[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 17, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H3806-H3807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           BAN LANDMINES NOW

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. McGovern] is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I am not the kind of person who typically 
monitors the activities of the British royal family, but I would like 
to bring to the attention of my colleagues that Princess Diana is in 
Washington today to speak out on behalf of a very important cause.
  Last Thursday, Princess Diana joined the international call to ban 
the production, the export, and the use of anti-personnel landmines. 
Tonight she is the featured guest at a fundraising event for landmine 
victims hosted by the American Committee for the Red Cross.
  Mr. Speaker, imagine being afraid of where you are because the very 
next step you take could cost you a foot, both legs, or your life. 
Every 22 minutes someone is killed or maimed by a landmine, more than 
26,000 men, women, and children, mainly civilians, each year and every 
year. In at least 68 countries there are over 110 million unexploded 
landmines lying in fields, deserts, roads, along rivers and streams, in 
forests, and on footpaths.
  These deadly weapons do not distinguish between the foot of a soldier 
and the foot of a child at play. They are designed to kill or badly 
maim any individual who triggers them, and they keep on killing long 
after hostilities have ended. The average lifespan of an antipersonnel 
landmine is 50 to 100 years. The first United States soldiers to die in 
Vietnam and the first United States soldiers to die in Bosnia were 
killed by landmines. In Poland, landmines laid during World War II are 
still killing and wounding people today.
  When I traveled to El Salvador in the mid-1980's, I saw lines of 
teenagers missing legs or arms, victims of tens of thousands of 
landmines laid by the Salvadoran army and guerrilla forces during the 
12 years of civil war in that

[[Page H3807]]

country. I vowed then that I would work to end the use of these 
terrible weapons.
  The United Nations and others are engaged in a painstakingly slow and 
dangerous process of removing landmines in places like Bosnia, 
Cambodia, and El Salvador, and while it takes as little as $3 to $15 to 
make a landmine, it costs as much as $300 or $1,000 to remove every 
landmine planted. Currently, 100,000 landmines are removed each year, 
and at that rate it will take us over 1,000 years to rid the world of 
all of the landmines that are buried in the ground right now.
  That is why we must act now to stop the laying of any more landmines. 
That is why we must act now to stop the production, the stockpiling, 
the export, and the use of landmines.
  Last Thursday 57 Members of the other body, Democrats and 
Republicans, introduced legislation that would ban future American use 
of anti-personnel landmines. Also, last week I was one of 164 Members 
of this House, Republicans and Democrats alike, who joined in sending a 
letter to President Clinton urging him to join the conference meeting 
this December in Ottawa, Canada, where over 75 nations will gather to 
sign an international treaty to ban landmines. Representatives from 
over 100 nations will begin meeting in Brussels on June 24 to review 
the work on a draft version of a treaty.
  Mr. Speaker, I report to you and my colleagues that a powerful 
movement is growing worldwide to put an end to landmines.
  I am very pleased that people like Princess Diana, General Norman 
Schwarzkopf and Elizabeth Dole have chosen to speak out on this issue. 
They help to give visibility to the humble heroes and heroines of this 
extraordinary movement who are urging governments across the world to 
ban the production and use of these terrible and indiscriminate 
weapons.
  This movement was inspired by civilian survivors of landmine 
explosions and the veterans of recent wars, such as the members of the 
Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, one of the founders of the 
international campaign. The campaign is made up of doctors and nurses, 
human rights activists, humanitarian aid workers, and ordinary men, 
women, and children who heard about this issue through their churches, 
synagogues, mosques, labor unions, neighborhood groups, and civic 
organizations and who decided to take action. Over 225 organizations 
are part of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines, and this same type of 
citizens' movement is duplicated in scores of countries worldwide.
  In January, I nominated the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, 
one of the broadest grassroots movements of this century, for the Nobel 
Peace Prize. Because of all of the work and effort of these groups and 
individuals across the globe, over 75 governments are now planning to 
come to Ottawa in December to sign an international treaty to ban 
antipersonnel landmines.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend Princess Diana and the millions of individuals 
around the world who are calling for an end to landmines. I urge the 
President to join the Ottawa process, and I call on our Government, the 
United States of America, to become a leader in the international 
movement to ban landmines today.

                          ____________________