[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 24, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H759]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  SUPPORT A NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONVENTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pease). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a resolution to 
express the sense of Congress that the United States take the critical 
first steps toward the negotiation and conclusion of a nuclear weapons 
convention. Just as conventions exist to abolish both chemical and 
biological weapons, the world needs a convention for the reduction and 
elimination of nuclear weapons.
  Although the Cold War has ended, U.S. nuclear weapons expenditures 
remain significant. The United States currently spends $35 billion a 
year, or 14 percent of the defense budget, on efforts such as the $4.5 
billion we plan to spend on the Stockpile Stewardship program. That 
$4.5 billion is more than what we spent on average each year over the 
entire Cold War between 1948 and 1991. At that time we spent $3.6 
billion a year when we were developing and building hundreds of 
thousands of new warheads and when we had nuclear testing sites common 
throughout our Nation.
  How much is $35 billion? It is 13 times the budget for the National 
Cancer Institute. It is 120 times the amount spent annually on domestic 
violence, battered women's shelters, and runaway youth.
  Our current priorities dictate that nuclear weapons are more 
important than health care and the environment. Of every discretionary 
dollar that Californians, and all Americans, as a matter of fact, paid 
in taxes, 7\1/2\ cents went to nuclear weapons, 4.7 cents went to 
health care, and 5 cents went to the environment and energy.
  Speaking of health and the environment, we still do not know how 
nuclear testing is going to affect both. It is estimated that the 
cleanup of nuclear weapons will eventually cost as much as the total 
cost of developing and manufacturing actual warheads. That would be 
$400 billion. That is outrageous.
  The money we have spent on nuclear weapons throughout our Nation's 
history is definitely shocking. From 1940 through 1996 we have spent 
nearly $5.5 trillion in constant 1996 dollars. We have spent nearly 
$5.5 trillion in U.S. nuclear weapons activities.
  The amount of money spent on nuclear weapons, represented as a stack 
of $1 bills, would stretch more than 459,000 miles. That would be to 
the moon and nearly back again. That $5.5 trillion is more than we have 
spent on any single program, except Social Security, over the same 
period of time.
  Even worse, because of poor management and oversight, hundreds of 
billions of dollars were wasted on programs that contributed little or 
nothing to defense and deterrence. In other words, for many of these 
projects the American taxpayer did not get anything for the money they 
spent.
  For example, the U.S. spent $21.3 billion on the Safeguard 
Antiballistic Missile System that was ultimately canceled because of 
high operational costs that eclipsed the limited defense benefits. It 
took that figure for us to know that the costs outweighed the benefits 
of this program. Whatever happened to accountability?
  We also wasted $12.5 billion on the development of the B-1A bomber 
which was canceled. On this program we spent $12.5 billion and made a 
total of four planes, two that crashed.
  The Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Program cost $7 billion only to be 
canceled due to poor management.
  Finally, the Midgetman/Small ICBM cost taxpayers over $5.5 billion, 
only to be canceled due to lack of need at the end of the Cold War.
  Enough is enough. We cannot spend money on unnecessary, unneeded 
nuclear weapons while we neglect our children. Reducing our nuclear 
arsenal here at home, or through an international treaty, will save 
billions of dollars and shift our Nation's priorities to investment in 
a healthy, safe and well educated Nation. Providing children access to 
health care, a safe environment, and a quality education is the kind of 
investment that will truly secure our Nation's future.
  That is why I am asking my colleagues to support the Nuclear Weapons 
Convention resolution that I introduce today urging the President to 
initiate multilateral negotiations for an early nuclear weapons 
convention.

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