    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [February 11, 1998]
    [Page 213]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 213]]

    Letter to Congressional Leaders Transmitting the Annual Certification of
    the Nuclear Weapons Stockpile
    February 11, 1998

    Dear __________:
        In my September 22, 1997, message to the Senate transmitting the
    Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) for advice and consent to
    ratification, I announced that I would provide to the appropriate
    committees of Congress the annual certification of the nuclear weapons
    stockpile by the Secretaries of Defense and Energy and accompanying
    report. Attached is a copy of that certification and report.
        I am pleased to note the Secretaries' conclusion that the nuclear
    stockpile has no safety or reliability concerns that require underground
    testing at this time. Problems that have arisen in the stockpile are
    being addressed and resolved without underground nuclear testing to
    ensure the stockpile remains safe and reliable. In reaching this
    conclusion, the Secretaries obtained the advice of the Directors of the
    National Weapons Laboratories, the Commander in Chief, United States
    Strategic Command, and the Nuclear Weapons Council.
            Sincerely,

                                                          William J. Clinton

    Note: Identical letters were sent to Albert Gore, Jr., President of the
    Senate; President pro tempore of the Senate Strom Thurmond, chairman,
    and Carl Levin, ranking member, Senate Committee on Armed Services;
    Trent Lott, Senate majority leader; Thomas A. Daschle, Senate minority
    leader; Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Richard
    A. Gephardt, House minority leader; Jesse Helms, chairman, and Joseph R.
    Biden, Jr., ranking member, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations;
    Benjamin A. Gilman, chairman, and Lee Hamilton, ranking member, House
    Committee on International Relations; and Floyd Spence, chairman, and
    Ike Skelton, ranking member, House Committee on National Security. This
    letter was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on February 12.