[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 17, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5717-S5719]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    BANNING ANTIPERSONNEL LANDMINES

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I will speak very briefly because I see the 
distinguished Senator from Nebraska [Mr. Hagel], on the floor. But I 
will reserve such time as I may need.
  Mr. President, the Leahy-Hagel bill on antipersonnel landmines is the 
result of years of work. I commend the Senator from Nebraska for his 
efforts in this. We have talked about the need to have a ban on these 
weapons, a need that is felt throughout the world, both by countries 
that have used landmines, such as ours, and also by countries that have 
been devastated by what has become a plague of landmines. As I have 
said on the floor many times, this human disaster was described to me 
by a Cambodian I had in my office on a snowy winter afternoon at 
Christmastime in Vermont--one of the most beautiful times of year in 
our State--and it became far less beautiful as he said, ``We clear our 
landmines in Cambodia an arm and a leg at a time.''
  Fifty-seven Senators--Democrats, Republicans, conservatives, men and 
women alike--joined together last Thursday to introduce legislation to

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ban new deployments of antipersonnel landmines beginning in the year 
2000. Our purpose is to enable the United States to join other nations 
around the world that have already shown both the moral and strategic 
courage and leadership by saying that they will ban unilaterally ban 
antipersonnel landmines. Senators like Bob Kerrey and John McCain, 
Chuck Robb, and Max Cleland, decorated Vietnam veterans, along with 
Senator Hagel, know far better than I what landmines have inflicted on 
our own soldiers. Senator Hagel has even been injured by them.

