[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 127 (Wednesday, September 26, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1746]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2002

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                               speech of

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 25, 2001

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2586) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2002 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense, to prescribe 
     military personnel strengths for fiscal year 2002, and for 
     other purposes:

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Chairman, I rise in support of the 
Stump/Skelton amendment to H.R. 2586, the National Defense 
Authorization Act. The transfer of $400 million from missile defense to 
intelligence and anti-terrorism initiatives is just the beginning of 
what actions Congress should take to defend our nation against future 
threats of terrorism. In light of the September 11, 2001 attacks on 
America, it is evident that our nation must reevaluate its priorities 
to address a list of a broader range of threats to our national 
security. Developing and implementing premature technology to defend 
this nation from a foreign missile attack is not at the top of that 
list. Instead, we need to start focusing our attention on the threat of 
and preparation for chemical or biological warfare. It would not only 
be fiscally irresponsible to appropriate the full amount, of some $8 
billion plus dollars originally requested by the committee for this 
sole purpose, but it would also be detrimental to our country's role in 
the international community and open the United States to even more 
threats.
  Limited Ballistic Missile Defense is an ambitious program that will 
require the commitment of enormous resources in order for it to be even 
remotely successful. This ill-conceived initiative, from all projected 
estimates, will cost this nation $60 to $120 billion over the next 20 
years, and there is no guarantee that we will be able to intercept an 
incoming missile. Before any defense system implementation takes place, 
much more research needs to be done to develop a total or layered 
missile defense system that can intercept a missile in all phases of 
flight. The Bush administration has been adamant in its willingness to 
go forward, even if unilaterally, with implementation of a limited 
missile defense system, but I ask: ``Why risk violating the 1974 Anti-
Ballistic Missile Treaty and triggering a new arms race to implement a 
system that is not even failsafe?'' An arms race this time around would 
not only include the traditional player, of Russia, but also China and 
North Korea. After years of brokering disarmament and nuclear reduction 
treaties, like SALT and START, we would once again start to witness the 
dramatic proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including 
chemical and biological weapons. This proliferation would make it much 
easier for rogue nations or terrorist organizations wanting to do harm 
to the United States to get their hands on weapons to commit acts of 
terrorism and instill fear into American citizens.

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