[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 30 (Thursday, March 8, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2080-S2081]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Crapo, 
        Mr. Conrad, Mr. Specter, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. 
        McConnell, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Jeffords, 
        Mr. Harkin, Mr. Torricelli, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Reed, Mrs. 
        Murray, Mr. Feingold, and Mr. Durbin):
  S. 497. A bill to express the sense of Congress that the Department 
of Defense should field currently available weapons, other 
technologies, tactics and operational concepts that provide suitable 
alternatives to anti-personnel mines and mixed anti-tank mine systems 
and that the United States should end its use of such mines and join 
the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines as soon as 
possible, to expand support for mine action programs including mine 
victim assistance, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Armed 
Services.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am today introducing the Landmine 
Elimination Act of 2001. I am joined by Senators Collins, Bingaman, 
Crapo, Conrad, Specter, Feinstein, Rockefeller, McConnell, Kerry, 
Sarbanes, Dorgan, Jeffords, Reed, Harkin, Mikulski, Murray, Feingold, 
Torricelli, and Durbin.
  This legislation does three things.
  It expresses the sense of Congress that the Department of Defense 
should field currently available weapons, other technologies, tactics 
and operational concepts which provide suitable alternatives to 
landmines. It is our view that such alternatives exist and are, in 
fact, better suited than mines to protect United States Armed Forces in 
today's fast-moving battlefield. This view is shared by many active and 
retired military officers.
  The bill calls on the United States to end its use of mines, and to 
join the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines as soon 
as possible. It also codifies the U.S. moratorium on mine exports, 
which has been in effect since 1992 and is official United States 
policy. Finally, it establishes an inter-agency working group to 
develop a comprehensive plan for expanded mine action programs, 
including programs to assist mine victims.
  Mr. President, the havoc wreaked by landmines throughout the world is 
well known. They have been responsible for by far the majority of 
casualties of NATO and peacekeeping forces in the Balkans. They were a 
cause of American casualties in Somalia. They maimed and killed 
thousands of our troops in Vietnam. And, most often, they cripple and 
kill innocent civilians, thousands and thousands each year.
  In 1992, the United States became the first country to stop exporting 
landmines. That led other countries to take similar action, and in 1994 
President Clinton called for an international treaty banning the 
weapons. That treaty, which came into force in 1998, has been signed by 
139 countries and ratified by 110.
  The United States is not among them, because of concerns at the time 
about Korea and the fact that the treaty would require the United 
States to stop using most of its anti-vehicle mines. Those were not 
frivolous concerns, although I do not believe either issue was fully 
understood or examined when the decision was made, and I have worked to 
obtain the funds to develop alternatives to mines.
  Over the past year, however, I and others have spent a great deal of 
time discussing these issues with both active and retired military 
officers. These discussions have revealed a number of interesting 
facts, which I intend to discuss with Secretary Rumsfeld, the Joint 
Chiefs, President Bush and others. Most importantly, I and others have 
become convinced that landmines are inconsistent with current U.S. 
military doctrine. They are neither cost effective nor compatible with 
our highly mobile forces, and in fact they pose serious logistical 
problems and dangers for our troops. We can do better, and we should be 
working together to get rid of these outdated weapons. It is not 
necessary to waste years developing costly new alternatives. We have 
the ``smart'' weapons and other technologies to more effectively 
protect our Armed Forces.
  I look forward to the day when the United States joins the Treaty, 
because I am convinced that without U.S. participation and leadership 
the Treaty will never achieve its promise. But having said that, I have 
never regarded the Treaty as a kind of ``holy grail'' of landmines. My 
interest in this issue, which dates to 1989 when I met a young Honduran 
boy who had lost a leg from a mine, has always been to achieve a mine-
free world. That is an ambitious goal, but it is the right goal. And 
regardless of when the U.S. joins the Treaty, we can develop a mine-
free military.
  Ironically, when that happens, the United States, which at times has 
been unfairly blamed for causing the mine problem, will become the 
world's leader on this issue. We will have ended not only our use of 
anti-personnel mines, which the Treaty prohibits, but also of anti-
vehicle mines, which, while not prohibited by the Treaty, are 
responsible for the indiscriminate deaths and injuries of countless 
innocent people.
  I look forward to an opportunity to work with the Department of 
Defense and the White House to develop a common approach, because the 
issue is no longer whether we develop a mine-free military, but when. 
It is a far more political issue than a military issue, and it is time 
to leave past disagreements and disappointments behind and work 
together on this common goal.
  The problem of landmines continues to be an issue of deep concern to 
people across this country and around the world. This week, hundreds of 
people from dozens of countries are in Washington to focus attention on 
this issue. Among them is Her Majesty Queen Noor, who I am honored to 
call a friend and who has been an eloquent advocate for a mine-free 
world and particularly for assistance for mine victims.
  One of the purposes of this legislation is to develop more effective 
programs to address the urgent needs of mine victims. It is one thing 
for a person who has lost an arm or a leg from a mine to obtain an 
artificial limb. It is another to get the counseling and training to be 
able to earn income in poor countries where the disabled are often 
ostracized. We need to do what we can to help mine victims reintegrate 
into the social and economic life of their communities.
  I want to thank the cosponsors of this legislation, who, like other 
legislation I have sponsored on landmines

