[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 83 (Friday, June 7, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5971-S5972]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MISSILE DEFENSE

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, the distinguished Senator from North 
Dakota talked about star wars. He and I have had this discussion. There 
is, I guess, nothing to be gained other than to update it and put it in 
the context of today's debate, but it always offends me when we talk 
about star wars. Star wars is a phrase that was coined to make it look 
like this is something fictitious, something imaginary, when in fact 
there is a very real threat that is facing the United States of 
America, that of missile attack.
  We know the Russians have their SS-25. They have the SS-18, which is 
a MIRV'd missile with a number of warheads capability, some 10 
warheads. We know the Chinese have a missile that can reach us. We know 
the North Koreans are in the final stages of developing the Taepo Dong 
missile that originally was going to reach the United States by 2002. 
Now we feel, our intelligence community feels, it will be the year 
1999.
  We were on schedule from 1983 to protect ourselves against a missile 
attack, so that we would have protection, or a defense system in place, 
by the year 1999. We are not talking about star wars. We are not 
talking about even space-based launchers. We are talking about 
technology that is alive today. We have bought and paid for and have 
almost $50 billion invested in 22 Aegis ships that are floating now, 
paid for. They have launching capability. They can knock down missiles 
coming in. But they cannot knock down missiles coming in, ICBM's, that 
would come in from above the atmosphere. So we are trying merely to 
take that $50 billion that has already been spent, spend $4 billion 
more so they can reach above the atmosphere and knock down a missile 
that might be coming from North Korea.
  We would have some 30 minutes' time between the time a missile is 
launched and our technology tells us when that was launched. I am an 
aviator. I flew an airplane around the world a couple of years ago. I 
used the global positioning system, that is satellites, for navigation 
all the way around. We can know what is happening around the world 
today. The technology is there.
  So, if a missile is launched in North Korea, we know it is coming, we 
have 30 minutes to do something about it, but you cannot hit it because 
it is above the upper tier. All we need to do is spend about 10 percent 
more of the money that we have spent to be able to give the capability 
to knock it down. That is not star wars. I do not know where they come 
up with this $70 billion or $60 billion. The CBO came out and said it 
would cost about $31 billion to $60 billion more, over the next 14 
years, if we installed and made a reality all of the proposed missile 
defense systems. We are not suggesting that. No one is.
  The other day on this floor I said it is like going into a used car 
lot and saying I want to buy all the cars. You do not need to do that. 
You get the one that works, the one that fits your needs, and that 
takes care of it. That is the way we are in our missile defense system. 
I hate to use that as an example. I hate to be redundant by coming back 
over and over again, talking about it, but it has to be talked about.
  When the distinguished Senator from North Dakota said we are talking 
about a budget next week about spending $11 billion more than the 
Pentagon wants--yes, I will be supporting that. Those of us who are 
conservatives over here, we want cuts in programs. We have to defend 
America. I was so proud of the chiefs of the four services testifying 
before the Senate Armed Services Committee, who came in and--this is 
the first time, I think, in the history of this country this has 
happened--they defied their own President and said we have to have $20 
billion more in order to defend America. This is what they said.
  They are not the top. There is the Secretary of Defense, appointed by 
the President; not the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, John

[[Page S5972]]

Shalikashvili, who is also appointed. These are the ones in charge of 
the four services, and it took a lot of courage. We do need it and it 
took courage.
  ``Where is the money going to come from for all these,'' the Senator 
said. If he had been listening, I outlined a program we have been 
talking about for several years now. The Heritage Foundation and others 
came up with it. If we take all our Government programs and not 
eliminate one program, but only expand each one by 1.5 percent, we 
would be able to balance the budget and have the tax cuts that we have 
talked about that Americans desperately need.
  That is not realistically what is going to happen, but we could do 
it, and I would live with that in a heartbeat, a 1.5 percent increase 
in the defense budget. We have cut our defense budget 11 consecutive 
years. We are down now below the level where we were in 1980 when we 
could not afford spare parts. So that is significant.

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