[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 23 (Thursday, March 3, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H947]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM A LEMON

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks).
  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, Canada has officially opted out of the 
laughably named National Missile Defense System. We should take a 
lesson from our neighbors. They knew the NMD has a terrible record; 10 
highly artificial and carefully scripted flight intercept tests, only 
five resulting in hits. One hit occurred when the equivalent of an 
electronic ``hit me'' sign was put on a supposed attack missile.
  The new booster rocket for the kill vehicle has a one-in-three 
success rate. That is a one-in-three chance of even getting off the 
ground. The Pentagon canceled nine of the original 20 tests to focus on 
building the system instead of testing it.
  Today, the NMD benefits no one except a few contractors and their 
patrons. Meanwhile, the Canadians chose not to buy a lemon. Here we 
plant a lemon grove and then franchise lemonade stands.

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