[[Page S2081]]

span the political spectrum. This is not and has never been a partisan 
issue. It is a humanitarian issue. If landmines were a problem in our 
own country, they would have been prohibited years ago.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows.

                                 S. 497

       Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of 
     Representatives of the United States of America in Congress 
     assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE

       This Act may be cited as the ``Landmine Elimination and 
     Victim Assistance Act of 2001''.

     SEC. 2 FINDINGS.

       Congess makes the following findings:
       (1) The threat posed by tens of millions of unexploded 
     landmines to innocent civilians is a global problem requiring 
     strong United States leadership in cooperation with other 
     governments.
       (2) Landmines continue to maim and kill thousands of 
     people, mostly civilians, each year, and most mine victims 
     lack the care and rehabilitation services they need.
       (3) Landmines, which remain active for hours, days or 
     years, impeded the mobility and threaten the safety of United 
     States Armed Forces, North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
     forces, and other friendly forces in combat and other 
     military operations.
       (4) At least 139 countries have signed, and 110 countries 
     have ratified, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, 
     Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines 
     and on Their Destruction (opened for signature at Ottawa, 
     Canada, on December 3 and 4, 1997, and at the United Nations 
     Headquarters beginning December 5, 1997). Many of these 
     countries are former producers, exporters, and users of anti-
     personnel mines. Worldwide adherence to the Convention would 
     greatly reduce the threat to future generations from anti-
     personnel mines.
       (5) It is United States Government policy that the United 
     States will search aggressively for alternatives to anti-
     personnel mines and mixed anti-tank mine systems and that the 
     United States will join the Convention by 2006 if suitable 
     alternatives are fielded by then.
       (6) Since 1992, United States law has prohibited the export 
     or transfer of anti-personnel mines.
       (7) Since 1997, the United States has capped its inventory 
     of anti-personnel mines and has not produced anti-personnel 
     mines.
       (8) The United States Government has contributed hundreds 
     of millions of dollars to the costly, dangerous, and arduous 
     task of humanitarian demining around the world.

     SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the Department of Defense should field currently 
     available weapons, other technologies, tactics and 
     operational concepts that provide suitable alternatives to 
     anti-personnel mines and mixed anti-tank mine systems; and
       (2) The United States should end its uses of such mines and 
     join the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, 
     Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines 
     and on Their Destruction as soon as possible.

     SEC. 4. TRANSFERS OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES

       Section 1365(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act 
     for Fiscal Year 1993 (22 U.S.C. 2778 note) is amended by 
     striking ``During'' and all that follows through ``1991--'' 
     and inserting ``Beginning on October 23, 1992--''.

     SEC. 5. INTER-AGENCY WORKING GROUP ON MINE ACTION.

       Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the President shall establish an inter-agency 
     working group to develop a comprehensive plan for expanded 
     mine action programs, including mine victim rehabilitation, 
     social support, and economic reintegration. The working group 
     shall be composed of the Secretaries of State, Health and 
     Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Defense, Education, and the 
     Administrator of the Agency for International Development. 
     The comprehensive plan shall be developed in close 
     consultation with relevant nongovernmental organizations. As 
     part of the development of the comprehensive plan, the 
     working group shall determine an estimated cost of carrying 
     out the plan.

     SEC. 6. REPORT ON ALTERNATIVES TO MINES.

       No later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the 
     Committees on Armed Services and the Committees on 
     Appropriations of the Senate and the House or Representatives 
     a report describing actions taken by the Department of 
     Defense to field currently available weapons, other 
     technologies, tactics and operational concepts that provide 
     suitable alternatives to anti-personnel mines and mixed anti-
     tank mine systems.
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