  All of us know that landmines have some marginal value, but so do 
chemical weapons. But we banned them. The problem with landmines is 
that wars end, peace treaties are signed, armies march away, the guns 
grow silent--but the landmines stay. To the child who steps on a mine 
on the way to school a year after the peace agreement is signed, that 
peace agreement is no protection. To the farmer who cannot raise crops 
to feed his or her children because the fields are strewn with 
landmines, that peace agreement is worth nothing. To the medical 
personnel and humanitarian workers who cannot get polio vaccine to a 
village where it is needed because of the landmines, that peace 
agreement is useless.
  What we have, Mr. President, is a weapon that has grown so grotesque, 
the use of which has gotten so out of balance that most responsible 
nations are uniting in one voice to say: Stop the horror of landmines. 
There are 100 million of them in the ground in some 68 countries that 
are waiting for a person to step on them and die, innocent civilians. 
There were over 64,000 American casualties from landmines in Vietnam. 
If that is not appalling enough, the majority of those landmines were 
built here in the United States and were killing American men and women 
half way around the world. In Bosnia, 279 U.N. and NATO soldiers have 
been injured or killed by landmines. Every American casualty in Bosnia 
from enemy causes has been from a landmine. Then you have thousands of 
innocent civilians that have lost arms, legs and so on.
  Sixty-eight countries have a bridge to the 21st century, Mr. 
President, but that bridge is strewn with landmines. The United States 
has the responsibility, as a moral leader, to help stop that. Great 
Britain, Canada, Germany, South Africa are all countries that can claim 
a greater need for landmines than we can because they do not have the 
power of the United States. They have unilaterally renounced the use of 
these landmines and are destroying stockpiles. But a White House 
official, who apparently has an extreme case of myopia--and I say that 
only because in polite dialog we would not say he has an extreme case 
of stupidity--had the audacity to say that our legislation undermines 
their negotiations on a global ban rather than a unilateral measure.
  Frankly, I don't think that he reflects the views of the President. I 
have to tell you that this is the most asinine comment issued by the 
administration yet on this issue. Why does the White House think a 
treaty banning these weapons is going to be signed in Ottawa this 
December? Countries are coming together to sign a treaty banning 
antipersonnel mines in Ottawa, not because of the United States or 
because of this administration's negotiating strategy; to the contrary, 
they are signing it in spite of the United States. While the United 
States has sat on the sidelines and forsaken the kind of moral 
leadership we can bring, dozens of other countries have taken strong, 
unilateral action by renouncing the use of these weapons and are 
pledging to sign a treaty in December. We showed great moral leadership 
on the Chemical Weapons Convention and on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. 
But, Mr. President, far, far more civilians have died or have been 
injured by landmines than nuclear weapons or chemical weapons. Every 
Member of this Senate who is a combat veteran from Vietnam is a 
cosponsor of this bill.
  I have more to say, but the distinguished Senator from Nebraska, my 
chief cosponsor, is on the floor. I yield the floor to Senator Hagel.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair recognizes the Senator from 
Nebraska.
  Mr. HAGEL. Thank you, Mr. President.
  Mr. President, first, I want to commend my distinguished colleague 
from Vermont for his leadership over the years. This has been an issue 
that has been worked with some difficulty with a certain intenseness to 
develop, first of all, an awareness of the problem.
  This is an issue that, like all difficult issues, should always come 
with a certain amount of information. And through the process over the 
years, Senator Leahy; my friend and colleague from Nebraska, Senator 
Kerrey; and others, have been remarkable in their tenacity and their 
effort to focus on this issue of landmines. Today, I continue with my 
friend from Vermont; my distinguished senior Senator, Bob Kerrey; and 
others in our efforts to ban antipersonnel landmines. The legislation 
that we are introducing this morning would permanently ban new 
deployments of antipersonnel landmines.
  Now, my colleague talked a little bit about why it is important. But 
I think there are a couple of primary reasons, Mr. President, that we 
owe this country the world leadership on this issue. First, America has 
always taken the moral high ground over its brief 200-year history. 
There is some debate and argument about the military necessity, the 
military use, the viability of landmines. But as we enter a new 
century, a bold new century full of hope and promise, in my opinion--
and I have some experience in this business--I do not really believe, 
nor do many former commanders and present commanders believe, that to 
continue to use antipersonnel landmines in our arsenal is in the best 
interest of anyone.
  So I take up this debate as a conservative Senator from Nebraska, a 
combat veteran. There is no U.S. Senator in this body who supports more 
strongly the U.S. military, what we must do to always arm our military, 
never taking away the capabilities of our military. So I come at this 
as a very strong advocate of our national defense forces and the 
awesome responsibility our military has to protect our people and 
freedom worldwide.
  However, I believe the issue here regarding the banning of 
antipersonnel landmines is no longer the argument of whether we should 
or shouldn't. The issue now is when and how. I believe the time is now. 
The time is now for this country and for this body to provide 
leadership, as so many other nations around the world are providing 
leadership on this issue.
  We can change the face of warfare. We must not make the mistake in 
believing that this act alone will do away with landmines. It is a 
beginning. We must understand and face the fact that there are over 110 
million landmines in the ground today all over the world. This act 
today will not dig those 110 million mines up. But it is a beginning. 
It is a moral beginning. It is a beginning that sends a message to the 
world that we are a moral nation, that we will defend freedom as we 
always have, and that we will defend the rights of individuals, but we 
do not need indiscriminate killing machines like antipersonnel mines in 
order to defend those liberties.
  Mr. President, there are colleagues other than Senator Leahy and I on 
the floor, and I wish to ensure that they have time to express 
themselves on this issue.
  With that, I will summarize by saying that those of us in Congress--
especially those of us who have served in combat--have a responsibility 
to those Americans who now serve in our military to give our best 
judgment on all weapons systems, including landmines, to the future. We 
owe no less to the countless thousands of civilians, including many men 
and women who will yet suffer from the indiscriminate use of these 
weapons.
  It is significant, as I see my friend and colleague, Senator Bob 
Kerrey, the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, walk around 
on the floor of the Senate, that my other five Vietnam combat veterans 
have joined Senator Leahy and I in cosponsoring this important 
initiative. It is time for America to lead.
  Mr. President, thank you. I yield my time to Senator Leahy.
  Several Senators addressed the Chair.
  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, could I have 5 minutes from either side 
to both speak to this issue and raise one other related issue?
  Mr. LEAHY. I am perfectly willing to, and I want to yield to the 
Senator

