[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 107 (Tuesday, September 5, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8948-S8950]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007--Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.


                           Amendment No. 4882

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 4882.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the pending amendment is 
laid aside. The clerk will report the amendment.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from California [Mrs. Feinstein], for herself 
     and Mr. Leahy, proposes an amendment numbered 4882.

  The amendment is as follows:

 (Purpose: To protect civilian lives from unexploded cluster munitions)

       At the end of title VIII, add the following:
       Sec. 8109. No funds appropriated or otherwise made 
     available by this Act may be obligated or expended to 
     acquire, utilize, sell, or transfer any cluster munition 
     unless the rules of engagement applicable to the cluster 
     munition ensure that the cluster munition will not be used in 
     or near any concentrated population of civilians, whether 
     permanent or temporary, including inhabited parts of cities 
     or villages, camps or columns of refugees or evacuees, or 
     camps or groups of nomads.

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, on behalf of the Senator from Vermont 
and myself, I offer an amendment to the Defense appropriations bill to 
address a humanitarian issue that I have actually thought a great deal 
about over a long period of time; that is, the use of the cluster bomb. 
The human death toll and injury from these weapons is felt every day, 
going back decades. Innocent children think they are picking up a play 
toy in the field and suddenly their arm is blown off.
  I believe we need to take a look at our policies and adjust them. 
Specifically, our amendment would prevent any funds from being spent to 
purchase, use, or transfer cluster munitions until the rules of 
engagement have been adopted by the Department of Defense to ensure 
that such munitions will not be used in or near any concentration of 
civilians, be it permanent or temporary, such as inhabited

[[Page S8949]]

