[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 47 (Wednesday, April 24, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E626]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CALLING FOR A COMMITMENT TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 24, 2002

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to include in the Record an 
urgent call for the world to end the threat of destruction from nuclear 
and other weapons of mass destruction. Despite the Cold War's demise 
over a decade ago, the possibility that a nuclear device or other 
weapon of mass destruction will one day wreak devastation remains real. 
Rather than defuse this threat by working to reduce the world's stores 
of these weapons, the current Administration has instead begun to 
explore ways to enhance our nuclear capabilities. The time has come for 
this Administration, this Congress, and this country to commit to the 
abolition of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. We must heed 
this urgent call.
  An urgent call ending threats of mass destruction. Today, cities and 
nations are threatened as never before by weapons of mass destruction. 
The events of September 11 have brought home to Americans what it means 
to experience a catastrophic attack. Yet the horrifying losses that day 
were but a fraction of what any nation would suffer if a single nuclear 
weapon were used on a city, or a deadly, contagious disease were set 
loose in the land.
  The peril from weapons of mass destruction is growing. Even as the 
great powers have refused to give up their nuclear arms, more nations 
have built nuclear weapons and threatened to use them. Terrorist groups 
are now seeking to acquire and use every kind of weapon of mass 
destruction.
  The threats posed by huge stocks, proliferation, and terrorists can 
no longer be considered in isolation from one another. The nuclear 
powers' refusal to disarm fuels proliferation, and proliferation makes 
weapons of mass destruction ever more accessible to terrorists.
  Despite the end of the cold war, U.S. administrations of both parties 
have planned to keep nuclear weapons indefinitely. Recently, the Bush 
administration's Nuclear Posture Review proposed to reduce ``active'' 
warheads; but this plan would keep the whole U.S. nuclear arsenal, 
active plus reserve, at its present size of about 10,000 warheads 
through 2012. Meanwhile, President Bush has requested funds to expand 
nuclear-weapons construction facilities and develop new ``usable'' 
nuclear weapons for a growing list of targets in the third world.
  This drift toward catastrophe must be reversed. The time has come to 
say, Enough! Enough to the great powers who hold vast populations 
hostage to nuclear terror. Enough to nations that are spreading the 
threat of annihilation to new regions. Enough to the terrorists who 
plan the murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent people, Safety 
from all weapons of mass destruction must be our goal. We can reach it 
only through cooperation among nations embodied in binding treaties and 
agreements.
  We therefore call on the governments of the nuclear powers to commit 
themselves to abolish nuclear weapons and to set forth plans to move 
together, step by carefully inspected and verified step, toward this 
goal. As a first step, we call on the United States and Russia to 
reduce their nuclear arsenals over the next few years, tactical and 
strategic, active and reserve, to 1,000 weapons each. As a second step, 
we call on these countries and the other nuclear powers--England, 
France, China, Israel, India, and Pakistan--to proceed in the following 
few years to reduce their arsenals to no more than 100 nuclear weapons 
each. As a third step, these nations should separate all nuclear-
warheads from their delivery vehicles, in preparation for their 
ultimate elimination. Simultaneously, the nuclear powers should 
strengthen the Nonproliferation Treaty by ratifying the Comprehensive 
Test Ban and adopting a ban on the Production of Fissile Material. The 
United States should complete talks to end North Korea's missile 
program, and the UN should institute an effective inspection regime in 
Iraq. The existing international bans on chemical and biological 
weapons should be made universal and fortified with stronger means of 
inspection and verification. Thus, measures to prevent proliferation 
and terrorist uses of weapons of mass destruction would go hand in hand 
with nuclear reductions.
  Steps to eliminate weapons of mass destruction should be accompanied 
by steps to reduce the temptation to acquire or use them. The United 
States and other countries should redouble their efforts to resolve 
regional conflicts and prevent conventional war, and to build respect 
for the rule of law, protect human rights, and promote democratic 
institutions. And the wealthy industrial nations should launch a new 
Marshall Plan to help the poorest nations end starvation, illiteracy, 
and preventable disease, wipe out the burden of debt, and move toward 
sustainable development and a lasting peace, based on respect for the 
dignity and worth of every individual.

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