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from Utah for that. We were sort of flipping side to side, if that will 
be OK.
  Mr. BENNETT. Absolutely. I appreciate the courtesy of the Senator.
  Mr. KERREY addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.
  Mr. KERREY. Thank you, Mr. President. I thank the senior Senator from 
Vermont and my colleague from Nebraska, Senator Hagel.
  Mr. President, I rise today to join with my colleagues Senator Leahy 
and Senator Hagel to express my strong support for a worldwide ban on 
the use of land mines. Senator Leahy's bill, of which I am an original 
cosponsor, is an important step in this effort in that it will restrict 
the use of funds for new deployments of U.S. anti-personnel land mines 
beginning no later than January 1, 2000.
  One only has to look at the statistics to realize that these weapons 
carry a legacy that lasts far longer than the wars in which they were 
laid. More than 26,000 people will be killed in the world this year by 
landmines; the vast majority of these deaths will be civilians. In 
fact, every 22 minutes a man, woman, or child is killed or injured by a 
land mine. It is impossible to truly calculate the cost of 26,000 
deaths due to land mines in a single year.
  Mr. President, I believe that there can be no better example of the 
destructive nature of these weapons than Cambodia. It is estimated that 
over 10 million land mines remain in that country. After years of 
conflict and chaos, the people of Cambodia must still fear to walk 
along footpaths or rice paddies; or to allow their children to play 
along riverbeds or around villages. Mr. President, they have reason to 
be afraid; current statistics show that 1 Cambodian in every 236 has 
lost an eye or a limb to a land mine.
  Again, these are noncombatants, civilian individuals that are 
suffering as a consequence of the indiscriminate placing of these 
dangerous weapons.
  My interest in this issue also extends to not only protecting 
civilians but protecting our own military forces.
  The truth is, far too often the victims of these mines are the men 
and women who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. The Department of Defense 
has estimated that 33 percent of United States Army casualties in 
Vietnam were caused by land mines. It is further estimated that 90 
percent of those mines contained components made in the United States.
  Today in Bosnia, the greatest threat to U.S. troops involved in the 
SFOR mission is not from hostile fire, but from the millions of land 
mines that were indiscriminately laid during the years of fighting in 
that country. Mr. President, not only do I believe that we can continue 
to protect our national security without these weapons, I believe that 
ridding the world of land mines would be a significant step toward our 
providing greater protection to our forces stationed abroad.
  I want to thank Senator Leahy for his continued leadership in this 
area, because I believe the bill that we have sponsored is an important 
first step. However, it is also important for the United States now to 
take the lead on a global scale. While I applaud President Clinton's 
support for the eventual elimination of antipersonnel land mines, I 
would urge him to join our closest allies around the world by 
supporting the so-called Ottawa process which seeks to negotiate a 
treaty to ban land mines to be completed no later than December 1997. I 
firmly believe that a treaty negotiated with U.S. leadership, and which 
would include many countries where land mines have been used with 
devastating results, would help to create the moral authority to 
establish a global norm that would make these weapons unacceptable 
forever.
  Again Mr. President, I believe now is the time for the U.S. exercise 
its leadership role in the world to stop the use of these devastating 
weapons.
  I thank the Senator from Vermont and the Senator from Nebraska for 
their leadership on this issue. I hope that the President will change 
and begin to see the wisdom of adopting the Ottawa process.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I yield to the Senator from Utah.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair recognizes the Senator from Utah.
  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I congratulate the Senator from Nebraska 
and the Senator from Vermont for their leadership on this issue.
  I ask unanimous consent that I be added to the bill as an original 
cosponsor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I thank the Chair and I thank the two 
Senators.

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