes, most Americans will believe that we will be able to defend ourselves. We can't. Once the codes to launch a nuclear ballistic missile have been entered, the keys are turned and an enemy missile is launched, there is no way to prevent that missile from reaching its target.
We cannot intercept it. We cannot interfere with its guidance system. We cannot make it self destruct. There is nothing we can do to stop even one single missile from reaching the United States of America. Nothing.
Under this administration, that situation won't change. In fact, it's getting worse. The Clinton administration has attempted to limit future U.S. strategic capabilities and is on its way to significantly weakening potential theater defenses (similar to Patriot missiles, but much more capable) which are not limited by the 1972 ABM Treaty.
The administration has tied our hands by negotiating with the Russians about who we can defend against, and where and how many defenses can be deployed. This position was codified in the policy statement issued by Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin during the Summit in Moscow this past May. The position demonstrates an astonishing lack of understanding of U.S. defense needs and a startling willingness to allow Russia to define U.S. defense policy.
America, its allies and our troops abroad will remain defenseless until Congress steps into the vacuum created by the absence of sensible leadership on this issue. Fortunately, the 1996 Department of Defense Authorization bill, which will be debated by the Senate during the last week of July, will reverse much of the damage done by the opponents of ballistic missile defenses. It instructs the administration to halt further negotiations with the Russians that would limit our short range defensive missile systems and it would provide the funds necessary to deploy a system capable of defending the American people by 2003. This year's defense bill contains many important provisions, but none more important than ballistic missile defense.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Liz Hickey
Wednesday, August 2, 1995 (202) 224-4521
SENATE PASSES KYL AMENDMENT TO STRENGTHEN MISSILE DEFENSE
(Washington, D.C.) --- The Senate today approved 94-5 an amendment proposed by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) that "it is the sense of the Senate that all Americans should be protected from accidental, intentional, or limited ballistic missile attack."
"The single largest number of American casualties in the Persian Gulf War were as a direct result of the Scud missile attack by the Iraqis," Kyl said. "This is not a threat that is hypothetical or in the future. Yet too many have been blind to the reality that the ballistic missile with a warhead of mass destruction is the weapon of choice of the dictators and would-be aggressors around the world today."
Senator Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: "This provision makes it absolutely clear that the world is becoming increasingly dangerous with regard to missile proliferation and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. It is important as we begin the debate on missile defense to acknowledge the principle that the United States should be defended against accidental, unauthorized and limited ballistic missile attacks, whatever their source."
The Senate began floor debate today on S. 1026, the Department of Defense authorization bill. It includes legislation that will replace the 1991 Missile Defense Act (MDA), which endorsed the goal of deploying anti-missile defesnes to protect U.S. citizens, American forces overseas, friends, and allies from ballistic missile attacks, with the Missile Defense Act of 1995. The new Act is intended to respond more completely to the challenges and opportunities of the post-Cold War era, and chart a clearer course for missile defense.
The amendment includes the following provisions::
--- The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles presents a threat to the entire world.
-- This threat was recognized by Secretary of Defense William J. Perry in February 1995 in the "Annual Report to the President and the Congress" which states that "[b]eyond the five declared nuclear weapons states, at least 20 other nations have acquired or are attempting to acquire weapons of mass destruction -- nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons -- and the means to deliver them. In fact, in most areas where United States forces could potentially be engaged on a large scale, many of the most likely adversaries already possess chemical and biological weapons. Moreover, some of these same states appear determined to acquire nuclear weapons.
-- At a summit in Moscow in May 1995, President Clinton and President Yeltsin commented on this threat in a Joint Statement which recognizes " . . . the threat posed by worldwide proliferation of missiles and missile technology and the necessity of counteracting this threat . . . "
-- At least 25 countries may be developing weapons of mass destruction and the delivery systems for such weapons.
-- At least 24 countries have chemical weapons programs in various stages of research and development.
-- Approximately 10 countries are believed to have biological weapons programs in various stages of development.
-- At least 10 countries are reportedly interested in the development of nuclear weapons.
-- Several countries recognize that weapons of mass destruction and missiles increase their ability to deter, coerce, or otherwise threaten the United States. Saddam Hussein recognized this when he stated, on May 8, 1990, that "[o]ur missiles cannot reach Washington. If they could reach Washington, we would strike it if the need arose."
-- International regimes like the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Biological Weapons Convention, and the Missile Technology Control Regime, while effective, cannot by themselves halt the spread of weapons and technology. On January 10, 1995, Director of Central Intelligence, James Woolsey, said with regard to Russia that " . . . we are particularly concerned with the safety of nuclear, chemical, and biological materials as well as highly enriched uranium or plutonium, although I want to stress that this is a global problem. For example, highly enriched uranium was recently stolen from South Africa, and last month Czech authorities recovered three kilograms of 87.8 percent- enriched HEU in the Czech Republic -- the largest seizure of near-weapons grade material to date outside the Former Soviet Union.
-- The possession of weapons of mass destruction and missiles by developing countries threatens our friends, allies, and forces abroad and will ultimately threaten the United States directly. On August 11, 1994, Deputy Secretary of Defense John Deutch said that "[i]f the North Koreans field the Taepo Dong 2 missile, Guam, Alaska, and parts of Hawaii would potentially be at risk.
-- The end of the Cold War has changed the strategic environment facing and between the United States and Russia. That the Clinton administration believes the environment to have changed was made clear by Secretary of Defense William J. Perry on September 20, 1994, when he stated that "[w]e now have the opportunity to create a new relationship, based not on MAD, not on Mutual Assured Destruction, but rather on another acronym, MAS, or Mutual Assured Safety.
-- The United States and Russia have the opportunity to create a relationship based on trust rather than fear.
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