[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9459]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE

  (Mr. WICKER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. Speaker, as Members of Congress, we have an 
obligation to report that the United States is vulnerable to a missile 
attack. That is right. Some of the world's most dangerous and unstable 
dictatorships are developing weapons which could reach the United 
States mainland.
  The bipartisan Rumsfeld Commission has said we could soon face a 
missile strike with little or no warning. Yet, our President is still 
reluctant to act on this important issue.
  The North Korean missile tests last summer forced administration 
officials to admit grudgingly that this threat is real. But the 
President's response has been weak. It includes support for only a 
limited ground-based system with questionable value. The administration 
also worries that a defense shield might violate the ABM Treaty, the 
same pact the Soviets violated for years.
  Mr. Speaker, each day we delay, the threat of a missile attack 
increases. Congress is taking action to deploy an effective missile 
defense system. I urge the President to join us in addressing this 
critical matter of national security.

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