[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 88 (Monday, June 21, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7321-S7322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, since I have a few minutes, I will speak 
about the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
  There was a piece in today's Washington Post which caught my eye, 
written by Mr. Paul Nitze, a former arms control negotiator and 
ambassador-at-large in the Reagan administration. It was coauthored by 
another gentleman. They made this point:

       Approval of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty by 
     the Senate is essential in order for the United States to be 
     in the strongest possible position to press for the early 
     enforcement of this vital agreement. Failure to act will 
     undercut our diplomatic efforts to combat the threat from the 
     proliferation of nuclear weapons.

  I admit, I am not an expert in this area. I am not on the relevant 
committees, but I take a great interest in the question of the 
proliferation of nuclear weapons and delivery systems for nuclear 
weapons.
  Nuclear weapons are the most destructive weapons known to mankind, 
the most destructive weapons that have ever been developed on this 
Earth. There are numerous reasons why nations in this world seek to 
develop nuclear weapons. They are considered by some nations as a 
measure of their standing and prestige in the world. Others view them 
as the ultimate insurance policy. But, in fact, the proliferation of 
nuclear weapons and the sheer number of nuclear weapons make this a 
pretty unsafe world.
  The proposition has been, going back to President Eisenhower's time, 
that we ought to achieve a treaty banning the testing of nuclear 
weapons. In May of 1961, President Eisenhower said:

       Not achieving a test ban would have to be classed as the 
     greatest disappointment of any administration, of any decade, 
     of any time, and of any party.

  President Kennedy's speech at American University 36 years ago 
addressed the need for a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. He said:

       A test ban would help check the spiraling arms race in one 
     of its most dangerous areas.

  We must check the spiraling arms race. Since the Eisenhower and 
Kennedy administrations, the leaders of this Nation have worked and 
labored with other countries to fashion an agreement that would ban 
further testing of nuclear weapons.
  Imagine their satisfaction if they could know that today 152 nations 
have signed such an agreement, including China and Russia. Although 152 
nations have signed such an agreement, we have not yet acted on that 
agreement in the Senate, and it is my profound hope that sometime in 
the near future, in the next weeks or the next couple of months, in 
this summer of 1999, that the Senate will review, debate and vote on 
the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
  I have spoken a couple of times in this Chamber on this issue. I am 
not critical of anyone. There are strongly held views. I do not even 
know how the vote would go if we had this vote. But I feel very 
strongly we should have this debate and vote.
  I have in this desk a reminder of the danger that existed in this 
country during the cold war that just ended with the old Soviet Union. 
I ask unanimous consent to show it to my colleagues.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, this is a vial filled with chopped up 
copper. This copper came from the wiring of a nuclear submarine the 
Soviet Union used to operate on the high seas with missiles and 
warheads pointed at the United States. This submarine is gone. Its 
wiring has been chopped up. It was done so under an arms control 
agreement. We did not sink it. It was dismantled under an arms control 
agreement.
  We must continue to work in every way to make progress in 
nonproliferation agreements and test ban treaties, and one of those 
steps of progress, I hope, with the cooperation of all our colleagues, 
will be to debate the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in the next week, 2 
weeks, month or 2 months, in the summer of 1999.
  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise to support Senate consideration of 
the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and to request unanimous consent that 
a June 21, 1999, Washington Post article written by Paul H. Nitze and 
Sidney D. Drell, be printed in the Record following my remarks. This 
article advocates the prompt ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban 
Treaty.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection it is so ordered.
  (See Exhibit 1.)
  Mr. AKAKA. The United States initially led the global effort to 
strengthen nuclear nonproliferation when we signed this treaty on 
September 24, 1996; however, since that time, the Senate has not taken 
the necessary steps towards ratification. Without the Senate's 
expeditious approval of this treaty, the United States will be unable 
to assume a leadership position at the CTBT review conference this 
September. We will also be undercut in our efforts to urge other 
countries to ratify this agreement.
  Both Ambassador Nitze and Mr. Drell have a long and distinguished 
history of service to both Republican and Democratic presidents. 
President Reagan awarded Ambassador Nitze the Presidential Medal of 
Freedom. They both believe that America needs to lead the international 
effort to halt nuclear proliferation by ratifying the Comprehensive 
Test Ban Treaty. I urge my colleagues to read this important article. 
As the authors note, ``failure to ratify the CTBT would have to be 
regarded as the greatest disappointment of any Senate, if any time, of 
any party.''