parts of cities or villages or in camps or columns of refugees or 
evacuees.
  Every year, hundreds of civilians are killed and many more are 
injured due to unexploded cluster bombs. From the fields of Vietnam, 
Laos, and Cambodia, through the streets of Kosovo and Iraq, to the arid 
hills of Afghanistan and the playgrounds of Lebanon, these lethal 
relics of war continue to cripple life, hope, and peace.
  Cluster munitions are large bombs, rockets, or artillery shells that 
contain up to hundreds of small submunitions or individual bomblets. 
They are intended for attacking enemy troop formations and armor, 
covering approximately a .6-mile radius. In other words, their swath is 
over one-half mile. Yet in practice they pose a real threat to the 
safety of civilians when used in populated areas because they leave 
hundreds of unexploded bombs over a very large area and they are often 
inaccurate. They end up in streets and cities where men and women go to 
work and do their shopping. They end up in groves of trees and fields 
where children play. They end up in homes where families live. And in 
some cases, up to 40 percent of cluster bombs fail to explode, posing a 
particular danger to civilians long after the conflict has ended.
  This is particularly and sadly true of children because bomblets are 
no bigger than a D battery and in some cases resemble a tennis ball. 
Children outside with their friends and relatives come across these 
cluster bombs. They pick them up out of curiosity because they look 
like balls and they start playing with them and a terrible result 
follows.
  On March 25, 2003, Abdallah Yaqoob, whose picture is behind me, was 
sleeping on his bed in his family's home in Basra, Iraq, when he was 
hit with shrapnel from a cluster munitions strike in his neighborhood. 
He lost his arm, and his abdomen was severely injured. Abdallah was hit 
by a British L20A1/M85 munition.
  Falah Hassan, 13, was injured by an unexploded ground-launched 
submunition in Iraq on March 26, 2003. The explosion severed his right 
hand and spread shrapnel through his body. He lost his left index 
finger and soft tissue in his lower limbs.
  This is a photo of an unexploded M42 cluster submunition found on a 
barbed-wire fence in southern Lebanon in August 2006. You can see the 
size of the bomblet. Right next to it is a small pinecone. So this is a 
small munition hanging on a piece of barbed wire.
  These unexploded cluster bombs become, in essence, landmines. Instead 
of targeting troop formations and enemy armor, unexploded bomblets 
target innocent civilians, seriously maiming or killing their victims. 
This runs counter to our values, and I believe it also runs counter to 
the laws of war.
  Make no mistake, the impact of unexploded cluster bombs on civilian 
populations has been devastating. This first came to my attention in 
Laos, many years ago. In Laos today, there are between 9 and 27 million 
unexploded cluster bombs, leftovers from our bombing campaigns in the 
1960s and 1970s. Approximately 11,000 people, 30 percent of them 
children, have been killed or injured since the war ended.
  In the first gulf war, 61,000 cluster bombs were used, containing 20 
million bomblets. Since 1991, unexploded bomblets have killed 1,600 
innocent men, women, and children and injured more than 2,500.
  In Afghanistan in 2001, over 1,228 cluster bombs with almost a 
quarter of a million bomblets were used. Between October 2001 and 
November 2002, that year, 127 civilians were killed, 70 percent of them 
under the age of 18.
  In Iraq in 2003, 13,000 cluster bombs with 2 million bomblets were 
used. Combining the first and second gulf war, the total number of 
unexploded bomblets in the region today is 1.2 million. How many people 
will die? Already, an estimated 1,220 Kuwaitis and 400 Iraqi civilians 
have been killed since 1991 because they innocently picked up one of 
these bomblets.
  What gives rise in part to my amendment are recent developments in 
Lebanon over alleged use of cluster bombs. Throughout southern Lebanon, 
more than 405 cluster bomb sites containing approximately 100,000 
unexploded bomblets have been discovered. Each site covers a radius of 
220 yards. As Lebanese children and families return to their homes and 
begin to rebuild, they will be exposed to the danger of these 
unexploded bomblets lying in the rubble. Thirteen people, including 
three young children, have been killed so far, and 48 injured. One 
United Nations official estimates that the rate of unexploded bomblets 
is 40 percent. So far, more than 2,000 unexploded bomblets have been 
destroyed, but it will take 12 to 15 months to complete the effort.
  Let me say that I join the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator 
for Lebanon, David Shearer, in calling on Israel to provide information 
on where the cluster bombs were used. Such information is vital to 
speed up the cleanup process and save lives.
  We have called the State Department. We have asked for information 
about the conditions for the sale of cluster munitions to Israel, and 
we have not been able to get that information. It seems to me that 
information should be readily available and transparent, particularly 
to the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.
  The State Department is currently looking into charges that the 
cluster bombs found in south Lebanon were American made--I do not know 
that they were--and that they were used in violation of agreements 
between the United States and Israel. I do not know that they were, but 
I think we should know, and I think we should not cloak ourselves with 
ignorance. I am hopeful that this inquiry will be completed as soon as 
possible and the findings reported to the Congress. If there are 
violations, there should be consequences.
  Looking at these figures, it is clear that several countries are 
awash with unexploded bomblets--Laos, 7 to 27 million; Iraq, 1.2 
million; and then Lebanon, 100,000.
  Some say: Why should we be doing this? I have always believed that 
this country stands for justice, it stands for right, and it has a 
moral compass. I believe the use of these weapons in civilian areas 
should be stopped.
  I also know that there is a dud rate--in other words, a rate at which 
point these bomblets do not explode. I ask this question: How are we 
supposed to win the hearts and minds of civilians in those countries 
where we leave behind such deadly weapons that indiscriminately kill 
young children? How are we supposed to speed up reconstruction 
efforts--building homes, schools, hospitals, clinics, ensuring 
electricity and water supplies--when populated areas are littered with 
these bombs? They remind innocent civilians that it was America that 
launched these weapons in populated areas; that it was America that 
failed to take the necessary steps to protect them from unexploded 
bombs by demanding a low failure rate; and it was America that failed 
to remove, expeditiously, unexploded bombs.

