[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 102 (Thursday, July 17, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1445]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1445]]


  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am submitting today a resolution that 
calls upon the Clinton administration to take firm action against those 
responsible for providing dangerous C-802 cruise missiles to Iran.
  The safety and security of American servicemen and women stationed in 
the Persian Gulf theater of operations are at stake. The acquisition of 
C-802 cruise missiles by Iran is a destabilizing development and 
constitutes a clear threat to peace in the region. This violates the 
provisions of the Iran-Iraq Arms Non-Proliferation Act of 1992, and, 
therefore, requires the President to levy sanctions against the 
provider of the cruise missiles--China. To date, the administration has 
done nothing. I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to 
join me in calling on the executive branch to enforce the law with 
respect to the acquisition by Iran of these cruise missiles, and to 
take appropriate action against China for providing the weapons.
  We all remember the tragic and deadly attack against the naval escort 
vessel U.S.S. Stark that occurred in the Persian Gulf in May 1987. A 
single cruise missile slammed into the frigate and killed 37 American 
sailors.
  Today, 15,000 members of the United States Armed Forces are stationed 
in the Persian Gulf area, carrying out a variety of important foreign 
policy objectives: enforcing economic sanctions against Iraq; 
protecting United States and European aircraft that are patrolling the 
no-fly zone over southern Iraq; and, maintaining open sea lanes through 
the gulf. We owe it to our troops to minimize to the extent possible 
the threat they face as they conduct their mission. Prohibiting rogue 
regimes such as Iran from acquiring advanced conventional weapons must 
be a high foreign policy objective for the United States, to ensure the 
safety of American Armed Forces in the region.
  In 1996, the China National Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp., 
a state-run enterprise, delivered 60 C-802 model cruise missiles to 
Iran. These missiles are mounted on patrol boats for use by the Iranian 
Revolutionary Guard Navy. The China National Precision Machinery 
Import-Export Corp. markets the C-802 in its sales brochure as a 
missile with mighty attack capability and great firepower for use 
against escort vessels such as the U.S.S. Stark. This is the same 
company that supplied missile technology to Pakistan, a transaction 
that led the United States Government to impose economic sanctions for 
violating United States law and the international nonproliferation 
guidelines.
  In addition, China reportedly is supplying Iran with a land-based 
version of the C-802 cruise missile. Iran has been constructing several 
sites along its coastlines to accommodate transporter-erector-launchers 
[TELs], from which the Iranian Revolutionary Guard can fire these 
cruise missiles at targets in both the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of 
Oman. The C-802 model cruise missile provides the Iranian military a 
weapon with greater range, accuracy, reliability, and mobility than it 
previously possessed.

  In November 1996, Iran conducted land, sea, and air war games in the 
Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and successfully test-fired a C-802 
anti-ship cruise missile from one of its patrol boats. Adm. Scott Redd, 
the former commander-in-chief of the United States Fifth Fleet, said 
that the C-802 missiles give Iran a ``360-degree threat which can come 
at you from basically anywhere.'' Deputy Assistant Secretary of State 
Robert Einhorn told the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee on April 
11, 1997, that the C-802 cruise missiles ``pose new, direct threats to 
deployed United States forces.''
  The Iran-Iraq Arms Non-Proliferation Act of 1992--title XVI of the 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993--establishes 
United States policy to oppose any transfer to Iran of destabilizing 
numbers and types of advanced conventional weapons, including cruise 
missiles. The law requires the President to apply sanctions to ``those 
nations and persons who assist [Iran] in acquiring weapons.'' The 
sanctions include a 1-year suspension of U.S. assistance to the 
offending country and a 2-year ban on the import of any goods produced 
by the company found in violation of the statute.
  We know that China is responsible for the transfer of these cruise 
missiles to Iran. The President must impose the sanctions that are 
stipulated in the law.
  To my dismay, the administration has concluded that the known 
transfers of C-802 cruise missiles from China to Iran are not of a 
destabilizing number and type and, therefore, require no enforcement of 
sanctions against China. Instead, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright 
told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee in May 1997 that the 
administration has ``deep concerns'' about the acquisition of cruise 
missiles by Iran and will continue to review this development. I find 
this to be an unacceptable response.
  While reasonable people can disagree over what constitutes 
destabilizing, there can be no argument that Iran has been engaged in a 
worrisome expansion of its conventional military capability, especially 
its navy. Iran has threatened to use its military power to close the 
Straits of Hormuz, disrupt international shipping, and challenge 
American forces active in the gulf. The Tehran government views the 
United States military as an unwelcome presence in the region. Our 
ships have had several close encounters with the Iranian navy in the 
past year. Fortunately these confrontations have remained small and 
contained.
  As Elaine Sciolino points out in her April 20, 1997, article in the 
New York Times, the potential for real conflict between the United 
States and Iran is significant, ``when two enemy navies with vastly 
different military missions and governments that do not talk to each 
other are crowded into such a small, highly strategic body of water.'' 
The acquisition by Iran of advanced cruise missiles, like the C-802 
model, must be considered a serious threat to stability, given the 
explosive situation that already exists. Iran's intent seems clear to 
me: to challenger the United States for predominance in the gulf.
  Thus, the number of C-802 cruise missiles that Iran acquires becomes 
academic when considering application of the provisions of the Iran-
Iraq Arms Non-Proliferation Act. Our men and women in uniform in the 
Persian Gulf now face a greater risk with at least 60 lethal cruise 
missiles targeted at them. The sailors aboard the U.S.S. Stark can 
remind us of the irreparable harm that one cruise missile can perform, 
let alone 60.
  Other considerations aside, the law requires the administration to 
impose sanctions on China for its role in providing these weapons to 
Iran. I strongly recommend that the President consider applying 
sanctions against the Chinese Government, as spelled out in the 
statute, rather than only against the China National Precision 
Machinery Import-Export Corp. As a state-run enterprise, this company 
operates with Central Government complicity. Previous penalties by the 
U.S. Government against this corporation have not eliminated business 
dealings that are inimical to American security interests. The Chinese 
Government has sent us a message by permitting the sale of C-802 cruise 
missiles to Iran. It's time for the U.S. Government to deliver a 
crystal clear response.
  Again, I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to 
support this resolution calling upon the Clinton administration to take 
appropriate action.

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