                               Exhibit 1

               [From the Washington Post, June 21, 1999]

                      This Treaty Must Be Ratified

                 [By Paul H. Nitze and Sidney D. Drell]

       For more than five decades, we have served in a variety of 
     foreign policy, national security and intelligence positions 
     for both Republican and Democratic administrations. A common 
     thread in our experience is that our national interest is 
     best served when America leads. When America hesitates, 
     opportunities to improve our security and lost, and our 
     strategic position suffers. This year, America has an 
     opportunity to lead a global

[[Page S7322]]

     effort to strengthen nuclear nonproliferation by ratifying 
     the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
       This fall, a review conference will meet to discuss ways to 
     bring the CTBT into effect even if it has not been approved 
     by all 44 nuclear-capable nations (i.e., those states with 
     nuclear reactors for research or power). The United States 
     was the first nation to sign the CTBT in September 1996; 151 
     nations have now followed that lead. The U.S. Senate, 
     however, has refused to consider ratification of the treaty, 
     and only those nations that have ratified it will have a seat 
     at this fall's conference. Approval of the CTBT by the Senate 
     is essential in order for the United States to be in the 
     strongest possible position to press for the early 
     enforcement of this vital agreement. Failure to act will 
     undercut our diplomatic efforts to combat the threat from the 
     proliferation of nuclear weapons.
       The president rightly has referred to the CTBT as the 
     ``longest-sought, hardest-fought prize in the history of arms 
     control.'' President Eisenhower was the first American leader 
     to pursue a ban on nuclear testing as a means to curb the 
     nuclear arms race. Today, such a ban would constrain advanced 
     and not-so-advanced nuclear weapons states from developing 
     more sophisticated and dangerous nuclear weapons 
     capabilities.
       This is particularly important in South Asia. Last year, 
     both India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests, threatening 
     a dangerous escalation of their nuclear arms competition. 
     Both countries now have expressed a commitment to adhere to 
     the CTBT this year. U.S. ratification would remove any excuse 
     for inaction on the part of these nations and would 
     strengthen their resolve.
       The CTBT also fulfills a commitment made by the nuclear 
     powers in gaining the agreement of 185 nations to extend 
     indefinitely the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 1995. The 
     NPT remains the cornerstone of the worldwide effort to limit 
     the spread of nuclear weapons and reduce nuclear danger.
       We strongly embrace President Reagan's vision of a world 
     free of nuclear weapons. The administration needs to engage 
     Russia on deep reductions in nuclear forces, despite the 
     disruption in our bilateral relations resulting from the 
     crisis in the Balkans. In the meantime, the United States 
     will be able to maintain the safety and reliability of its 
     own stockpile through the Department of Energy's science-
     based stockpile stewardship program. Our confidence in this 
     program underpins our judgment that there is no technical 
     reason why the CTBT is not the right thing to do.
       President Reagan's maxim--trust but verify--is still true 
     today. With the CTBT, the United States will gain new tools 
     to assess compliance with a ban on nuclear testing--including 
     the right to request a short-notice, on-site inspection if we 
     had evidence that a test might have occurred. Combined with 
     the treaty's extensive international monitoring regime and 
     our own intelligence resources, the CTBT is effectively 
     verifiable.
       The Senate has an obligation to review expeditiously major 
     treaties and agreements entered into by the Executive so that 
     the world can be sure of America's course. When President 
     Reagan signed the INF Treaty in December 1987, which 
     eliminated an entire class of missiles, hearings in the 
     Senate Foreign Relations Committee began within weeks, and 
     the Senate voted to approve the treaty within six months. In 
     comparison, the CTBT was signed by President Clinton more 
     than 2\1/2\ years ago but still awaits its first hearing.
       In May 1961, President Eisenhower said that not achieving a 
     nuclear test ban ``would have to be classed as the greatest 
     disappointment of any administration--of any decade--of any 
     time and of any party.'' Similarly, failure to ratify the 
     CTBT would have to be regarded as the geatest disappointment 
     of any Senate, of any time, of any party. We urge the Senate 
     to ratify the CTBT now.
       Paul H. Nitze is a former arms control negotiator and was 
     an ambassador-at-large in the Reagan administration. Sidney 
     D. Drell is an adviser to the federal government on national 
     security issues.

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