[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 102 (Wednesday, June 21, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S8831]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    THE LANDMINE USE MORATORIUM ACT

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last Friday I introduced S. 940, the 
Landmine Use Moratorium Act of 1995, which seeks to spark international 
cooperation to stop the maiming and killing of tens of thousands of 
people each year by landmines.
  I further ask to have printed in the Record a portion of a statement 
issued on June 16, 1995, by the U.S. Catholic Bishops at their semi-
annual meeting in Chicago, entitled ``Sowing Weapons of War: A Pastoral 
Reflection on the Arms Trade and Landmines.'' In that statement the 
Bishops call on the United States to lead an international effort to 
ban the use of antipersonnel landmines. That is the goal announced by 
President Clinton at the United Nations last December, and my 
legislation aims to move us toward that goal.
  The statement follows:

 Excerpt From Sowing Weapons of War: A Pastoral Reflection on the Arms 
                          Trade and Landmines

       Banning Landmines: An Urgent Task. Finally, we would like 
     to add our voice to appeals of Pope John Paul II and the 
     growing movement to control and eventually ban anti-personnel 
     landmines. The Holy Father has issued ``a vigorous appeal for 
     the definitive cessation of the manufacture and use of those 
     arms called `anti-personnel mines' . . . In fact, they 
     continue to kill and to cause irreparable damage well after 
     the end of hostilities, giving rise to severe mutilations in 
     adults and above all, in children.'' Some 100 million of 
     these hidden killers are strewn around the world, killing an 
     estimated 500 people per week, most of whom are civilians. In 
     Cambodia, one of every 236 people is an amputee because of 
     mine blasts. While landmines can be used responsibly for 
     legitimate defense, they are often indiscriminate in use, 
     especially in the intra-state conflicts which are so 
     prevalent today. Moreover, landmines are indiscriminate in 
     time because, as the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace 
     has pointed out, they cause ``unacceptable damage to civilian 
     populations long after the cessation of hostilities.'' From 
     Cambodia to Angola, large areas have been rendered 
     uninhabitable, preventing refugees from returning to their 
     homes, inhibiting post-war reconstruction, and producing an 
     ongoing threat to innocent life.
       The United States should lead an international effort to 
     reduce and ultimately ban the use of anti-personnel 
     landmines, just as was done with chemical and biological 
     weapons. The current moratorium on U.S. exports of landmines 
     is commendable; it should be made permanent and should be 
     extended globally. The United States should also take steps, 
     such as those called for in legislation now before Congress, 
     to further restrict its own use of landmines, while it 
     pursues with urgency and persistence international agreements 
     to restrict use globally. The decision to ratify the 
     Conventional Weapons Convention and to seek to strengthen it 
     during its review this year is welcome. Finally, our 
     government should continue to take a leadership role in 
     developing an international effort on the costly and time-
     consuming process of demining, so important to the protection 
     of innocent life and reconstruction in so many war-torn 
     countries.
     

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