[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 112 (Wednesday, July 12, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9810-S9811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


SENATE RESOLUTION 149--RELATIVE TO A SERIES OF UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR TEST 
                               EXPLOSIONS

  Mr. AKAKA submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 149

       Whereas the President of France stated on June 13, 1995, 
     that the Republic of France plans to conduct 8 nuclear test 
     explosions over the next several months;
       Whereas the United States, France, Russia, and Great 
     Britain have observed a moratorium on nuclear testing since 
     1992;
       Whereas a resumption of testing by the Republic of France 
     could result in the disintegration of the current testing 
     moratorium and a renewal of underground testing by other 
     nuclear weapon states;
       Whereas a resumption of nuclear testing raises serious 
     environmental and health concerns;
       Whereas the United Nations Conference on Disarmament 
     presently is meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, for the purpose 
     of negotiating a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 
     (CTBT), which would halt permanently the practice of 
     conducting nuclear test explosions; and
       Whereas the announcement by the President of France 
     severely undermines the efforts of the international 
     community to conclude a CTBT by 1996, a goal endorsed by 175 
     nations, including France and the United States, at the 
     recently completed NPT Extension and Review Conference (the 
     conference for the extension and review of the Nuclear Non-
     Proliferation Treaty): Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 
     Republic of France should abide by the current international 
     moratorium on nuclear test explosions, refrain from 
     proceeding with its announced intention of conducting a 
     series of nuclear tests in advance of a Comprehensive Test 
     Ban Treaty, and initiate preparations to close its 
     underground test sites at the Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls.

 Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, today I submit a resolution which 
expresses the sense of the Senate regarding the Republic of France's 
intention to conduct a series of underground nuclear test explosions 
despite the current international moratorium on nuclear testing.
  On June 13, 1995, French President Jacques Chirac announced that the 
Republic of France planned to resume nuclear testing in the South 
Pacific. A series of eight underground tests are planned beginning 
September, 1995 and ending in May, 1996 at the Mururoa and Fangataufa 
atolls located in French Polynesia.
  Following the French announcement, I contacted the White House to 
urge 

[[Page S 9811]]

President Clinton to convey the concerns of the United States and the 
Pacific island nations to France over its resumption of nuclear 
testing. We in the Pacific, more than any other region in the world, 
know the ramifications of nuclear testing. We only have to look at what 
happened to Bikini, Enewetak, or Rongelap Atolls in the Marshall 
Islands to understand the long-term damage to human lives and the 
environment that can occur as a result of nuclear testing. I have 
visited these atolls and I can attest to the plight of the native 
peoples in these areas. The U.S. nuclear testing between 1950 and 1960 
resulted in epidemic-like outbreaks in these communities, including 
damage to the nervous system, paralysis, impaired vision, and increased 
rates of cancer. Even a half century later, the effects are still being 
felt. To this date, clean up efforts have been difficult and slow, and 
some residents have not been able to return to their homelands.
  In May, the world's five nuclear powers--the United States, France, 
Russia, China, and Britain--persuaded the rest of the world to 
indefinitely extend the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. To win that 
consensus, the five countries promised to sign a Comprehensive Test Ban 
Treaty by the end of next year. The resumption of French nuclear 
testing seriously undermines these international efforts to curb the 
proliferation of nuclear weapons.
  We cannot ignore the resumption of nuclear testing by France. By 
adopting this resolution, the Senate will strongly encourage France to 
abide by the current international moratorium on nuclear testing and 
refrain from proceeding with its announced intention of conducting a 
series of nuclear tests in advance of a Comprehensive Test Ban 
Treaty.


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