    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [August 11, 1995]
    [Pages 1251-1252]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Announcing Comprehensive Nuclear Weapons Test Ban Negotiations
    August 11, 1995

        Good afternoon. Today I am announcing my decision to negotiate a
    true zero yield comprehensive test ban. This is an historic milestone in
    our efforts to reduce the nuclear threat to

    [[Page 1252]]

    build a safer world. The United States will now insist on a test ban
    that prohibits any nuclear weapons test explosion or any other nuclear
    explosion. I am convinced this decision will speed the negotiations so
    that we can achieve our goal of signing a comprehensive test ban next
    year.
        As a central part of this decision, I am establishing concrete,
    specific safeguards that define the conditions under which the United
    States will enter into a comprehensive test ban. These safeguards will
    strengthen our commitments in the areas of intelligence monitoring and
    verification, stockpile stewardship, maintenance of our nuclear
    laboratories, and test readiness.
        They also specify the circumstances under which I would be prepared,
    in consultation with Congress, to exercise our supreme national interest
    rights under a comprehensive test ban to conduct necessary testing if
    the safety or reliability of our nuclear deterrent could no longer be
    certified.
        As a part of this arrangement, I am today directing the
    establishment of a new annual reporting and certification requirement
    that will ensure that our nuclear weapons remain safe and reliable under
    a comprehensive test ban.
        I appreciate the time, the energy, and the wisdom that the
    Secretaries of State, Defense, and Energy; the Chairman of the Joint
    Chiefs of Staff; the Directors of Central Intelligence and the Arms
    Control and Disarmament Agency have all devoted to the review of this
    crucial national security issue over the last several months.
        American leaders since Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy have
    believed a comprehensive test ban would be a major stride toward
    stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Now, as then, such a
    treaty would greatly strengthen the security of the United States and
    nations throughout the world. But now, unlike then, such a treaty is
    within our reach.
        It would build upon the successes we have achieved so far: Securing
    a permanent extension of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty; freezing
    North Korea's nuclear program; cutting existing nuclear arsenals by
    putting the START I Treaty into force; persuading Ukraine, Belarus, and
    Kazakhstan to give up their nuclear weapons and to reach agreements with
    Russia that now mean that both our nations no longer target our missiles
    at each other.
        A comprehensive test ban is the right step as we continue pulling
    back from the nuclear precipice, a precipice which we began to live with
    50 years ago this week. It moves us one step closer to the day when no
    nuclear weapons are detonated anywhere on the face of the Earth.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:05 p.m., in the Briefing Room at the
    White House.