    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
    [June 28, 1996]
    [Page 989]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Action Toward a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
    June 28, 1996

        Today the Chairman of the Geneva Conference on Disarmament's (CD) Ad
    Hoc Committee on a Nuclear Test Ban tabled a compromise treaty text that
    reflects his best efforts to record agreement and resolve remaining
    issues. This action brings us one step closer to the day when no nuclear
    weapons are detonated anywhere on the face of the Earth. I applaud this
    milestone in our efforts to reduce the nuclear threat and build a safer
    world.
        American leaders since Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy have
    believed a comprehensive test ban would be a major stride in the
    international effort against nuclear proliferation and toward our
    ultimate goal of nuclear disarmament. Over the past four decades, many
    world leaders, including Jawaharlal Nehru of India and Harold Macmillan
    of Great Britain, along with citizens from around the globe have worked
    hard to achieve a CTBT. Today, such a treaty is within our reach.
        As President, my most basic duty is to protect the security of the
    American people. That's why I have made reducing the nuclear threat one
    of my highest priorities.
        As a result, for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age,
    there are no Russian missiles pointed at our people. We entered into
    force the START I Treaty that will, in combination with the START II
    Treaty pending ratification in the Russian Duma, reduce by 14,000 the
    number of warheads deployed by the United States and Russia just 5 years
    ago. We convinced Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakstan to give up the nuclear
    weapons left on their land when the Soviet Union broke up. We persuaded
    North Korea to freeze its dangerous nuclear weapons program under
    international monitoring. We are working with countries around the world
    to safeguard and destroy nuclear weapons and materials so that they
    don't fall into the hands of terrorists or criminals. We led global
    efforts to win the indefinite extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
    Treaty which bans the spread of nuclear weapons to states that do not
    have them.
        It is now up to the 61 member states of the CD to study the
    Chairman's compromise treaty text and maintain the momentum toward a
    CTBT. I call on the members of the CD to return to Geneva in late July
    prepared to agree to forward a CTBT to the United Nations, so that a
    special session of the General Assembly can be held in August to approve
    the treaty and open it for signature in the United States in September.