[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 135 (Thursday, October 1, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11238-S11239]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S11238]]
   STROM THURMOND NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 
                        1999--CONFERENCE REPORT

  The Senate continued with the consideration of the conference report.
  Mr. CONRAD addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I yield myself such time as remains on our 
side in the stead of the Democratic leader, as manager on this issue.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CONRAD. I thank the Chair.
  Mr. President, I rise in support of the defense authorization 
conference report that is before us today.
  In particular, I would like to thank the conferees for their support 
of an amendment I offered in the Senate dealing with Russia's tactical 
nuclear weapons. I was pleased to have the cosponsorship of Senators 
Kempthorne, Kennedy, Bingaman, and Levin when this amendment was passed 
by the Senate in June. I would like to thank them again for their 
support.
  Mr. President, my amendment focuses on an issue that I believe has 
received too little attention. That is the question of the tactical 
nuclear weapons in the Russian arsenal. Those weapons, that are 
thousands in number, are among the most vulnerable to acquisition by 
terrorists and dictators.
  The conferees' approval of my amendment is timely. Recent stories in 
the Washington Post have indicated that the international terrorist, 
Bin Laden, may have made attempts to purchase Russian nuclear weapons 
and that Iraq's nuclear program is much further along than previously 
expected. Unfortunately, the chances are increasing that the Bin Ladens 
and Saddam Husseins of the world may acquire nuclear weapons. That 
danger increases as Russia's economic meltdown continues. As Russian 
soldiers go unpaid and funding for security systems comes under 
pressure, Russia's massive tactical nuclear arsenal becomes the world's 
best source of warheads for terrorists and others who wish this world 
ill.
  Mr. President, the threat of tactical nuclear warheads being sold and 
the threat of them being stolen is growing.
  This chart refers to a CIA comment on the ``loose nukes'' question. 
As they responded to an inquiry from my office:

       We cannot rule out the possibility that a small number of 
     nuclear warheads are missing. The Russian nuclear accounting 
     system is archaic and inefficient. Years of crisis have left 
     once-elite troops impoverished. . . . We take claims of lost 
     warheads seriously.

  On the question of tactical nuclear warheads, I offer these 
observations--the first from the Congressional Research Service:

       Questions exist about the locks employed on [Russia's 
     tactical nuclear weapons] and possible breaches in security 
     at storage facilities. Many now believe that the risk of 
     acquisition or use by rebels, criminals, or rogue military 
     leaders may be greater for tactical nuclear weapons than it 
     is for strategic nuclear weapons.

  From the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, I quote:

       Because of their larger numbers, smaller size, and in some 
     cases simple design and relative ease of employment, non-
     strategic nuclear weapons pose more difficult command, 
     control, and safety concerns than do strategic nuclear 
     weapons.

  Mr. President, the point is that there is a threat. There is a threat 
of these thousands of tactical nuclear weapons that the Russians still 
have in their arsenal being diverted to the uses of those who are a 
danger to all of us. Terrorist use of a tactical nuclear warhead could 
be devastating.
  This is a comparison to what happened out in Oklahoma City. That 
fertilizer bomb was .0002 of a kiloton. The ``Fat Man'' atomic device 
dropped in 1945 was 14 kilotons. The smaller tactical weapons of today 
are 10 kilotons. The larger tactical nuclear weapons of today have a 
yield of as much as 300 kilotons.
  I think we need to understand the destructive potential of these 
weapons in the Russian arsenal.
  Russia's tactical nuclear arsenal is still massive. We can go back to 
1991. The United States had roughly 15,000 tactical nuclear weapons at 
that time; the Soviet Union had 20,000. If we look today, the United 
States is down to 1,600 tactical nuclear weapons; the Russians still 
have from 7,000 to 12,000.
  My colleagues know that there are treaties that deal with strategic 
systems and conventional systems. There is nothing on tactical nuclear 
systems. That is why I believe the amendment that is in this bill is 
important.
  I believe it is time for Congress to:
  No. 1, go on record as concerned about the significant ``loose nuke'' 
dangers associated with Russia's tactical nuclear stockpile and its 
growing strategic relevance;
  No. 2, call for the Russians to make good on the 1991 and 1992 
Gorbachev and Yeltsin promises to deeply reduce tactical nuclear 
weapons, just as the United States has followed through in good faith 
on President Bush's promises in September of 1991;
  And, No. 3, get more information from the Pentagon and the 
intelligence community about this threat.
  This chart perhaps sums it up best. The bottom line on Russian 
tactical nuclear arms is, to quote General Eugene Habiger, former 
Commander in Chief of the U.S. Strategic Command, on March 31, 1998:

       It is time for us to get very serious about tactical 
     nuclear weapons.

  Indeed, it is time for us to get very serious. This amendment is a 
beginning.
  I thank the Armed Services Committee for their support for this 
amendment.
  I would like to take a moment more to thank those members of the 
Armed Services Committee who will no longer be in the positions they 
currently occupy. We are going to miss Senator Dirk Kempthorne of 
Idaho, a wonderful man, somebody who has become a good friend. I am 
going to miss him very much. And Senator Dan Coats will also be 
retiring, and is also a terrific person. Dan Coats has been in many 
ways the conscience of the Senate, somebody we can look to time and 
time again for moral leadership.
  Of course, I also want to recognize the chairman. This is the last 
bill that we will have before us with Senator Thurmond as chairman of 
the committee.
  Senator Thurmond, we want to recognize the enormous contribution that 
you have made to this body and the enormous assistance that you have 
provided to all of us.
  I also want to recognize Senator Glenn who will be retiring. He will 
be going into space. Senator Glenn has been rock solid on these issues. 
We are certainly going to miss him in this Chamber.
  Senator Thurmond is not leaving us, thank goodness. I have a feeling 
Senator Thurmond will probably be here long after I have left and 
perhaps long after most other Members have left. He has been able to 
stay in this Chamber for longer than anyone else in our history. Even 
though he is stepping down as chairman of the Armed Services Committee, 
I have no doubt that Senator Thurmond will continue to lead us in many 
other ways.
  I want to recognize those who will be either changing their roles or 
leaving the Senate as we consider this bill for the final time this 
year.
  I thank the Chair.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. THURMOND addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina.
  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I wish to thank the able Senator from 
North Dakota for his kind remarks and commend him for the great service 
that he has rendered to the Senate during his tenure.
  Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on this defense bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I yield any time I have remaining.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time is yielded back. The question is on 
agreeing to the conference report. On this question, the yeas and nays 
have been ordered, and the clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Glenn) and the 
Senator from Illinois (Ms. Moseley-Braun) are necessarily absent.
  The result was announced--yeas 96, nays 2, as follows:

[[Page S11239]]

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 293 Leg.]

                                YEAS--96

     Abraham
     Akaka
     Allard
     Ashcroft
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Chafee
     Cleland
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Coverdell
     Craig
     D'Amato
     Daschle
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Faircloth
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Frist
     Gorton
     Graham
     Gramm
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Helms
     Hollings
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kempthorne
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lott
     Lugar
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Moynihan
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nickles
     Reed
     Reid
     Robb
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith (NH)
     Smith (OR)
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Torricelli
     Warner
     Wyden

                                NAYS--2

     Feingold
     Wellstone
       

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Glenn
     Moseley-Braun
       
  The conference report was agreed to.
  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which 
the conference report was agreed to.
  Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. LOTT addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Smith of Oregon). The majority leader.

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