  Simply put, unexploded cluster bombs fuel anger and resentment and 
make security stabilization and reconstruction efforts that much 
harder.
  It is not just a humanitarian problem, it is also a military problem.
  By showering targets with cluster bombs, we ensure that our own 
personnel will face thousands of unexploded bombs as they move forward. 
This forces them to change course. It slows the mission.
  During the Iraq war, U.S. troops fired 6 rockets containing 4,000 
bomblets to eliminate 1 artillery piece in a civilian neighborhood. 
With a 16-percent failure rate, approximately 640 unexploded bomblets 
were left behind. That is 1 artillery piece--6 rockets, 4,000 bomblets, 
and today 640 unexploded bomblets on the streets.
  As an August 2003 Wall Street Journal article noted, ``Unexploded 
bomblets render significant swaths of battlefield off-limits to 
advancing U.S. troops.''
  In fact, during the first gulf war, unexploded cluster munitions 
killed 22 of our own military. That was 6 percent of the total U.S. 
fatalities, and it injured 58. Former Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen 
recognized the threat cluster bombs pose to civilians as well as our 
troops. He issued a memorandum which became known as the Cohen policy.
  It stated that beginning in fiscal year 2005, all new cluster 
bomblets would have a failure rate of less than 1 percent.
  This was an important step forward, but we must remember that we 
still

[[Page S8950]]

have 5.5 million cluster bombs containing 728.5 million bomblets. That 
means we are still prepared to use an enormous number of cluster bombs 
that have significant failure rates--some estimate as high as 40 
percent.
  Out of the 728.5 million cluster submunitions, only 30,900 have self-
destruct devices that would ensure a less than 1 percent so-called dud 
or unexploded failure rate. Those submunitions account for only 0.00004 
percent of the U.S. total.
  The Pentagon has stated that cluster bomblets with failure rates of 
more than 1 percent ``will remain in the Department's inventory until 
used or until they have reached their extended life and are 
demilitarized.''
  That is pretty clear information that we are going to continue to use 
them. I think that is wrong.
  In fact, by fiscal year 2011, the United States will still possess 
480 million old cluster munitions with significant failure rates.
  The latest Pentagon study on cluster bombs cite failure rates of 2 to 
6 percent for the entire U.S. arsenal. Other studies, however, 
including one by the GAO, found failure rates as high as 16 percent. 
U.S. marines in Karbala, Iraq, in 2003 believe the failure rate in some 
places was as high as 40 percent.
  But even if you accept the conservative estimate of the Pentagon 
report, if the United States used its entire arsenal of cluster bombs, 
we would leave 27 million unexploded bomblets somewhere in the world. 
And a 16-percent failure rate would equal 117 million unexploded 
bomblets, and a 40-percent failure rate would equal 300 million 
unexploded bomblets.
  Where am I going with all this? Think about it. Three hundred million 
unexploded bomblets spread from Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, 
Iraq, southern Lebanon, wherever it may be, and those bomblets remain 
there decade after decade until somebody picks them up. And then that 
somebody is either killed or maimed for life.
  I ask you: Is this the legacy we want to leave behind in Iraq and 
Afghanistan? Is this the legacy Israel wants to leave behind in 
Lebanon? Or is this the legacy anyone that manufactures and sells these 
munitions want to leave behind?
  There are steps we can take to ensure a failure rate of less than 1 
percent. And the Pentagon isn't going to do it. But at a cost of 
between $8 and $15, a self-destruct device can be added to cluster 
submunitions that destroy these munitions if, in fact, they survive 
intact.
  The Pentagon has argued that adding this device is cost prohibitive. 
And it may well be.
  The amendment of Senator Leahy and myself does not address this 
issue.
  I would like simply to end by reading the amendment.

       No funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this 
     Act may be obligated or expended to acquire, utilize, sell, 
     or transfer any cluster munition unless the rules of 
     engagement applicable to the cluster munition ensure that the 
     cluster munition will not be used in or near any concentrated 
     population of civilians.

  Is that too much to ask? That if you are going to use a cluster 
munition which spews bomblets for a half mile that you be certain these 
are not going to be used in a civilian area? I think the answer is 
clearly is no.
  I hope the Senate will see fit to agree to this amendment.
  I thank the Chair. I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________