[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 24, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCING THE STOCKPILE STEWARDSHIP RESOLUTION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 24, 1999

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a resolution to 
express the Sense of Congress regarding the direction of the U.S. 
program to maintain the safety and reliability of the nuclear weapons 
stockpile in the post-Cold War era.
  The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which President Clinton signed in 
1996, bans all nuclear explosions in order to promote nuclear 
disarmament and nonproliferation ``by constraining the development and 
qualitative improvement of nuclear weapons and ending the development 
of advanced new types of nuclear weapons.'' The treaty requires us to 
maintain the safety and reliability of our nuclear weapons without 
explosive tests. It does not require us to spend $60 million for new 
submarine warhead designs. It does not require us to spend $198 million 
on underground ``subcritical'' nuclear tests and preparing for banned 
explosive tests at the Nevada Test Site. It does not require us to 
spend $466 million on fusion explosion experiments that could lead to 
hydrogen bombs that don't need uranium or plutonium, which would be a 
nonproliferation nightmare. And it certainly does not require us to 
spend $5.5 million for a new National Atomic Museum, colocated with the 
Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum.
  These and other projects are an expensive jobs program for nuclear 
scientists, in the guise of keeping unneeded weapons design, testing, 
and manufacturing capability. They are inconsistent with our commitment 
to nuclear disarmament in the Nonproliferation Treaty and with the 
purposes of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Faced with our massive 
investment in nuclear weapons research, other nations are slowing arms 
reductions and keeping their own nuclear weapons development programs, 
thus putting our real security at risk.
  The safety and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile can be 
maintained with a more modest program of surveillance of the warheads 
and occasional remanufacturing when necessary. The resolution I am 
introducing today expresses support for such a custodianship program 
that protects our national security without wasting money or providing 
cover for new nuclear weapons programs that will prolong the Cold War 
and undermine the unsteady international nuclear non-proliferation 
regime. The resolution expresses the Sense of Congress that the nuclear 
weapons stockpile can be maintained with a program that is far smaller, 
less expensive, and does not require facilities or experiments that are 
likely to be used for warhead design or development. The resolution 
thus urges the Secretary of Energy to redirect the program for 
custodianship of the nuclear weapons arsenal toward less costly and 
less provocative methods that are consistent with United States treaty 
obligations.
  I hope this resolution will serve as a useful vehicle for educating 
the Congress and the public about the nature of the current stockpile 
stewardship program and for promoting consideration of less costly and 
less destabilizing alternatives. I urge my colleagues to join in 
cosponsoring this resolution, and moving towards a more sound nuclear 
policy.

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