[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 74 (Thursday, May 23, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5626-S5627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           DEFEND AMERICA ACT

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, yesterday President Clinton acknowledged--
belatedly--that the post-cold-war era presents us with new national 
security challenges. He stated, ``The end of communism has opened the 
door to the spread of weapons of mass destruction * * *.'' 
Unfortunately, while the President is finally willing to recognize the 
threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, he 
remains unwilling to seriously respond to it--with progress, as opposed 
to pronouncements--on national missile defense.
  Most Americans do not know--let me underscore--most Americans do not 
know that the United States has no defense against ballistic missiles. 
If you were to ask the average American, in fact to ask anybody in this 
Chamber unless they are on the Armed Services Committee, they might not 
know. If you were asked a question, ``If a missile, an incoming missile 
was headed toward Chicago, what should the President of the United 
States do?'' and the people will tell you in these little focus groups, 
``Shoot it down''--we can't. We don't have a defense. So, if a rogue 
state such as North Korea launched a single missile at the United 
States, we could do nothing to stop its deadly flight towards an 
American town or city.
  In his speech yesterday President Clinton pointed to his $3 billion 
budget request for missile defense programs as evidence of a ``strong, 
sensible national missile defense program.'' This happens to be 21 
percent less than the President's own national security advisers 
proposed in their Bottom-Up review of U.S. defense needs. It is also 30 
percent less than what the Senate Armed Services Committee provides in 
this year's defense authorization bill. In short, it is not enough for 
a determined and effective effort to defend the American people from 
the threat of ballistic missiles.
  President Clinton attacked the Defend America Act, which I introduced 
2 months ago, claiming:

       They have a plan that Congress will take up this week that 
     would force us to choose now a costly missile defense system 
     that could be obsolete tomorrow.

  This is simply not true. The Defend America Act only forces to commit 
now to deploy a national missile defense system by the year 2003. The 
choice of what type of system is left up to the Secretary of Defense 
who will report back to the Congress on the requirements for an 
effective ballistic missile defense system. And making a decision to go 
forward with missile defense now will not, as the President argued 
yesterday, lead to America deploying an obsolete system.
  The programs we currently have in development can serve as the 
building blocks for a system that meets the missile threat as it 
emerges. Furthermore, as with the procurement of any weapons system, 
moving from development to deployment requires lead time. You cannot do 
it in a week or a year or 18 months. It does not happen overnight. The 
President's assertions contradict those of his own Secretary of 
Defense, who recently stated that these technologies ``would be quite 
capable of defending against the much smaller and relatively 
unsophisticated ICBM threat that a rogue or a terrorist could mount any 
time in the foreseeable future.''
  That is the Secretary of Defense.
  I would like to address the issue of cost. There has been quite an 
uproar about a Congressional Budget Office estimate of the cost of 
deploying a national missile defense system pursuant to the Defend 
America Act. The CBO stated that total acquisition costs for the year 
2010 would range from $31 billion to $60 billion, if such a system 
largely consists of advanced space-based components. However, the 
Defend America Act does not specify any required components of a 
national missile defense system to include space-based components. On 
the other hand, the CBO says that a ground-based system with upgraded 
space-based sensors

[[Page S5627]]

would run around $14 billion. Section 4 of the Defend America Act 
states:

       The Secretary of Defense shall develop for deployment an 
     affordable and operationally effective national missile 
     defense system which shall achieve initial operational 
     capability by the end of 2003.

  The decision on what is affordable and effective is left up to the 
Secretary of Defense. What I would like to know is how CBO estimated a 
national missile defense system whose components are unknown. It seems 
to me that the CBO approach was somewhat like a family deciding they 
are going to buy a house and being told by a real estate agent that it 
will cost them anywhere between $40,000 to $4 million. That is the 
range.
  That is true, houses come in many prices. There are two-bedroom homes 
and then there are the mansions and the couple's decision would come 
down to what they need and what they can afford. Those are the same 
guidelines we need to use here. What does the United States need to 
protect its citizens, and how can it best be done and how can we 
achieve this protection in an affordable manner?
  Outlining these estimates are a good way to avoid a serious debate on 
a most serious issue. The American people deserve better, because we 
are talking about the safety and security of their children and their 
grandchildren and themselves.
  You would not know, if you follow some of the press coverage of this 
issue, that the cold war is over.

  We do not need a so-called space shield to defend against an attack 
of thousands of missiles. We do, however, need to defend the American 
people against the much more limited threat of an accidental launch or 
an attack by rogue and terrorist regimes, such as North Korea and Iran, 
who are acquiring a limited, but deadly, capability to deliver weapons 
of mass destruction with ballistic missiles.
  As President Clinton's former Director of Central Intelligence 
testified, the threat of ballistic missiles is growing and the 
administration is not addressing this frightening reality. This is 
President Clinton's former Director of the CIA.
  In his testimony before the House National Security Committee, James 
Woolsey stated:

       Ballistic missiles can, in the future they increasingly 
     will, be used by hostile states for blackmail, terror, and to 
     drive wedges between us and our allies. It is my judgment 
     that the administration is not currently giving this vital 
     problem the proper weight it deserves.

  Through budgetary scare tactics and skewed analysis, the 
administration is trying to confuse this issue and avoid answering the 
central question of whether or not the American people should be 
protected. By seeking to proceed to the Defend America Act today, I 
hope to move beyond rhetoric and misinformation to a serious debate on 
a critical matter affecting the future security of all Americans.
  I believe the number one responsibility this Government has to its 
citizens is to provide them with protection. That is what the Defend 
America Act is all about.
  So, again, let me repeat the question: If you had an incoming 
ballistic missile and you ask somebody in my State or any State, What 
should the President do, they would say, ``Shoot it down.'' And your 
response would have to be, ``We cannot. We have no defense.''
  I suggest those who say it is a decade away go back and look at some 
of the predictions made in the past. I believe we have that obligation. 
When we talk about the cost, $14 billion is a lot of money, but so 
would be the human cost and any added cost if some rogue state or some 
accidental launch directed a missile toward the United States.


                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 1635

  Mr. DOLE. I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate turn to the 
consideration of calendar No. 411.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. DOLE. Let me identify that as S. 1635, the ``Defend America'' 
bill.

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