[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.