[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 135 (Thursday, September 26, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S11448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         ARMS CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT AGENCY'S 35TH ANNIVERSARY

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, today marks the 35th anniversary of 
the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Established in 1961, ACDA 
remains the only Government agency devoted entirely to arms control, 
disarmament and nonproliferation. In this Congress, ACDA was on the 
chopping block and threatened with elimination as an obsolete agency. 
Fortunately, ACDA survived. The historic signing of the Comprehensive 
Test Ban Treaty this week shows the worth of ACDA, and offers an 
example of the importance of maintaining an independent and robust 
ACDA.
  ACDA was founded on a bipartisan basis to serve as the lead agency 
for U.S. disarmament and arms control activities, with its director as 
the principal advisor to the President on these matters. It was created 
not only to provide increased focus on arms control, but also to 
elevate these issues so that they wouldn't get lost in the 
bureaucracies of the State and Defense Departments.
  The list of arms control agreements during the three and a half 
decades of ACDA is staggering: the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty, the 
1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty, the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, 
the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, the Strategic Arms 
Reduction Treaties and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, as well as 
many others. These successes have immeasurably improved the security of 
the United States. During the cold war, we faced the persistent and 
ominous threat of nuclear warfare, and today we see the dangers of 
nuclear, chemical and biological terrorism. Would we be safer today 
without these treaties? Of course we wouldn't. Will we be safer 
tomorrow with continued pursuit of arms control? Yes, and this compels 
the continued existence of a strong and independent ACDA.
  Considering the billions that have been saved through reductions in 
nuclear arsenals, the ending of the testing program and other arms 
control measures, ACDA's annual budget of around $40 million and its 
staff of 250 proves to be a real bargain. In the coming years ACDA 
responsibilities will include monitoring the START II nuclear arms 
reductions, verifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and 
implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention, provided these last two 
treaties are ratified in the next Congress, and I strongly believe that 
they should be.
  I cannot comment on the importance of ACDA without mentioning my 
colleague, Senator Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, who has throughout 
his career been a tireless champion of ACDA, from its creation in 1961 
to the revitalization legislation passed in 1994. His leadership on 
arms control and as an advocate for multilateral solutions to security 
problems will be sorely missed by the Senate and the Nation.
  Arms control is not obsolete, and we need ACDA to make it happen. I 
commend Director John Holum and the rest of the staff of ACDA on the 
agency's 35th anniversary, and wish them the best of success in the 
future.

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