[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 98 (Monday, July 16, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1337]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT AND ECONOMIC CONVERSION ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 16, 2001

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I have introduced the Nuclear Disarmament 
and Economic Conversion Act every year since 1993, and I will continue 
to introduce this bill until the threat posed by the world's nuclear 
arsenals is eliminated. This issue was brought to my attention by 
constituents who have been vigilant to the continuing need to focus on 
nuclear proliferation. Moreover, today missile defense is being pressed 
by the Bush Administration, which has refused to acknowledge urgent 
domestic needs from health care to affordable housing.
  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 hold approximately 7,295 operational nuclear warheads 
while Russia controls 6,094, and the other declared nuclear powers of 
Great Britain, France, and China are estimated to possess approximately 
10,000 operational warheads. Furthermore, 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, 
its allies, and the world.
  The United States, as the sole remaining superpower and the leading 
nuclear power in the world, has an obligation to move first and take 
bold steps to encourage other nuclear powers to eliminate their 
arsenals and to prevent the proliferation of these weapons. That is why 
I have chosen today, the 56th anniversary of the first test of a 
nuclear explosive in Alamogordo, New Mexico, to reintroduce the Nuclear 
Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act of 2001. 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 has an important complementary provision 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 critical domestic initiatives can be funded, including new 
programs proposed in the Administration's FY 2002 budget.
  Many courageous leaders in the United States and around the world 
have spoken out about the obsolescence of nuclear weapons and the need 
for their elimination. These 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.''
  The United States and the world community must redouble their efforts 
to obtain commitments from the nations developing nuclear technology to 
refrain from actual deployment of nuclear weapons, as well as to help 
contain other countries that aspire to become nuclear powers, such as 
Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, from moving forward with their programs. 
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 citizens. I ask my colleagues to 
cosponsor the Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act of 2001 
and the committees with jurisdiction over the bill to mark it up 
quickly so that it can be considered and passed.

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