[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 101 (Friday, July 16, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1581]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT AND ECONOMIC CONVERSION ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                        of district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 16, 1999

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, long after the end of the Cold War and the 
breakup of the Soviet Union, the threat of nuclear weapons remains. 
Today, the United States continues to possess around 7,300 operational 
nuclear warheads, and the other declared nuclear powers--Russia, Great 
Britain, France, and China--are estimated to possess over 10,000 
operational warheads. Furthermore, the proliferation of nuclear 
weapons, especially in countries in unstable regions, is now one of the 
leading military threats to the national security of the United States 
and its allies.
  The United States, as the sole remaining superpower and the leading 
power in the world, has an obligation to take bold steps toward 
encouraging other nuclear powers to eliminate their arsenals and to 
prevent the proliferation of these weapons. That is why I have chosen 
today, on the 54th anniversary of the first test of a nuclear explosive 
in Alamogordo, New Mexico, to introduce the Nuclear Disarmament and 
Economic Conversion Act of 1999. The bill would require the United 
States to disable and dismantle its nuclear weapons and to refrain from 
replacing them with weapons of mass destruction once foreign countries 
possessing nuclear weapons enact and execute similar requirements.
  My bill also provides that the resources used to sustain our nuclear 
weapons program be used to address human and infrastructure needs such 
as housing, health care, education, agriculture, and the environment. 
By eliminating our nuclear weapons arsenal, the United States can 
realize an additional, ``peace dividend'' from which to fund critical 
domestic initiatives, including new programs proposed in the 
Administration's FY 2000 budget.
  Many courageous leaders from the United States and from around the 
world have spoken out on the obsolescence of nuclear weapons and the 
need for their elimination. Those leaders include retired Air Force 
General Lee Butler and more than 60 other retired generals and admirals 
from 17 nations, who, on December 5, 1996, issued a statement that 
``the continuing existence of nuclear weapons in the armories of 
nuclear powers, and the ever-present threat of acquisition of these 
weapons by others, constitute a peril to global peace and security and 
to the safety and survival of the people we are dedicated to protect'' 
and that the ``creation of a nuclear-weapons-free world [is] necessary 
[and] possible.''
  Recent events on the Indian subcontinent demonstrate the urgent need 
for passage of my bill. Last year, in defiance of the nonproliferation 
efforts of the United States and the world community, India detonated 
several underground nuclear test devices, after it had refrained from 
doing so since its first nuclear test in 1973. Pakistan, a neighboring 
country with which India has fought three wars since the British 
colonial period ended in 1947, soon followed suit with its own nuclear 
tests. The trading of nuclear tests last year between India and 
Pakistan were a source of heightened concern as armed skirmishes 
persisted last month in the disputed Kashmir region adjoining those two 
nations.
  The United States and the world community clearly must redouble their 
efforts to obtain commitments from India and Pakistan to refrain from 
actual deployment of nuclear weapons, as well as to contain other 
countries that aspire to become nuclear powers, such as Iran, Iraq, and 
North Korea, from moving forward with their programs. However, the 
United States will be far more credible and persuasive in these efforts 
if we are willing to take the initiative in dismantling our own nuclear 
weapons program and helping arms industries to convert plants and 
employees to providing products and services that enhance the wealth 
and quality of life of ordinary citizens. I ask my colleagues to 
cosponsor the Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act of 1999 
and for the committees with jurisdiction over the bill to mark it up 
quickly so that it can be considered and passed by the full House.

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